Crimson Places Fourth in Georgia

Competing against several squads ranked in the top-25, the Harvard men’s swimming and diving team posted several strong individual performances this weekend to finish fourth at the Bulldog Invitational in Athens, Georgia. The Crimson rebounded from its first loss since the 2003-2004 season—which occurred during its last dual meet, against Columbia—and several individuals provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Heading into the third and final day of competition, Harvard held a 27.5-point advantage over the No. 17 University of Virginia, 415.5-388, and trailed first-place Tennessee and second-place Georgia. The Cavaliers snatched third from the Crimson in the key race of the day, the 200-yard breaststroke, in which four Virginia swimmers placed in the top eight spots. While sophomore Geoff Rathgeber placed fourth, the Crimson did not have the numbers to compete with the Cavaliers. Virginia ended up beating Harvard by only 11 points.

“Virginia is a great team, so the fact that we were competitive with them for the whole meet is definitely a confidence booster,” sophomore Sam Wollner said. “The 200 breaststroke was key for them—four out of the top eight swimmers were from Virginia. Geoff swam a great race, but we didn’t have enough swimmers in the race. That race enabled them to pass us and move into third place, even though we beat them pretty consistently in the relays.”

Virginia matched the Crimson the rest of the way and ultimately won, 602-590.5. The No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers won the invitational with 1,025.5 points, followed by the No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs (984 points). South Carolina finished fifth with 472 points.

Besides his fourth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, Rathgeber also provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships in two races. In the 200-yard individual medley, in which he finished third, Rathgeber notched a time of 1:48.75 to make the NCAA ‘B’ cut. Besides nailing sixth place in two other races, Rathgeber also helped the 400 medley relay team reach the NCAA ‘B’ cut, as the team of captain Dave Cromwell, senior Mark Knepley, and freshman Bill Jones finished second in a time of 3:17.97. The ‘B’ cut gives an individual or relay team the opportunity for an invitation to NCAAs, although it does not guarantee a spot.

Cromwell notched several strong individual performances as well, as he claimed second in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:44.82, enough to meet the provisional NCAA qualifying time. He also provisionally qualified in the 100-yard backstroke, which he won, and the 100-yard butterfly, in which he finished third.

“This weekend, Dave proved that he is one of the most dominant swimmers in the Ivy League,” Wollner said. “He swam some key legs in the relays, posted good individual performances, and demonstrated strong senior leadership.”

But the underclassmen continued to impress, too. Freshmen such as Bill and Dan Jones posted impressive times, with Bill recording two top-6 finishes and brother Dan performing well after missing time this season due to injury. Sophomore Sam Wollner and freshman Eric Lynch also notched points for the Crimson.

“Bill Jones was impressive this weekend,” Rathgeber said. “It seemed he swam his best times in every race he swam. It’s a tribute to his training that he performed so well. His brother, Dan, stepped up after returning from an injury.”

Harvard’s next meet, versus Rutgers, is on Jan. 7. In the month off from competition, the Crimson will look to improve individual marks and log significant time in the pool, and the team will travel to Puerto Rico over the break for a week of intense training. Lucky for the Crimson, it has a strong showing on which to build.

This weekend was very important for us to make a statement that we weren’t going to lie down after our loss to Columbia,” Wollner said. “We performed well at a big invitational, which bodes well for the rest of our season. We showed that we can match up well with some bigger teams.”

—Staff writer Julie R. S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty2@fas.harvard.edu.