PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech Men's Swim & Dive team won the 2023 Caltech Invite this past weekend, beating out three conference foes in the two-day home meet at Braun Pool.

The squad earned 1104 total points at the invitational, beating out Occidental College (660 pts), Cal Lutheran University (656 pts) and the University of Redlands (567 pts) to nab the victory.

It was an incredibly strong weekend for the group, which saw multiple top-10 performances including three new school records.

Action began shortly after 9 a.m. on Saturday morning with the 3-meter dive, where sophomore Aaban Syed skyrocketed himself to No. 5. all-time in program history with a well-rounded 11-dive score of 372.00.

The meet then shifted to the lanes, where Caltech picked up a school record in the very first swimming event of the day. Sophomore Simon Hu, junior Evan Zhang, first-year Marcel Liu and senior Leo Yang swam a brilliant 400-yard medley relay, tapping the wall at 3 minutes, 21.64 seconds to win the race and grab the all-time No. 1 spot on the program record boards. The Beavers' 'B' team also posted a quick race as they grabbed second place with a time of 3:26.41.

The Beavers dominated the 200-yard freestyle as they swept places 1 through 4. Hu won the race with a speedy time of 1:41.84 while senior Naci Keskin finished moments later at 1:42.67; Yang (1:43.56) and first-year Zachary Pestrikov (1:44.00) nabbed third and fourth. Hu, Keskin and Yang all hold program top-10 times in the event, with Keskin holding the all-time record at 1:38.82.

Pestrikov put his name on a Caltech all-time top-ten list individually as he swam a 4:44.52 in the 500-yard freestyle, putting the rookie eighth in the history of the program.

Fellow newcomer Leo Jankovic posted a phenomenal performance in the 100-yard backstroke; the first-year won the event with a scorching time of 52.93 seconds. Jankovic just missed out on a Caltech all-time top-10 time in the event.

Zhang, who holds the third-fastest time in the program's 100-yard breaststroke records, nearly toppled his PR in the event later in the day; the standout registered a time of 56.84, just narrowly missing out on his own record of 56.60. Zhang finished second in the event among 18 competitors, followed closely behind by sophomore Kevin Cai who put his name fourth in Caltech 100 Breast history with a massive time of 57.85.

Lin, who holds the No. 2 all-time mark in the race (55.11), swam a 58.05; first-year Tommaso Colombo swam a 58.63 in the event to grab the No. 6 all-time spot.

Senior Andrew Pasco won the 100-yard butterfly event, tapping the wall at 50.97 seconds to nab the victory. The New Jersey native nearly toppled his own personal best of 50.46, which the star swam last February to grab the all-time third spot in program history.

The squad went 1-2 in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Caltech's 'A' and 'B' teams posted excellent performances to round out the meet. Zhang, Yang, first-year Jeffrey Zhou and senior Lucas Abounader earned the No. 6 all-time spot on the event record boards after swimming an efficient 1:23.98 to grab the victory. Liu, Jankovic, junior Sam Small and Keskin earned an impressive time in second, clocking in at 1:25.88.

Day 1 wrapped up in the afternoon before the group rested and prepared for Day 2 which began again at 9 a.m.

After helping lead the team to a school record in the 400-yard medley one day earlier, Liu would etch his name in the history books yet again as he swam a 49.19 across 100 meters for the butterfly. The rookie topped the existing record by 0.15 seconds; he is one of just two Beavers ever to go sub-50 seconds.

Liu joined Jankovic, Cai and Zhang later in the day as the foursome notched the school record in the 200-yard medley relay time trial. The group combined for a monumental 1:31.26, beating out the previous record of 1:31.79 set in 2021. With the result, Liu picks up his third school record from the weekend while Zhang earns his second.

The team saw Syed continue his strong weekend as he notched an 11-dive score of 407.35 on Sunday in the 1-meter dive. The performance was the second-best of the day and puts him at No. 4 all-time on the Caltech top-10 record sheet.

The Beavers picked up an impressive win in the 200-yard medley relay race as Hu, Colombo, Yang and Abounader narrowly beat out a stellar Oxy group. Caltech finished the race at 1:33.46, just beating out the Tigers who tapped the wall at 1:33.50. With the result, the four Beavers soar up to seventh all-time in program history in the event.

The team saw another Caltech top-ten performance from Pestrikov in the 400-yard IM, as the rookie posted a blazing time of 4:13.33; Pestrikov's time put him ahead of the next fastest swimmer by just over 13 seconds.

Hu kept up his dominant weekend as he won the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.04). The Maryland native currently holds a PR of 1:51.12 in the event, landing him second all-time in Caltech history.

The squad went 2-3-4 in the 100-yard freestyle, with Zhang (46.38) grabbing second, Yang (46.67) earning third and Abounander (46.87) finishing fourth. Zhang's time moved him into the top-ten list; he is now tied with Yang.

Cai moved up to third all-time in the 200-yard breaststroke after swimming a lightning 2:08.11.

Caltech swept the top three places in the 200-yard butterfly, with Pasco (1:52.00), sophomore Sidd Ojha (1:53.94) and sophomore Max Chen (1:57.03) each putting in excellent times. The three student-athletes all just missed out on their personal bests accomplished last season and putting them on the top-ten record sheet.

Hu, Yang, Colombo and Keskin won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:07.15, earning them a solid top-ten record finish; the 'B' team of Pestrikov, Pasco, Smal and Zhou notched third (3:09.92).

Head coach Andrew Brabson was pleased with how the team performed in their second home meet of the 2023-24 campaign.

"The invite went quite well," said Brabson. "We ended the meet with some school records and a large number of season-best performances. This meet always serves as a nice abbreviated conference meet rehearsal and I am excited to see what the team can do as we head into next year."

The program will now focus on its next meet on Saturday, Jan. 6 as they take on Cal Lutheran and Redlands on the road.

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