Swimming

Penn Men Upset Harvard at Home; 1st Win Over Crimson in 49 Years

January 22, 2024

Penn (Men) Vs. Harvard (Men)

January 20, 2024
Sheerr Pool, Philadelphia
SCY (25 yards)
Results
Final Scores:
- Penn – 176
- Harvard – 124

The University of Pennsylvania men’s swimming and diving team took down Harvard on Saturday, winning at home in Sheerr Pool, 176 to 124. It was their first victory over the Crimson since 1971 and their third all-time. Harvard leads the series, which dates back to 1932, 77-3.

The Quakers were on fire from the start. Liam Campbell (22.53), Matt Fallon (24.89), Andrew Dai (20.92) and Benjamin Feldman (19.60) kicked the meet off by winning the medley relay by a full second over Harvard’s Anthony Rincon (22.55), Gunner Grant (25.07), Aayush Deshpande (21.57) and Sonny Wang (19.75).

Penn won the 1000 free (James Curreri, 9:06.33) and 200 free (Truman Armstrong, 1:38.47) before Harvard claimed their first event win, with Grant (47.88) and Rincon (48.32) going 1-2 in the 100 back.

Fallon then won the first of his three events, leading a Penn podium sweep in the 100 breast. Fallon (53.59) was followed by teammates Jason Schreiber (54.44) and Matthew LeBlanc (55.81). Penn also went 1-2-3 in the 200 breast with Fallon (1:56.14), Schreiber (1:56.72), and Peter Whittington (1:59.15), and again in the 200 IM, where Fallon (1:48.21) came to the wall ahead of Schreiber (1:49.78) and Kevin Keil (1:50.89).

Penn’s Dai was also a multiple-event winner. He began with a 1:46.29 victory over Harvard’s David Schmitt (1:46.95) in the 200 fly and followed with a 47.68 win in the 100 fly. Harvard’s Wang (47.80) was 2nd, just ahead of Penn’s Feldman (48.00).

Feldman edged Wang in the 50 free, 20.27 to 20.34. Harvard’s David Greeley (20.45) touched out Penn’s Campbell (20.56) for 3rd. Greeley was victorious in the 100 free (44.51) ahead of Campbell (44.59).

Penn’s Daniel Gallagher won the 200 back (1:44.80) ahead of teammate Curreri (1:45.80), while Harvard’s Rincon (1:46.43) and Grant (1:48.59), who were the top 2 finishers at Ivies last year, came to the wall 3rd and 4th.

Penn eked out a win in the last event, too. Alex Fu (45.77), Campbell (44.42), Dai (45.15), and Feldman (44.04) combined to take the 400 free relay, 2:59.38 to 2:59.95. Wang (56.23), Rincon (44.73), Littlejohn (45.07), and Greeley (43.92) swam the Harvard legs.

SwimSwam: Penn Men Upset Harvard at Home; 1st Win Over Crimson in 49 Years