Saturday, February 23
Geneva, OH
ALL DAY
George Washington University
vs
Atlantic 10 Championships
Men's Swimming & Diving: A-10 Champs Again
2/23/2019 11:47:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Colonials roll to a third straight conference crown
GENEVA, Ohio - Make it a three-peat.
George Washington men's swimming and diving closed out its third straight Atlantic 10 title on Saturday, clinching a comfortable victory with another medal-filled finals session at the SPIRE Institute.
The Colonials punctuated an excellent four-day meet with their best evening yet. They won nine medals, swept the podium in both the 1,650-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle and finished with gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Moritz Fath, Alexander Auster, Max Forstenhaeusler and Patrick Lersch teamed up to win the meet-closing relay in a GW-record time of 2:56.63.
Afterward, Fath was honored as the meet's Most Outstanding Performer in recognition of winning six gold medals, including an individual win Saturday in the 1,650-yard freestyle in program-record time, with Peter Nachtwey, who earned gold (3M) and silver (1M) medals, named Most Outstanding Diver.
Then, the Buff and Blue accepted another championship trophy and piled into the pool for a familiar celebration.
"Winning three in a row is just an amazing accomplishment for these guys," said head coach Brian Thomas, who was named A-10 Men's Swimming Coach of the Year. "They really took it over throughout the weekend in a big way. I couldn't be happier for them at the moment, to be honest."
The Colonials faced a strong early charge from the Patriots this week, but their mix of top-end talent -- 14 gold medals -- and quality depth -- 20 different individual scorers -- paved the way for a stress-free finish.
The Buff and Blue earned 22 medals in all, including five golds in as many relay races. They set six A-10 records and 11 new program marks along the way.
"We left it all in the pool," said Fath, who broke A-10 records in two of his individual events and program records in all three. "I'm just drained from those four days, but I'm very happy to get the three-peat."
On Saturday, Fath, Josh Legge and DH Hwang set the tone by going 1-2-3 in the 1,650 free. Fath broke Chad Senior's two-decade old mark for the 1,000 with his split on the way to a program-record finish in 15:18.37.
Emils Pone and Andrew Cho then took the top two spots in the 200 back. Pone touched first in 1:43.95 with Cho (1:44.34) right behind for his first individual A-10 medal.
It was the close of a breakout meet for Pone, who also won the 400-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke in addition to swimming on the 200-yard medley, 400-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays.
Auster led an impressive charge in the 100-yard freestyle. The senior from Canada took down the program record in morning prelims before winning his second individual gold of the meet in 44.10 seconds.
Forstenhaeusler touched next for silver in 44.40 seconds with senior Patrick Lersch grabbing his first A-10 individual medal in a career-best time of 44.61 seconds.
Tommi Wolst led the way in fourth in the 200 breast in 1:59.55 with Youssef Ragab (sixth), Charles Sturgeon (10th) and Ori Terletski (13th) also scoring.
Shawn Lemarie (1,650 free), Dylan Arzoni (100 free) and James Torrez (200 fly) also scored on a night to remember to cap a tremendous four-day run.
WATCH THIS: Hear from Head Coach Brian Thomas, Fath, Auster and Jake Ortiz after winning a third straight conference title.
George Washington men's swimming and diving closed out its third straight Atlantic 10 title on Saturday, clinching a comfortable victory with another medal-filled finals session at the SPIRE Institute.
The Colonials punctuated an excellent four-day meet with their best evening yet. They won nine medals, swept the podium in both the 1,650-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle and finished with gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Moritz Fath, Alexander Auster, Max Forstenhaeusler and Patrick Lersch teamed up to win the meet-closing relay in a GW-record time of 2:56.63.
Afterward, Fath was honored as the meet's Most Outstanding Performer in recognition of winning six gold medals, including an individual win Saturday in the 1,650-yard freestyle in program-record time, with Peter Nachtwey, who earned gold (3M) and silver (1M) medals, named Most Outstanding Diver.
Then, the Buff and Blue accepted another championship trophy and piled into the pool for a familiar celebration.
"Winning three in a row is just an amazing accomplishment for these guys," said head coach Brian Thomas, who was named A-10 Men's Swimming Coach of the Year. "They really took it over throughout the weekend in a big way. I couldn't be happier for them at the moment, to be honest."
For the meet, GW racked up 782 points -- the most on this run of championships -- to finish well clear of second-place George Mason (613).READY. SET. GO!!!!!!! #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/Cf3RZY3SDW
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) February 24, 2019
The Colonials faced a strong early charge from the Patriots this week, but their mix of top-end talent -- 14 gold medals -- and quality depth -- 20 different individual scorers -- paved the way for a stress-free finish.
The Buff and Blue earned 22 medals in all, including five golds in as many relay races. They set six A-10 records and 11 new program marks along the way.
"We left it all in the pool," said Fath, who broke A-10 records in two of his individual events and program records in all three. "I'm just drained from those four days, but I'm very happy to get the three-peat."
On Saturday, Fath, Josh Legge and DH Hwang set the tone by going 1-2-3 in the 1,650 free. Fath broke Chad Senior's two-decade old mark for the 1,000 with his split on the way to a program-record finish in 15:18.37.
Emils Pone and Andrew Cho then took the top two spots in the 200 back. Pone touched first in 1:43.95 with Cho (1:44.34) right behind for his first individual A-10 medal.
It was the close of a breakout meet for Pone, who also won the 400-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke in addition to swimming on the 200-yard medley, 400-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays.
Auster led an impressive charge in the 100-yard freestyle. The senior from Canada took down the program record in morning prelims before winning his second individual gold of the meet in 44.10 seconds.
Forstenhaeusler touched next for silver in 44.40 seconds with senior Patrick Lersch grabbing his first A-10 individual medal in a career-best time of 44.61 seconds.
Tommi Wolst led the way in fourth in the 200 breast in 1:59.55 with Youssef Ragab (sixth), Charles Sturgeon (10th) and Ori Terletski (13th) also scoring.
Shawn Lemarie (1,650 free), Dylan Arzoni (100 free) and James Torrez (200 fly) also scored on a night to remember to cap a tremendous four-day run.
WATCH THIS: Hear from Head Coach Brian Thomas, Fath, Auster and Jake Ortiz after winning a third straight conference title.
What a night! Hear from @GWCoachBThom, Moritz Fath, Jake Ortiz and Alex Auster after our men won their third straight A-10 Championship! #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/iTUkTLBs5K
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) February 24, 2019
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Swimming and Diving
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/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
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