Dean Farris Returns to Action at Harvard With Personal-Best Time in 100 Butterfly
Dean Farris Returns to Action at Harvard With Personal-Best Time in 100 Butterfly
One of the biggest names in collegiate swimming returned to action on Saturday. Following two years away, due to a combination of a redshirt year and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dean Farris guided Harvard to a pair of season-opening victories, a 233-65 triumph over Cornell and a 219-77 decision of Dartmouth.
The 23-year-old Farris produced his top swim in the 100-yard butterfly, where he touched the wall in 47.33 for a nearly two-second win. In the 50 freestyle, Farris dipped under the 20-second barrier with an outing of 19.95, good for second place behind his teammate Raphael Marcoux (19.85). Farris also led off the winning 200 medley relay with a 21.69 effort on the backstroke leg and split 19.24 on the second leg of the Crimson’s 200 freestyle relay.
During his junior year, Farris captured a pair of NCAA championships. In addition to winning the 100 freestyle (40.80) and the 100 backstroke (43.66), he set an NCAA and American record in the 200 freestyle (1:29.15) while leading off Harvard’s 800 freestyle relay.
Farris opted to take a redshirt season for the 2019-2020 campaign in order to focus on his training for the United States Olympic Trials, which were delayed by a year by the COVID pandemic. Farris didn’t compete last year due to the Ivy League’s decision to cancel all sports due to the pandemic.