George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
NCAA Championships
Bolognesi Becomes First Team All-American on Friday
3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
ATLANTA - Junior Andrea Bolognesi became GW men's swimming and diving's first All-American on Friday evening at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech.
"I'm very happy with Andrea's performances at NCAAs," said first-year head coach James Winchester. "Going into the competition we had a plan to drop a couple of events and really focus on the 100 breaststroke, and it really paid off in a big way today."
Bolognesi was GW's third-ever qualifier to the NCAA Championships, posting NCAA "B" cut times in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM in addition to the 100-yard breaststroke at the Atlantic 10 Championships in February. Bolognesi entered the week ranked 16th in the nation in the 100-breast and opted to compete only in his highest-ranked event at the NCAA Championships.
In Friday morning's preliminary session, the junior set a new program record in the 100-breast with his time of 52.06 to finish fourth overall in the morning session and solidify a spot in the evening Championship Final.
The Cuveglio, Italy, native placed eighth overall in the finals with a time of 52.51, earning First Team All-America status for the first time in program history.
"The NCAA Championships were a really hard environment to swim in," said Bolognesi. "Everyone is fast, so just being there and being able to represent GW was already great. Being the first one ever to score feels even greater.
"I'm really proud, and I wish my teammates could have been there. I really think a lot of this achievement goes to them too, because they push me in every single practice."
The top 16 finishers in each event earn All-America status, with consolation finalists earning All-America honorable mention and the top eight performers receiving First Team All-America nods.
"To garner All-America honors at the NCAA Championships is a huge achievement and one that I know Andrea and his teammates are definitely very proud of," said Coach Winchester.
Bolognesi is GW's first participant in the men's NCAA Championships since GW Hall of Famer Tim Champney ('00) in 1999. The junior's 11 points make the Colonials the first Atlantic 10 Conference team to score at the prestigious meet since 1986, when La Salle grabbed one point.
"This has definitely been a very successful first year for us here at GW, " said Winchester. "It couldn't have been done without the hard work of not just individual performances in the big moments, but also performances of every single person on the staff and every single member of the team as well. We've definitely had a great experience here at NCAAs and we look forward to having a great 2016-17 season."
Players Mentioned
