Swimming & Diving Welcomes Georgetown for Senior Day

GW Swimming & Diving Senior Day, January 18, 1 p.m.

1/16/2020 2:25:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Colonials to celebrate 11 student-athletes Saturday at Smith Center Pool

Fresh off its winter training camp, George Washington swimming and diving hosts Georgetown on Saturday in its season finale at Smith Center Pool. The diving portion of the meet begins at 10:30 a.m. before Senior Day festivities commence at 12:45 p.m. followed by the rest of the action.

It's a special day for the Colonials as they honor 11 student-athletes before their final home meet representing the Buff and Blue and also unveil their 2019 Atlantic 10 men's championship banner.

The honorees include seniors Andrew Cho, Moritz Fath, Max Forstenhaeusler, Gemma Atherley, Courtney Coghill, Gillian Chowske, Sydney Melnick, Jackie Torrez, Elisabeth Vogel and Lynn Zhang, plus graduate student Haoning Chen.

LAST TIME OUT: GW stayed busy over winter break spending 10 days in Florida getting ready for championship season.

The Colonials' last competition came over the first weekend in December when a select group competed at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships and the women claimed a dual-meet win over Richmond in Foggy Bottom.

George Aspougalis led the way for the Buff and Blue at the U.S. Open, advancing to a pair of breaststroke finals. The first-year from Greece was honored as A-10 Rookie of the Week for the second time this season in recognition of his performance in Atlanta.

Stine Omdahl Petersen and Meghan Burton pulled double duty competing in both meets. Petersen earned a pair of individual wins and contributed to a first-place relay in GW's 173-123 defeat of Richmond at Smith Center Pool, while Burton picked up an individual victory in the 100 fly, in addition to being a part of a pair of winning relay swims.

SENIOR SALUTE: This senior group has worked hard over the past four years to take the program to new heights, both within the Atlantic 10 and on the national stage.

Thanks to their contributions, the GW men have won three straight A-10 titles, while the Buff and Blue women have improved in the conference standings each year with a runner-up showing in 2019 to match the best finish in program history. This class has combined to total 44 A-10 medals, including 24 golds.

Saturday's meet marks a final chance to swim in Foggy Bottom for Fath, who was named the 2019 Most Outstanding Performer at the 2019 A-10 Championships and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer at the 2017 conference meet. For his career, the native of Germany has 13 conference medals with 10 of them gold, and he owns four individual program records and three relay marks.

Forstenhaeusler and Atherley are also three-time All-Conference performers. Forstenhaeusler has won eight gold medals in his three trips to the A-10 meet, including four via relays last season, while Atherley owns the program record in the 200 back (1:58.24) and has had a hand in three record-breaking relays, including one earlier this season.

Torrez is a two-time First Team All-Conference honoree who holds the A-10 record in the 200 fly (1:58.37) and the program mark in the 200 breast (2:16.99). In addition, Cho landed All-Conference honors for the first time last season with his runner-up finish in the 200 back.

🎵 All our lives we'll be proud to say, We hail from GW! 🎵#RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/z0mTK7IrRf
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) January 17, 2020

Thanks for the memories! Some of our seniors share their favorite memories (so far!) from their time in Buff and Blue. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/kX4Bjmi1nU
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) January 17, 2020

WARM WELCOME: A former Division II All-American, Chen makes his GW debut vs. Georgetown after joining the Colonials for the spring semester.

The graduate student spent the past three seasons at Lindenwood University in Missouri, advancing to the national meet each year. His top collegiate times in the 100 breast (:55.14), 200 breast (1:59.46), 200 IM (1:49.08) and 200 free (1:38.11) would all qualify for the program's all-time top 10.

SCOUTING GEORGETOWN: The Hoyas make the short trip to Smith Center Pool in their first meet after winter break. The men were 5-0 in head-to-head competition in the fall, while the women sit at 3-2 on the season.

The Colonials swept Georgetown last January as part of a tri-meet with American at McCarthy Pool. Atherley and Tommi Wolst were named A-10 Performers of the Week after the meet.

COMING UP: GW continues its preparations for the A-10 Championships next Saturday with a trip to William & Mary for a 2 p.m. start.

WATCH THIS: Head coach Brian Thomas previews the Senior Day meet.

.@GWCoachBThom recaps our winter training camp and looks ahead to Senior Day at Smith Center Pool.#RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/z7p320JrZf
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) January 15, 2020