The Bulldogs defeated the Columbia Lions 174-126 on Saturday at Yale's Kiphuth Exhibition Pool, cheered on by a sizeable crowd. Columbia won both relays, but Yale's dominant performance in the individual events gave it a controlling lead throughout the meet.

 

The Lions were coming off a 159.5-136.5 win over Penn on Friday. Tim Wise, the Robert J. H. Kiphuth Head Coach of Men's Swimming and Diving, said that his team was not intimidated by this impressive victory.

 

"They saw the results, and came in today more focused than I'd seen them in a long time. We took care of business today."

 

Columbia's two divers gave their team a strong start by finishing first and second in the three-meter diving. Freshman Jayden Pantel won the event with an impressive score of 345.75. Senior Micah Rembrandt scored 309.75, just 2.24 ahead of Yale's top scorer, junior James McNelis.

 

The Lions maintained their momentum in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior David Jakl swam a blazing 21.41 butterfly split to give Columbia a lead in the third leg of the relay. Sophomore Oscar Miao and junior Victor Zhang both swam fast freestyle splits, closing out the race with a 19.63 and 19.74, respectively. But it wasn't enough to catch up to Columbia's winning relay team, which finished in 1:30.90. Yale's A and B teams were nearly even with each other, finishing in 1:31.55 and 1:31.58.

 

Facing an early 16-point deficit, the Bulldogs stormed back with victories in the next two events. Freshman Kei Hyogo made a remarkable home debut in the 1,000-yard freestyle. His winning time of 9:03.45 was the second fastest in the NCAA this season. Junior Brian Hogan and sophomore Ben Lerude beat out all of their competition from Columbia to make it a 1-2-3 finish for Yale. In the 200-yard freestyle, senior Rob Harder and freshman Jonathan Rutter claimed first and second place.

 

Jakl came through again for the Lions in the 100-yard backstroke. He won the event with a time of 49.37, pulling ahead of freshman Shawn Nee in the final 50. However, Nee, junior Kevin Stang and senior Mike Lazris neutralized Jakl's victory by taking second, third and fourth place.

 

Yale added to its lead with great results in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly. Senior captain Andrew Heymann fired up the crowd with a win in the breaststroke, finishing in 56.51. Freshman Derek Kao and senior Ronald Tsui were close behind in second and third place.

 

In the 200-yard butterfly, senior Alwin Firmansyah held a body-length lead for most of the race. He found the strength to fend off a last minute push by the runner-up, Columbia's David Quinn, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the event last season. Lerude and Hyogo took third and fourth place. At this point, Yale had built up an 82-49 lead.

 

The Lions gained ground on the Bulldogs in the next two events. Columbia swimmers finished first, third and fifth in the 50-yard freestyle. And the Lions' divers took first and second place once again in the one-meter diving. After the diving, Yale's lead was only 19 points. Columbia was in position to make it a close finish. But the Bulldogs answered with a string of successful events that assured them a victory before the meet was over.

 

Zhang swam to an electrifying victory in the 100-yard freestyle, beating out Columbia's Ngan by .11. Yale then achieved 1-2-3 finishes in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard breaststroke. Nee, who led the way in the backstroke with a time of 1:48.07, was challenged by his senior teammates Stang and Harder, who finished second and third. Heymann's 2:01.79 finish earned him his second breaststroke victory of the meet; it was also the 33^rd fastest 200-yard breaststroke race of the NCAA season thus far. Rutter, the runner-up, nearly caught up to Heymann on the final lap. Kao kept pace with Heymann and Rutter to finish third.

 

Going into the 500-yard freestyle, Yale had gained a commanding 138-88 lead. Hyogo and Hogan made it even larger by finishing first and second in the 500-yard freestyle. But in the meet's final events, Columbia made an impressive stand. In his 100-yard butterfly victory, David Jakl tied the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool record of 48.08. Columbia freshman Jae Park barely managed to beat Heymann in the 200-yard IM, finishing .04 before the Yale captain.

 

The meet concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Kiphuth crowd was already in a celebratory mood when the teams lined up behind the blocks, but the competition remained as fierce as ever. Just like last season, the Lions' A team out-touched Yale's. But this time, the Bulldogs walked away with a victory.

 

After the meet, Heymann said that his team's ability to get the points it needed to win despite losing both relays showed exceptional toughness.

"We knew our weaknesses and our strengths, and took opportunities to step up," he said.

 

Assistant coach Kevin Norman observed the same thing.

 

"Everyone stepped up. Everyone raced tough and showed a lot of character," he said.

 

Yale's next meet is the Bucknell Invitational, a championship-format meet that will be held from Nov. 21-23.