Previewing Penn at the Ivy League men’s swimming and diving championships

At the men’s Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships in Providence, R.I., one of the highest-profile Quakers will surely be U.S. National Team member Matt Fallon. The sophomore will be seeking to defend last year's Ivy title in the 200-yard breaststroke, as well as attempting to earn a first-place finish in the 100-yard breast after last year's second-place finish. This weekend, he will be part of a mixed team of veterans and younger athletes looking to replicate last year’s strong third-place team finish.

A good handful of Penn’s best swimmers from last year’s Ivys have graduated, including distance freestyler William Kamps, freestyler Billy Fallon, and butterflyer and Olympian (representing Jamaica) Keanan Dols. They were key legs in multiple relay events as well — so this year’s cohort of Penn swimmers is expected to have some new faces headlining those events in addition to Fallon and the remaining veterans. 

Some key returning swimmers include sophomore Daniel Gallagher, senior Neil Simpson, junior Jason Schreiber, and junior Ben Feldman. Gallagher is currently on a hot streak. At the Zippy Invitational in December, he earned personal bests in five events. After finishing second in the 200-yard backstroke at 2022's Ivy Championships, he is looking for the win at this year’s meet. 

Simpson and Schreiber joined Fallon in the A final of last year’s 200-yard breast, finishing fifth and sixth respectively, and they’ll be looking to improve that to a more dominating performance — possibly emulating the women's team's two podium sweeps in the distance freestyle events last weekend. 

Feldman will be looking to break into the A final in multiple races after finishing ninth and tenth in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle, respectively. Feldman’s time of 46.86 in last year’s 100-yard fly B final would’ve actually earned him fifth place overall, but since his performance in the preliminaries was not in the top eight, he was in the B final and not the A final. He’ll likely at least return to the 100-yard free A final — attempting to improve on his seventh-place finish from last year. 

Penn’s divers are looking especially strong as well. The Red and Blue’s top performers from last year are returning, including senior Trevor Nelson, junior Jack Williams, and sophomore Cody Hopkins. Williams will headline the divers, as he is on a streak of high scores and finishes including first-place finishes in the one-meter dive and three-meter dive at the Zippy Invitational and two recent wins in the one-meter against West Chester and Rider. 

The Quakers look to beat five-time reigning champions Harvard and strong regular season competitors Columbia. However, Princeton will also likely be a force to reckon with after finishing in second last year — 400 points ahead of the Quakers. 

Headlined by Fallon, the Ivy League Championship looks to be an exciting and competitive meet where the Quakers will look to combine veteran experience and young talent to continue the momentum started at last year’s championships.