8/6/2019 11:15:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
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Andrew Cho and Moritz Fath competed at U.S. Nationals last week
With their senior season in Buff and Blue fast approaching, Moritz Fath and Andrew Cho took their place alongside some of the world's top swimmers last week, racing at the Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships hosted by Stanford.
Fath narrowly missed out on a pair of personal bests, clocking in at 1:51.65 in the 200m freestyle and 3:57.65 in the 400m freestyle, while Cho finished the 200 back in 2:06.96 swimming before a host of family and friends in his hometown.
GW head coach Brian Thomas was on hand at Avery Aquatic Center as the Colonials tested themselves on the national stage. He said the trip was beneficial to showcase the program's growth and provide two of his senior leaders with an experience that can fuel even more improvement.
"There's no doubt it makes us better in a lot of different ways," Thomas said. "When you're flanked by Mizzou, Arizona, Tennessee on the pool deck, you know you're swimming at a different level, and I think exposure to that is really, really good for those two. It's an inspiring thing to be in that kind of environment."
Andrew Cho swam in front of a crowd of family and friends at Stanford.
The meet capped a productive summer for the Colonials, who are looking to build on a banner 2018-19 season in which the men earned a third straight Atlantic 10 title and the women equaled their best finish in program history by taking second.
Around the same time, Gemma Atherley picked up six medals at the Island Games in Gibraltar, highlighted by a gold-medal swim in the 200m individual medley (2:18.15). Representing her native Jersey at the biennial gathering of island nations, the rising senior also earned silver in the 100m back, 200m back, 200m free and 400m free, in addition to a bronze in the 100m IM.
Max Forstenhauesler was in action last week at the German National Swimming Championships, where his highlight was a 12th-place finish in the 100m free in a personal-best time of 51.40 seconds. He also recorded a personal-best swim in the 100m fly (:56.67).
Isabela Patino advanced to finals in all four of her individual events at the USA Swimming Futures Championships held in Mount Hood, Ore. The rising sophomore from California produced a 10th-place finish in the 100m fly in 1:03.71, and she also swam the 200m fly (2:22.28), 100m free (:59.20) and 200m IM (2:26.56).
Thomas believes all those efforts, plus the dedicated work put in by the group of Colonials who stayed in Foggy Bottom over the past few months, provide a solid foundation for heading into the 2019-2020 season.
"All in all, this summer was a step in the right direction," Thomas said. "I'm certainly proud of the way that our swimmers went out and represented the program. Consistency is king in our sport, so maintaining that and using those experiences as you move forward is how you build a strong program and what we want to be."
