Bold statement: Princeton dominated the night, winning 10 of 14 finals at the inaugural session of the 2025 Princeton Big Al Invitational, and the momentum carried through both relays and individual events. But here’s where it gets controversial: the meet featured strong performances from Penn and Columbia that contested Princeton’s early leads in multiple races, keeping the championship wide open for the rest of the weekend.
Overview
The first finals session of the 2025 Princeton Big Al Invitational took place at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, NJ, from December 4–6. Competing teams included Princeton (host), Columbia, Utah, Penn, and Cornell. The meet is a short-course yards (SCY) competition conducted at 25 yards, with results searchable under the meet titled “2025 Princeton Big Al Invitational.”
Event winners and highlights
- Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay: Princeton, 1:29.60. The Tigers’ quartet of Sophia Sunwoo, Sabrina Johnston, Edie Simecek, and Veronique Rossouw posted the winning time, beating Columbia’s 1:30.92 by more than a second. Princeton’s relay closed the session with a strong anchor leg, reflecting depth across sprint and mid-distance athletes.
- Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay: Princeton, 1:17.93. The relay team of Yanning Zheng, Jake Tarara, Lucas Tudoras, and Mitchell Schott outpaced Columbia by nearly a second, reaffirming Princeton’s sprint strength and cohesion in relay formats.
- Women’s 50 Breaststroke: Amy Qin (Penn) – 28.70. Qin secured the top spot, contributing a win for Penn in a short-distance breaststroke race.
- Men’s 50 Breaststroke: Watson Nguyen (Penn) – 24.80. Nguyen claimed victory in a tightly contested breaststroke sprint, keeping Penn within striking distance of Princeton’s overall lead.
- Women’s 500 Freestyle: Anna Moehn (Princeton) – 4:43.58. Moehn claimed the event by a comfortable margin of 1.5 seconds, following up last year’s title with a time close to her best.
- Men’s 500 Freestyle: Mitchell Schott (Princeton) – 4:15.55. Schott notched a personal best, improving on his prior best of 4:15.76, and establishing himself as a podium contender in longer freestyle events.
- Women’s 50 Backstroke: Delaney Herr (Princeton) – 24.45. Herr held off the field in a clean sprint backstroke race.
- Men’s 50 Backstroke: Derek Hitchens (Columbia) – 21.90. Hitchens edged the competition in a brisk backstroke dash.
- Women’s 200 IM: Eleanor Sun (Princeton) – 1:56.55. Sun pulled away decisively, shaving about half a second from last year’s winning time.
- Men’s 200 IM: Alex Townsend (Princeton) – 1:46.08. Townsend, a freshman, won by mere hundredths, continuing Princeton’s trend of youthful breakthroughs; his season best sits at 1:45.94 from a March meet.
- Women’s 50 Freestyle: Sabrina Johnston (Princeton) – 22.41. Johnston edged Penn’s Kayla Fu by 0.15 seconds, though Fu still holds a personal best of 22.07 from the Ivy Championships.
- Men’s 50 Freestyle: Zion James (Columbia) – 19.49. James topped the field, narrowly ahead of his own best time of 19.37 set at last year’s Ivy Championships.
- Women’s 400 Medley Relay: Princeton – 3:39.00. The Tigers led from start to finish, narrowly beating Penn’s 3:39.14 and Penn B’s 3:39.94.
- Men’s 400 Medley Relay: Princeton – 3:09.48. Princeton’s quartet (Lenoce, Zou, Townsend, Schott) held off their B-team rivals by under a second in a tight relay finale.
Session narrative and key performances
The day opened with the 200 free relays, where Princeton swept both titles. The women’s final of 1:29.60 represented a substantial improvement over last year’s mark, and the relay lineup — Sunwoo, Johnston, Simecek, and Rossouw — combined strong splits across the board to secure the win.
On the men’s side, Princeton’s relay crew (Zheng, Tarara, Tudoras, Schott) pushed a fast split pack that kept them ahead of Columbia’s challengers, mirroring the team’s early-season sprint depth.
In individual events, Penn’s Amy Moehn asserted her dominance in the 500 free, clocking 4:43.58 to win by 1.5 seconds, reflecting steady training progress and experience. Mitchell Schott matched that 1.5-second margin in the men’s 500 free, delivering a personal best and signaling his readiness to challenge for senior-year milestones.
The 200 IM events highlighted Princeton’s versatility. Eleanor Sun claimed the women’s title by more than a second, building on last year’s performance with a new personal-best trajectory. Alex Townsend, a first-year Tiger, grabbed the men’s 200 IM by a few hundredths, signaling his potential to grow into a top-tier all-around swimmer during his collegiate career.
In sprint free races, Sabrina Johnston’s 50 free victory for Princeton showcased her explosive speed, while Zion James of Columbia delivered a sharp victory in the men’s 50 free, a sign of Columbia’s sprint potential approaching the meet’s later sessions.
The day closed with the 400 medley relays. Princeton’s women maintained a narrow edge over Penn’s A-team, and Princeton’s men cemented the win with a convincing performance from their top four swimmers, ensuring Princeton finished the session with strong team scores.
Team scores after the session
Women
1) Penn – 544
2) Princeton – 364.5
3) Columbia – 209.5
4) Utah – 43
5) Cornell – 19
Men
1) Princeton – 505.5
2) Columbia – 414.5
3) Penn – 309
4) Utah – 27
5) Cornell – 26
Takeaways
- Princeton leveraged depth across sprint and mid-distance events, especially in relays and IMs, to secure a commanding lead in both the women’s and men’s team scores.
- Penn and Columbia put up competitive showings in several events, indicating a tight competition as the meet progresses.
- A few freshmen and underclassmen, notably Townsend for Princeton, demonstrated breakout potential that could shape the remainder of the invitational and the season ahead.
Engagement prompts
Is Princeton’s early momentum sustainable, or will Penn and Columbia mount a stronger comeback in the next session? Which performances stood out as the brightest indicators of future success, and what adjustments might other teams consider to close the gap? Share thoughts in the comments about strategies you’d like to see from teams aiming to balance sprint and endurance events in this format.
