George Washington University
Atlantic 10 Championships
Swimming & Diving Ready for A-10 Title Push
2/17/2020 2:45:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Men seek fourth straight title, while women aim to make final step
George Washington swimming and diving aims to celebrate a pair of Atlantic 10 titles this week at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. The four-day conference meet runs Wednesday through Saturday with all the action broadcast via ESPN+.
The men are seeking a fourth straight A-10 crown, while the women hope to make the final step in the standings and claim their first title after finishing runner-up in 2019.
Select Colonials will also compete Sunday at the same facility in the A-10 Long Course Invitational, attempting to post Olympic qualifying times with the pool set up for long-course racing.
A LOOK BACK: Under the direction of head coach Brian Thomas, the GW men cruised to their third straight A-10 title last February with a program-record 782 points. The Colonials claimed 22 medals with 14 of them gold and established six conference records at the meet.
Moritz Fath was named Most Outstanding Performer after landing six gold medals and setting four individual program records and two conference marks along the way.
Peter Nachtwey earned Most Outstanding Diver honors after becoming the first Colonial man in 25 years to earn diving gold with a win on 3-meter (354.15). The Ohio native also picked up silver on the 1-meter board (285.45).
Thomas was recognized as the A-10 Men's Coach of the Year after the Colonials completed the three-peat.
The GW women equaled their best-ever finish at the A-10 meet in 2019 by totaling 562 points, just 18.5 points back of champion Duquesne. They claimed 13 medals, including six golds, and dropped a pair of conference marks.
Rebecca Smolcic, Gemma Atherley, Jackie Torrez, Andrea Moussier , Meghan Burton, Caroline Racke and Emily Zhang earned All-Conference First Team honors at the meet.
EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE: GW enters the A-10 meet battle-tested after competing against some of the nation's best during the regular season.
The Buff and Blue have gone head-to-head vs. Power Five programs like Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Boston College and mid-major stalwarts such as Navy and William & Mary.
For the second straight year, they took on Division II power Queens University at their midseason meet in November, and 11 Colonials also gained international experience swimming at the Toyota U.S. Open in December.
The tough competition brought out the best in GW with five Colonials earning A-10 Performer of the Week awards (George Aspougalis, Haoning Chen, Andrew Cho, Andrea Ho and Nachtwey) and four taking home Rookie of the Week honors (Aspougalis, Zach Hu, Tyler Kawakami and Stine Omdahl Petersen).
So far this season, nine different women have combined to record 14 new additions to the program's all-time top 10, headlined by an individual record swim from Omdahl Petersen in the 100 breast (1:02.97).
Aspougalis (100 and 200 breast) and Chen (100 breast) have earned spots in the men's all-time top 10.
We’re hitting the road to Ohio this morning! ??@GWCoachBThom previews the @atlantic10 Championships, which begin Wednesday @SPIRE_Institute.#RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/MRR68jCker
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) February 17, 2020
Almost time to chase @atlantic10 ????
— GW Swimming & Diving (@GWSwimDive) February 17, 2020
Hear from Moritz Fath, Tali Lemcoff and Peter Nachtwey before the meet!#RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/84sBNmyUFS
FAMILIAR FACES: GW's lineup at the SPIRE Institute include 19 swimmers and five divers who scored individually at last season's A-10 meet, including 13 total All-Conference performers.
On the men's side, Fath leads the way, seeking to add to his already impressive resume in his final trip to the A-10 meet. The senior from Germany enters the week having already claimed 13 conference medals with 10 of them gold. His season-best times place among the top four in the conference in four different events, including the top times in both the 200 free (1:38.51) and 500 free (4:31.95).
Nachtwey is back after claiming a gold and three silvers in his first two appearances at the conference championships. The junior has already punched his ticket to the NCAA Zone Championships with his excellence already this season. He posted a season-best score of 331.95 on 3-meter in his most recent competition at West Virginia on Feb. 1.
Cho (silver, 200 back), Max Forstenhaeusler (silver, 100 free), Josh Legge (silver, 1,650 free) and DH Hwang (bronze, 1,650 free) are the other returning individual medal winners on the men's squad.
On the women's side, Torrez, Burton and Moussier are all returning individual champions. Torrez set an A-10 record in the 200 fly in morning qualifying (1:58.37) and then came back in the evening to win gold, while Burton set a program record en route to her win in the 100 fly (53.97). Moussier's win came in the 1,650 free in 16:40.96.
Atherley looks to add to her collection of A-10 hardware in her final trip to the conference meet. A three-time All A-10 performer, she has earned 10 total conference medals, highlighted by four gold-winning efforts. She 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.
Smolcic (50 free), Ho (100 back), Isabel Berdecio (200 back), Erin McCarthy (1,650 free), Isabela Patino (100 fly) and Courtney Sicinski (200 breast) also posted top-eight individual finishes in 2019 for the women's team.
Juniors Gabriella Arendes and Rachel Dickinson are back after scoring on both diving boards last February.
ACCOMPLISHED ADDITIONS: Eleven first-years (eight men and three women) are set to debut at the A-10 meet, a group headlined by Aspougalis and Omdahl Petersen.
Aspougalis was honored by the A-10 three times during the regular season. The first-year from Greece ranks among GW's all-time top 10 in both the 100 breast (fourth, :54.89) and 200 breast (fifth, 1:59.74).
Omdahl Petersen has her collegiate career off to an excellent start. The first-year from Norway set her program record in the 100 breast at the Queens University Fall Frenzy in November, and her season-best time of 2:18.97 in the 200 breast ranks third on the program's all-time top 10. She also teamed with Ho, Burton and Atherley on a record swim in the 400 medley relay (3:43.49) at the midseason meet.
Kawakami and Hu also garnered Men's Rookie of the Week honors during the regular season, while Becca Brown posted an all-time top 10 time in the 50 free (:23.86).
First-year diver Caitlin Inall owns GW's top 1-meter score this season (241.20) on the women's side, while classmate Spencer Bystrom has made an impact for the men as a strong complement to Nachtwey.
Chen has made an immediate impact since joining the Colonials as a graduate student for this semester. The former Division II All-American won a pair of events in his Buff and Blue debut on Senior Day vs. Georgetown and was most recently honored as A-10 Performer of the Week for his efforts in the regular season finale at West Virginia.
