Cougars fall to Harvard in 2017 season opener

PROVO, Utah­­ ­­­­– In their first meet of 2017, the BYU men's swim team loses in a match against Harvard on Friday in Provo. 

“It was awesome to have Harvard here in Provo with us,” BYU head swim coach John Brooks said. “This is the first time they have come here in my time coaching and may be the first time in all of BYU’s history. We didn’t have an impressive showing today, as our guys are coming off of a week of intense training. Our goal is to continue to work hard and prepare for our next swim meet in a week.”

Harvard took first in all of the 13 events, although BYU took close second and third places in several of the races.

In the 200 freestyle, Rainer Ng followed Harvard’s Dean Farris in second place with a time of 1:41.71. Just a few events later, Ng claimed third place in the 200 butterfly, clocking a time of 1:55.19.

Roger Woods, a freshman from Idaho Falls, took second in the 50 freestyle with 21.12 seconds.

Kent Fellows earned a second-place standing in the 100 freestyle event, clocking a time of 46.28.

In the final event of the evening, the men participated in a non-scoring 200 freestyle relay. Harvard’s team took an early lead, only to be challenged by BYU’s Regie Topham. By the time BYU’s anchor Woods entered the pool, he was striding with Harvard’s Raphael Marcoux. Harvard out touched the Cougars and finished in 1:23.04, while BYU clocked 1:23.07.

Harvard requested and organized to compete against BYU while visiting the west. While they came to swim, they were also interested in seeing BYU’s campus and visiting the historic Temple Square.

The full BYU swim and dive team will have their second home meet of this year on Saturday, Jan. 14 at noon MDT. The event is free to the public.