George Washington University Athletics
GW Women's Swimming and Diving Season Preview
9/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
We open 2016-17 THIS WEEKEND! Check out what @GWSwimJames had to say about our women's squad ahead of our season opener! #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/hGmujs56Op
- GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) September 26, 2016
WASHINGTON - The George Washington women's swimming and diving team is poised to continue to rise within the Atlantic 10 conference under second-year head coach James Winchester.
The Colonials added 10 freshmen for the 2016-17 season after graduating seven seniors last spring. The Buff and Blue will look to veteran leadership to welcome a strong rookie class into the fold.
"We have a young squad this year, but one with a lot of talent," said Winchester. "It's always hard to replace seven graduating women. [Assistant coach] Katie Stefl and the staff bringing in 10 has definitely helped that deficit. Within that, we're expecting our upper classmen to step up and lead the way. It should put us in a strong position to move up the conference."
Freestyle
Junior captain Abigail Fusco and classmate Hannah Kopydlowski are set to lead GW's sprint freestyle events as both enter 2016-17 on the program's all-time top 10 list in the 50 free and 100 free. Sophomore Caroline Racke - a member of GW's all-time top 10 in the 50 free - will add depth in the sprint free events, along with freshmen Shanna Colyar and Anaka Will-Dryden.
In the distance freestyle events, sophomore Lucy Castro will serve as the Colonials' top returner, ranking seventh on GW's all-time top 10 in the 1,650 free. Senior Selin Ozturk returns to the pool after a redshirt season and looks to make an immediate impact competing as a Colonial for the first time after transferring from Utah. Rookie Emily Hample will also compete for the Colonials in the distance events.
"In the sprint events, we have some strong returners that will lead the charge, joined by a pair of young freshmen that will look to make an immediate impact," said Winchester. "Distance should be a strong suit for us with Lucy Castro - who had a solid first year - and Selin Ozturk returning from a redshirt year. We're expecting some pretty big things out of those two ladies."
Backstroke
Fusco looks to lead the Colonials in the 100 backstroke after a stellar sophomore season. Fusco enters the year ranking second on GW's all-time top 10 in the 100 back and won the B Final in that same event at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championships. Freshman Gemma Atherley is poised to make an early impact for the Colonials in the 200 back and will be joined by sophomore Isobel Walker an rookie Alli Lapps in the backstroke events.
Abigail will be looking to make a run at the school record in the 100 back this season," said Winchester. "In the 200 backstroke, freshman Gemma Atherley looks set to score high at conference and should enter into the GW all-time top 10 pretty early."
Breaststroke
After the graduation of 100 breast record holder Lauren Steagall in 2016, several student-athletes have an opportunity to take charge. Sophomore Emily Zhang currently leads the 100 breaststroke group, and freshmen Jackie Torrez and Courtney Coghill enter their first seasons with already high scoring times. In the 200, Torrez looks to make an immediate push for the school record. Elizabeth Vogel will add depth in the breaststroke events.
"It's going to be hard to replace Lauren Steagall who set the school record in the 100, so in the 100 breast there's a lot of opportunity for relay spots," said Winchester. "We're looking for someone to step up in the 100 breast. Emily Zhang is our fastest right now, but she covers a lot of events. Then in the 200, Jackie Torrez actually comes in faster than our school record, and she's more suited to the middle distance events than the shorter events."
Butterfly
Senior Lauren Law will lead the butterfly events for the Colonials in 2016-17, entering the season in GW's top five all-time times in the 100 and 200 fly events. She'll be joined by Torrez and Lapps.
"We're excited to welcome back senior Lauren Law who had a very strong junior campaign," said Winchester. "Adding competition in the fly will be Jackie Torrez and Alli Lapps."
IM
The Colonials return two of the program's best performers in Law and Zhang to the IM events. Law enters the seasons with GW's program records in the 200 and 400 distances, with Zhang close behind in second. At the 2016 A-10 Championships, Zhang grabbed an eighth-place finish, while Law won the B Final in the 100. Coghill and Torrez will join Zhang and Law for a strong IM group.
"We're happy to welcome back Emily Zhang and Lauren Law â€" two of our best IMers in school history," said Winchester. "They're going to be joined by Courtney Coghill and Jackie Torrez as potential scorers at the A-10 Championships."
Diving
Junior captain Iman Lee will provide leadership for Colonials both in and out of the pool and returns as GW's veteran diver. Sophomore Miranda Simon returns after a strong freshman campaign where she finished seventh on the 1-meter at the A-10 Championships despite battling injury as a rookie. Freshman Gillian Chowkse joins the Colonials for 2016-17 and looks to have a successful first season with head diving coach Anthony Crowder.
"Iman is doing a great job," said Crowder. "She's taking on a leadership role not only for the swimming and diving portion but academically as well - pushing people and making sure everyone's on track. She put in a lot of good work on the boards over the summer and some of the things we've been working on are really showing.
"With Miranda it's going to be about keeping her healthy. She's got a large background in diving and she's already got a solid base, so we're fine-tuning with her and working on her list. I anticipate her making finals on both boards at the A-10 Championships this season.
"Gillian is an amazing student has has a background in gymnastics, similar to Iman. She does a lot of things very well, so I'm excited about how she's going to progress this season. We're going to keep it simple for her freshman year and drill basics and the process to make sure she's set up for the rest of her career."
The Colonials open the 2016-17 season with a pair of weekend meets beginning on Friday at Queens with Davidson and UNC-Asheville.
"On the women's side, although we made improvements up the conference, I don't think our women were satisfied last year," said Winchester. "I think they're hungry for a little bit more. They think they should be ready to make some more improvements in the conference and get themselves up to a place where they feel they deserve. With that will come a lot of hard work, but the potential is there."
The 2017 Atlantic 10 Championships will begin on Feb. 15, at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Players Mentioned
