George Washington University Athletics
GW Swimming & Diving to Compete at A-10 Championships
2/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
| 2016 Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships | |
| Date | Schedule | Wednesday, Feb. 17-Saturday, Feb. 20 | Schedule of Events |
| Location | SPIRE Institute | Geneva, Ohio | Directions |
| Coverage | Watch Live | Meet Mobile App | Photo Gallery |
| Additional Information | Championship Central | Tickets |
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: The George Washington men's and women's swimming and diving teams will travel to Geneva, Ohio, to compete at the four-day 2016 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships at the SPIRE Institute. Beginning on Wednesday, each day of competition will consist of preliminary and final sessions, where the top 16 performers from the preliminary events will compete in that evening's finals, with the exception of the 1,650-yard freestyle, which will have just one session. Preliminary swimmers and divers placing 1st-8th will earn a spot in the "A" final, while finishers 9th-16th will appear in the "B" final.
Student-athletes may compete in a maximum of three individual and four relay events throughout the championships. Event winners will earn a spot on the First Team All-Conference list, while runners up will take Second Team honors.
Head Coach James Winchester embarks on his first A-10 Championships at the helm for the Colonials.
"I'm definitely very excited for our staff's first championship together," said Winchester. "I think our teams have done a fantastic job this year of really committing to the program and committing to each other and really believing their training. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do this week."
SCOUTING THE WOMEN: GW's women posted a solid regular season, as freshman Emily Zhang and junior Lauren Law served as the squad's top performers. Zhang twice eared Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week and set a new program record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.83 - the top ranking time in the conference. Zhang also enters the meet ranking ninth in the 400-yard IM (4:26.46) and tied for 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.01).
Law is poised to perform well at the Atlantic 10 Championships, as the junior enters the meet with conference top-10 times in the 400-yard IM (3rd, 4:22.11) - a school record - 200-yard free (4th, 1:51.53) and the 200-yard IM (6th, 2:04.18). Law and Zhang are also members of GW's top relay performances of the season in all A-10 competed races.
Freshman Lucy Castro has also had a strong first season and enters the Championships ranking third in the 1,650-yard free (17:10.21) and 11th in the 500-yard free (5:01.91).
"We've had a lot of rookies really step up this year and that's a really good indication of things to come, but the regular season and the championship season are definitely two very different environments," said Winchester. "I think our seniors with their wisdom will definitely guide some of our younger rookies as they go through their first championships together. It's going to be a total team effort, but I think we can expect to see some good performances from the usual candidates, and there's potential from all over the team. It's hard to leave even one person out because they all have the opportunity to score and that's definitely what we're looking to do."
SCOUTING THE MEN: A trio of Colonials own A-10 top-10 times leading into the Championships. Rookie diver Jake Ortiz is ranked sixth and 11th in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively, while sophomore Gustav Hokfelt sits in eighth in the 100-yard backstroke (50.44) and freshman Alexander Auster is ninth in the 50-yard free (21.11).
Freshman Josh Monacelli has been one of GW's top performers this season, grabbing three A-10 Rookie of the Week nods and entering the week 12th in the league in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:08.15).
"Josh has had a great year with his three A-10 Rookie of the Week awards, and we also have some good upperclassmen," said Winchester. "We have Gustav Hokfelt who will look to make an assault on some school records and Ben Fitch is right on our school record in the 100 fly. Liam Huffman has had a good year as well and has had great performances at the conference championships the last couple of years. I know senior Oliver Keegan wants to go out with a bang as he started as an A-10 Champion his freshman year, and I know he's definitely got some eyes on the prize there too."
THE COMPETITION: On the men's side, Massachusetts enters the week as defending champion, and the Colonials will be joined by Davidson, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis to complete the eight-team field.
Richmond has won 13 titles in the last 14 seasons on the women's side and looks to defend its 2015 crown. GW is joined by Davidson, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Louis, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure to round out the 11-team field.
TRUST THE PROCESS: Both the men's and women's squads look to begin to move up the standings after last year's finishes of seventh and 11th, respectively, at the 2015 A-10 Championships.
"We've talked a lot about team goals this year and overall individual performances this year and I know what we're really looking for is improvements, especially in our first year," said Winchester. "I feel confident in the body of work that we've done and I feel we're going to put up some great performances in the pool and on the boards and we'll see where we end up this week."
Coach Winchester and staff have worked to create a new program culture that asks student-athletes to trust the process needed for reach success and the importance of competing for the team as a whole rather than individual performances.
"We've also had a focus on effort and attitude all year long, and how the emotion of the environment is definitely a big factor," said Winchester. "We've got a lot of focus on the family first, the team first, over individual performances. When our student-athletes step up and compete for each other, which they've done many times this year, they get really excited to race. We should end up with some great performances."
Players Mentioned
