GW Men's Swimming & Diving Season Outlook
9/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
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WASHINGTON - The George Washington men's swimming and diving squad looks to build on a strong first season under head coach James Winchester with the addition of a large freshman class and a talented returning group in 2016-17.
Winchester led the Colonials to an impressive showing at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championships, jumping up two places at the league meet for a fifth-place team finish.
The Colonials return the program's first-ever First Team All-America selection in senior Andrea Bolognesi, who placed eighth in the 100 breast at the 2016 NCAA Championships and led GW to a 33rd-place team finish - the best in program history.
Three Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team members are back in 2016-17 for GW: Bolognesi, junior Gustav Hokfelt and sophomore Alexander Auster.
In addition to a strong returning group, the Colonials welcome nine talented freshman to the squad and look poised to continue an upward climb within the conference.
"Our men's team is very deep this year, losing only one graduate from last season and adding a lot of talented freshmen. We have a lot of potential," said Winchester. "That potential should give us the opportunity to move up in conference, but we have a lot of hard work ahead of us still."
Freestyle
The sprint freestyle events will be led by junior Gustav Hokfelt and sophomore Alexander Auster after both reached the A Final of the 50 free at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championships. Freshman Max Forstenhaeusler will be a strong competitor in the 100 and 200 distances. Junior Jarvus Pennington is also set for a strong season.
"Alex Auster and Gustav Hokfelt will lead us in the sprint freestyles this season," said Winchester. "Max will add a lot of firepower in the 100 and 200 freestyles. A potential breakthrough in the sprint area is Jarvus Pennington, who's shown some good early-season form and is set for a good junior year."
Senior Liam Huffman looks to lead a very talented freshmen duo of Alex Cronin and Shawn Lemarie in the distance group this season. Huffman placed seventh in the 500 free, eighth in the 200 free and 10th in the 1,650 free at the league meet in 2016. Rookie Vladamir Paredes and junior Connor Hart - who finished 13th in the 1,650 free last spring - will also compete for the Colonials in the distance events.
"Distance is one of our strongest areas of the program," said Winchester. "We're going to be led by a couple of young talented freshmen, Alex Cronin and Shawn Lemarie. They're also going to be heavily influenced by one of our best in Liam Huffman. Adding depth will be Vladimir Paredes and Connor Hart."
Backstroke
Hokfelt looks to build off of a stellar 2015-16 when he placed sixth in both the 100 and 200 at the 2016 A-10 Championships. Hokfelt also posted an NCAA 'B' Cut time in 100 back in the preliminaries at the league meet while setting a new program record. Freshman Andrew Cho is set for a strong debut season and sophomore Nicolas Reeves and rookie Mitch Barrow will add depth for the Colonials.
"We've got a strong one-two punch here with Gustav Hokfelt and Andrew Cho," said Winchester. "Gustav had an outstanding sophomore year, taking down the school record in the 100 back, but he's going to be joined by one of the top recruits in the nation, Andrew Cho.
"From a year ago, Nick Reeves has made some outstanding improvements; he went to work hard this summer in the weight room and in the pool and looks like a completely different swimmer," said Winchester. "He has really set himself up well for a great sophomore year. He could be one of our glue guys who gets us those last couple of points at conference."
Breaststroke
The Colonials return All-American Andrea Bolognesi to lead the breaststroke events. Bolognesi set a GW and conference record in the 100 breast last season and was named a CollegeSwimming.com Pre-season All-American in that event for 2016-17. Sophomore Josh Monacelli will also be a top breaststroker for the Colonials after earning a spot in the B Finals in both the 100 and 200 at the A-10 Championships as a freshman. Newcomers Karan Mahadev and Kyle Hrabovsky will also add to GW's breastroke lineup.
"We're excited to welcome back Andrea Bolognesi for his senior year," said Winchester. "It'll be a tough act to follow after an outstanding junior year, but his hard work should put him in a position for a good senior year. Adding depth to the event will be Josh Monacelli, Karan Mahadev and Kyle Hrabovsky."
Butterfly
Bolognesi, who set another program and A-10 record at the league meet in the 100 distance, will take charge of one of GW's deepest events this season. Forstenhaeusler and fellow rookie Emils Pone will also compete in the fly events. Senior Ben Fitch, who ranks third in both the 100 and 200 fly on GW's all-time top 10 list, returns after winning the B Final in the 200 at last season's championships.
"This will be one of our deepest events this year led by Andrea Bolognesi, but closely followed by a couple of freshmen," said Winchester. "Max and Emils Pone and also Ben Fitch will contribute in the butterfly."
IM
Bolognesi will also lead GW in the IM events after setting yet another school and conference record in 2016 at the 200 distance. Forstenhaeusler and Pone will add competition in the 200. The Colonials will be looking for a 400 IM mainstay to emerge in 2016-17.
"The 200 IM is going to be led by Andrea, but very closely following behind will be a couple of freshmen, Max and Emils," said Winchester. "In the 400 we have a lot of opportunity for someone to step up. It could be one of our distance guys, it could be one of our middle distance guys, it really is a wide open event for us and we're looking for someone to step up."
Diving
Sophomore Jake Ortiz posted a strong rookie campaign on the boards for GW, placing fifth and eighth overall in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively, a the A-10 meet in 2016, despite battling injury during his freshman season. Head diving coach Anthony Crowder anticipates another year of top performances from Ortiz in 2016-17.
"Jake had a good summer of training and he's looking very healthy and very strong," said Crowder. "He's gotten over the freshman jitters and he's making some really good corrections on some of the things we're doing for skill development, so I'm really excited about where he's going to be. I definitely see him in the top of the conference again."
The Colonials open the 2016-17 season with a pair of weekend meets beginning on Friday at Queens with Davidson.
"On the men's side, we have a lot of talent balanced among all of our classes," said Winchester. "This will make competition for places very challenging within the program. This is a good place for our program to be in my second year, because it means we should be set up for some good improvements. We have a lot of talent and potential, and along as with some hard work and some good fortune, we should be able to move up a couple of places in the conference."
The 2017 Atlantic 10 Championships will begin on Feb. 15, at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Players Mentioned
