One thing became evident about the men’s swimming team after its meet at Harvard this past weekend — this team is ready to compete for an Ivy title. After traveling to Cambridge, Mass., to take on Dartmouth and defending Ivy champion Harvard, the Red came up seconds short of beating the defending champions in its own pool. Cornell did defeat Dartmouth, but ultimately could not hold on for the upset over the Crimson.

“We were really close to them in two races,” said senior co-captain Wes Newman, who placed first in both the 100 and 200 free. “If we had won those two, we would have won the meet.”

Despite narrowly losing to Harvard, the Red’s performance over the week served as a huge confidence booster heading into the season.