ITHACA, N.Y. – After going head-to-head with multiple Ivy League foes at a pair of tri-meets in its last two competitions, the Cornell men's swimming and diving team will make its final splash of the semester at Akron's Zippy Invitational on Dec. 3-5 at the Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio.
Cornell has a history of success at the Zippy Invitational, having won the event the last time the team competed in 2019-20.
The Schedule:
In its final showing before the holiday break, the Big Red will dive into a meet format that mimics that of the Ivy League Championships, as the three-day meet will feature preliminary and final rounds of each event. For the first two days of the meet on Friday and Saturday, prelims are slated for a 9 a.m. start with finals commencing at 6 p.m. Prelims will remain at 9 a.m. on Sunday, with finals slotted for 4 p.m. to wrap up the meet. For a full schedule, event-by-event, click here.
For fans who plan to be in attendance, daily tickets for prelims (excluding diving prelims, which are free) are $8 and daily tickets for finals are $12. An all session pass/heat sheet is available for purchase on Friday and Saturday for $45. For fans who are unable to be in attendance but wish to follow along, a live stream of finals will be available all-three days of the meet.
The Field:
The field for this year's Zippy Invitational will feature seven men's teams and 10 women's teams. In addition to the Big Red, the men's field will include Bloomsburg University, Clarion University, Keiser University, Niagara, Oakland, and Penn.
Cornell will square off against every team for the first time this season with the exception of Penn, as the Big Red went up against the Quakers in its most recent outing on Nov. 20. Penn came out on top by a score of 219-81.
Last Time Out:
In addition to Penn, the Big Red also competed against Princeton on Nov. 20, with the Tigers emerging victorious by a score of 235.50-64.50. The Big Red was led at the tri-meet by junior Jeremy Marcin, who notched a pair of second place finishes in his events. Marcin's runner-up placings came in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, where he clocked in at 21.22 in the 50 freestyle and 49.60 in the 100 butterfly to finish second in both events.
Marcin had support from his fellow Big Red teammates in both events, with Ian Mackey securing a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle (21.63) and Joseph Gurski placing fifth in the 100 butterfly (50.49). The top-five finish in the 100 butterfly wasn't the only of the day for Gurski, however, as the freshman's best finish came in the 200 butterfly where he placed fourth in 1:52.09.
Jacob Bass posted a fourth-place finish of his own in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:07.00. Senior freestyle distance specialist Jake Lawson swam well in his events, placing fifth in the 1,000 freestyle in 9:44.31 and sixth in the 500 freestyle in 4:42.27.
So Far This Season:
The Big Red owns a 1-4 overall record so far this season, having opened up the 2021-22 campaign with a distinct 156-87 victory over St. Bonaventure on Nov. 6 to improve to 6-0 all-time against the Bonnies.
Cornell captured nine individual event wins en route to the team victory, including a first place finish in the 1-meter diving competition by Soodong Kim, who secured his first collegiate win with 286.73 points. Jack Banks and Sebastian Wolff also notched first place finishes in their collegiate debuts, with Banks placing first in the 100 freestyle (47.16) and Wolff winning the 200 IM (1:54.14).
Up Next:
The Cornell men's swimming and diving team will take a pause from competition until Jan. 14-15 when it faces Yale in New Haven, Conn. Diving is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 14 with swimming commencing on Saturday, Jan. 15.
