Swimming & Diving Lands CSCAA Academic Recognition

Head Coach Brian Thomas gathers his team before the third day of the 2020 A-10 Championships.

6/30/2020 10:30:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving, Academic Services

Colonials post strong academic marks despite challenges

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 global pandemic, George Washington swimming and diving continued to excel academically during the spring semester, earning College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America recognition.

The GW women were honored after combining to post a 3.79 cumulative GPA during the semester, while the men also landed the accolade thanks to a mark of 3.60. It's the fifth consecutive semester, and 17th time in the past 19 semesters, that both teams were lauded by the CSCAA.

"I think our academic success this semester goes beyond grades," head coach Brian Thomas said. "While it's hard to put the numbers into any kind of context due to the changes made to the grading system and the challenges posed by COVID-19, I'm proud of the flexibility and adaptability our team has shown during the past three months.

"Within our program, we stress the importance of being at our best when things don't go according to plan, and I think our group has accomplished that. I have to give credit to our coaches and support staff, especially Danya Ellman and her team."

The program maintained its lofty academic standard while extending its run of success in the pool under Thomas. In February, the women were crowned Atlantic 10 champions for the first time in program history, while the men landed runner-up led by Most Outstanding Performer Moritz Fath and Most Outstanding Diver Peter Nachtwey.

Nine GW student-athletes secured perfect 4.0s for the semester that was largely conducted via online instruction due to the pandemic: Isabel Berdecio, Gillian Chowske, Brendan Conley, Max Forstenhaeusler, Sydney Melnick, Ian Molloy, Emils Pone, Jackie Torrez and Elisabeth Vogel. In all, 42 Colonials -- 27 women and 15 men -- earned a GPA of 3.5 or better in the spring.

For the 10th consecutive season, the program landed multiple A-10 All-Academic honors with Fath and Nachtwey recognized in March.

The CSCAA, which honored a record 789 programs representing 461 schools across all divisions Tuesday, plans to release its list of individual Scholar All-Americans next week.