Aquamen Steamroll Past Columbia, Army

The Harvard men's swimming and diving team scored victories over Columbia and Army at West Point on Friday, opening the season with confidence.

"We pretty much demolished them," said captain David Alpert, acknowledging the margins of 191-53 over Army and 181.5-61.5 over Columbia. Each dual team score is figured without taking the third team into account.

"It was our first meet, and we were pretty excited. There's always some uncertainty and nervousness, and [the victory] got people relaxed," junior Ben Odell said.

Entering the early-season meet with confidence, the Crimson took both the first and second places in every event and often did much more. The Crimson is ranked 17th in the NCAA's pre-season poll, while neither Army nor Columbia is nationally ranked.

"The meet went fantastic. Last year they beat us in the opening medley relay, but this year we went one-two in the medley relay and one-two-three-four in almost every event after," said Alpert.

Sophomore Denis Sirringhaus had an outstanding victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:19.06, one of the 20 best times in the country. Sophomore Gregory Wriede also entered the Top-20 scene, finishing first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.

"The team swam tough and was mentally focused for the whole meet," said Alpert.

Newcomers to Harvard also did very well at the meet.

Ping Tjin Thum, a freshman from Singapore, proved his merit by winning the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:53 and also swimming on the winning 400 medley relay with sophomores James Zenyuh and Alex Kurmakov and senior Scott Campea. Zenyuh also placed second in the 200 backstroke, and Kurmakov won the 100 free with a time of 46:51.

In other top performances, junior Mike Kiedel, a transfer from University of Florida, won the 200 free with a time of 1:40.08 and the 500 free with a time of 4:32.03. Senior Joshua Adams won the 200 breast-stroke with a time of 2:10.02.

The Crimson is focusing on its next meet on December 7-8 against Virginia, Villanova and Florida State at Virginia. "[This meet] is a fine tuning for the meet at Virginia," Alpert said.

"It went very well," Odell said. "Certainly it bodes well for the rest of the season." Harvard  191 Army  53

Harvard  181.5 Columbia  61.5

Harvard  181.5 Columbia  61.5