George Washington University Athletics
Swimming & Diving Set for A-10 Championships
2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
| 2017 Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships | |
| Date | Schedule | Wednesday, Feb. 15-Saturday, Feb. 18 | Schedule of Events |
| Location | SPIRE Institute | Geneva, Ohio | Directions |
| Coverage | Watch Live | Meet Mobile App | Photo Galleries |
| Additional Information | Championship Central | Tickets |
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: The George Washington men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Geneva, Ohio, to compete at the four-day 2017 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 preliminaries will compete in the evening's finals, with the exception of the 1,650-yard freestyle's single session. Preliminary swimmers and divers finishing 1-8 will earn a spot in the Championship, or "A" final, while finishers 9-16 will return for the Consolation, or "B" final.
Each student-athlete may compete in a maximum of three individual and four relay events throughout the meet. Event winners will receive First Team All-Conference honors and second-place finishers will land Second Team nods.
Six-time defending A-10 champion Richmond, Davidson, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis join the Colonials to make up an 11-team women's field.
Two-time defending champion Massachusetts, Davidson, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis join the Colonials for an eight-team men's field.
HUNGRY FOR MORE: Head Coach James Winchester embarks on his second Championships at the helm of GW's men's and women's programs and looks to continue to move the Colonials up the conference ranks. Winchester guided both squads to a two-place jump from 2015 as the men placed fifth and the women took ninth at last season's championship meet.
A year ago the Colonials reached the podium seven times between both squads and amassed 18 A finalists and 10 B finalists while snapping 14 total program records.
During the regular season, both the men's and women's teams finished with winning dual meet records; 4-3 and 6-4, respectively.
BOLO IS BACK: Senior Andrea Bolognesi made quite the collegiate debut at last year's A-10 Championships, taking gold in all three of his individual events (100-yd breaststroke, 100-yd butterfly, 200-yd IM) while setting A-10 and GW records. Named the league's Most Outstanding Swimmer, Bolognesi went on to become the program's first All-American, finishing eighth in the nation in the 100-yard breast at the NCAA Championships. The Cuveglio, Italy, native will look to post another strong A-10 meet this week.
WOMEN'S WONDERS: Freshman Jackie Torrez has posted a stellar maiden campaign, claiming three A-10 Rookie of the Week nods and breaking into the program's all-time top-10 list in five different events. Torrez leads a troop of 12 freshmen who look to make an immediate impact for the Colonials in their first Championships.
Senior Lauren Law will look to lead a young squad, and sophomore Emily Zhang returns after reaching one A and one B final a year ago.
"We're looking for our senior Lauren Law to take the lead and show our freshmen how it's done," said Winchester. "At the same time, we've got a lot of good young student-athletes in the mix. Emily Zhang was our team MVP as a freshman, and we're looking for her to step up again as she heads into her sophomore championships.
On the boards, sophomore Miranda Simon has posted NCAA Zone qualifying scores on both 1-meter and 3-meter this season and returns to the Championships after reaching the A final on the 1-meter boards a year ago.
"Miranda had a great freshman year getting up into one of the A finals last year," said Winchester. "With her improvements this year making the Zone cuts, she has some big goals for this meet, and I know she's excited to mix it up with the rest of the A-10."
MOTIVATED MEN: After losing just one student-athlete to graduation last season, the men's squad is poised for a strong Championships with the addition of eight talented freshmen. Moritz Fath claimed two A-10 Rookie of the Week nods after joining the squad for the spring semester.
"I think we are hitting our stride at the right time," said Winchester. "We have a lot of young talent on the team that we brought in last year but we have really, really strong returners as well. We are looking to get some great senior leadership out of our men here."
GW returns 10 individuals who reached finals last season, led by Bolognesi's three A finals.
Sophomore diver Jake Ortiz has posted a breakout season, notching NCAA Zone qualifying scores on both boards while snapping program records in both 1-meter and 3-meter events. Ortiz also claimed an A-10 Performer of the Week honor this spring and enters the Championships as the top-seeded 1-meter competitor and is seeded second on 3-meter.
"We've been improving in all areas of the program, as Jake has made great strides and already has made Zone qualifying cuts," added Winchester.
CLOSING THOUGHTS: "On the women's side in an 11 team field, there's definitely a lot of parity," said Winchester. "We can have a fantastic meet and only hold the same place or we could have an average meet and shoot up three or four places. It's going to be so close but I really have a lot of faith and belief in our women. They're in a great place, the culture is in a great place and I'm really excited to see what they can do on the boards and in the pool this week.
"We're definitely making some good progress here in my second year with the men as well," said Winchester. "A lot of the other teams have really performed well so far, a lot of respect to how they've done. Our men are going to go in there with a lot of hope and a lot of ambition and just going to try and hopefully over-believe and overachieve."
Players Mentioned
