NEW YORK CITY – Kicking off their 2024-25 campaign Friday afternoon in the Big Apple, the University of Pennsylvania men's swimming and diving team fell to Columbia, 188-111, at Percy Uris Natatorium.
 
The Quakers (0-1, 0-1 Ivy) tallied just five wins including two for James Curreri (100 and 200 backstroke) in the loss to the Lions (1-0, 1-0 Ivy).
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Curreri won two events, swimming a 49.84 to claim victory in the 100 back before taking first in the 200 back with a time of 1:48.35. Daniel Gallagher swam a 1:51.02 to finish third in the event.
 
*The two-time Ivy League champion in the event, senior Matt Fallon began his pursuit for a third title with a win in the 200 breaststroke, swimming a 1:58.29 to beat out teammate Peter Whittington (2:01.92). Fallon also secured a third place finish in the 1000 free (9:33.96).
 
*Whittington would not be denied, however, swimming a time of 1:51.93 to place first in the 200 IM. Fallon went on to finish third place (1:53.97).
 
*Cody Hopkins started the meet with a win in the three-meter dive, scoring a 313.87 to take first place. He wasn't as successful in the one-meter dive, though finishing third with a score of 293.40.
 
*Freshman Jeffrey Hou narrowly fell in the 100 butterfly, swimming just five-tenths slower than Columbia's Dongjun Lee with a time of 48.87 to place second.
 
*The 200 fly came down to two Quakers—Max Malakhovets and Whittington—taking second and third, respectively. Malakhovets swam a 1:49.43 while Whittington took third with a 1:49.51.
 
*Colin Zhang swam a 55.94 to finish the 100 breast in third position.
 
*Liam Campbell took third place in the 50 free with a time of 20.83.
 
*The quartet of Alex Fu, Curreri, Xavier Hill, and Campbell placed second in the 400 free relay with a mark of 3:04.14.
 
*Benji Ham, Watson Nguyen, Fu, and Campbell took third place in the 200 medley, clocking a 1:31.64.
 
Up Next
Penn heads to Brown next weekend to face the Bears and Bryant on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. in Providence, the host pool of the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
 
For the latest on Penn swimming & diving, follow @PennSwimDive on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.