Swimming and Diving Season Underway This Weekend

Maggie Moss, Sean Flaherty and Mark Adam (kneeling) will lead GW swimming and diving this year.

10/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming

Oct. 13, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - The George Washington University men's and women's swimming and diving team's kick off its 2005-06 campaign this weekend with the Potomac Relays (hosted by American) Friday and a meet at Navy on Saturday.

With the women's team placing third at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships three years in a row and the men's team placing fourth in back-to-back seasons, both squads aim to breakthrough this year and take another step closer towards an A-10 Title.

GW standout Maggie Moss (Indianapolis, IN/North Central) will once again lead the way for the women as she enters her senior season as the conference favorite in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.

A pair of juniors will carry the bulk of the load for the men's team this year. First team all-conference Sean Flaherty (Scarborough, ME/Scarborough) will defend his A-10 title in the 500-yard freestyle and second-team all-conference Jon Sabin (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield), who took second in the 100-yard backstroke at the A-10 Championships in 2004-05, has his sights set on first place this season.

Senior Mark Adam (Millersville, MD/ Severna Park) and junior Daniel Mahoney (Oakland, CA/Bishop O'Dowd) should also contribute major points in the pool this year.

Other seniors expected to serve in a major role for the women include Christina Boland (Purcelville, VA/Loudon Valley), Nicole Cadman (Riva, MD/South River), and Caitlin Hyde (Fairless Hills, PA/Bensalem).

Senior diver Alicia Moulton (North Andover, MA/North Andover) steps up this year to replace two-time all-conference and GW record holder Katura Horton-Perinchief, who after one year in the program moved on to the Colonials' diving coach position, Drew Boudreau (Rochester, NH/St. Thomas Aquinas), Mark DeSimone (Stamford, CT/Westhill), Jeff Glazer (Dix Hills, NY/Commack), Danny Johnson (Glendale, AZ/Mountain Ridge) and Justin Licht (Naperville, IL/Naperville North) return after solid freshman seasons for the men, as does Andrea Martin (Clifton, VA/Centreville), Maureen Moss (Indianapolis, IN/North Central) and A-10 Freshman of the Week (Jan. 31) Megan Loock (Southbury, CT/Hopkins School) for the women.

Sophomore divers John Osterholt (Hollywood, FL/Charminade Madonna) and Michelle Caputy (Great Falls, VA/Foxcroft School) should also make an impact as underclassmen.

Both the men's and women's squads had strong recruiting classes during the off season. The freshmen will make an immediate impact, scoring important points for the Colonials at the A-10 Championships. Leading the way for the GW rookies for the men will be David Zenk (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Country Day School), (Missouri State Record Holder, Swimmer of the Year), Seth Benkov (Manalapan, NJ/Marlboro), Andrew Farrell (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest), Tom Pullen (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) and Andrew Sweeney (Hampton, NH/Willistion School).

The women, Ariana Berdini (Woodstock, GA/Etowah), Lauren Fuchs (E. Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) (3rd Place - Maccabiah Games), Luciana Maggiolo (Coral Gables, FL/Bishop Carrollton), Laura Myers (Cedarburg, WI/Divine Savior Holy Angels) and Sarah Tannenbaum (New York, NY/The Brearley School) will all contribute strongly to the depth of the Colonial women.

The A-10 Championships will again he held in Buffalo, NY (Feb 15th - 18th) at the end of the season. The road to the championship is even tougher this year as St. Louis the conference this year.

-GW-