The Columbia men’s swimming and diving team is currently in fourth place with 305 points after the second day of the 2026 Ivy League Championships at DeNunzio Pool, Princeton University. Princeton leads the standings with 541 points, followed by Yale with 459.5 points and Harvard with 376.5 points.
The championships began with the 200 medley and 800 free relay events. Columbia’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Isaac Beers, Joshua Corn, Brian Lee, and Zion James, finished third with a time of 1:25.33 to secure a bronze medal. In the 800 free relay, Gian Santos, Derek Hitchens, Kyle Won, and Adam Wu set a new program record for Columbia by finishing in 6:22.02.
On the second day of competition, Zion James broke the program record in the 50 freestyle during preliminaries with a time of 19.27 seconds and later placed fourth in the finals at 19.31 seconds. Samuel Eckert finished seventh in the same event at 19.59 seconds.
In distance events, Zach Vasser placed eighth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:20.28 while Stephen Zhukov won the B finals at 4:19.52.
Columbia also set another program record in the 200 free relay as James, Wu, Beers, and Eckert finished fourth overall with a time of 1:17.41.
In diving events on the one-meter board, Joseph Nicol was Columbia’s top finisher with a score of 298.75.
“Been an extraordinary career for Joe including multiple A finals appearances,” Head Diving Coach Scott Donie said. “This was a strong performance for him today. He really listed his game in the B final and I am incredibly proud of this young man and we are looking forward to the 3m tomorrow.”
The third day of competition will begin with preliminaries for the 100 butterfly at 11 a.m., followed by finals at 6 p.m. After Ivies conclude, qualified divers from Columbia will prepare for NCAA Zone Diving on March 9.
For updates on Columbia men’s swimming and diving, follow @CULionsMSD and @CULionsDiving on social media or visit GoColumbiaLions.com.
