George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Virginia Tech
Swimming & Diving Opens Season at Home vs. Virginia Tech
10/1/2021 10:19:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Buff and Blue set for festive opener on Saturday
Seeking to continue its growth as a program, GW swimming and diving kicks off its season on Saturday by welcoming Virginia Tech to Smith Center Pool for a dual meet that begins at 10 a.m.
The Buff and Blue will welcome alumni back to campus and unveil banners recognizing their 2020 women’s and 2021 men’s Atlantic 10 titles while hosting the Hokies of the ACC. All the action will be broadcast via ESPN+.
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KEEP BUILDING: Both GW squads carry lofty goals into the new season with an eye on making waves within the A-10 and beyond.
The men are seeking a repeat A-10 title and fifth conference crown in six seasons behind a familiar returning cast and a few talented newcomers, while the women, boosted by an influx of 10 new additions, are aiming to return to the top of the conference standings after placing fourth last April following up their historic 2020 title victory.
In the A-10 preseason polls, the men were tabbed the favorites with the women in the No. 2 spot behind only defending champion Richmond.
The Buff and Blue will bank on their continued hard work amid a challenging fall slate paying dividends come February and March in their fourth season under Head Coach Brian Thomas.
“In terms of how we’re performing right now, it’s light years ahead of where we were a year ago, which is probably to be expected but still feels good.” Thomas said. “It’s a good confidence booster for our crew. We have people that are doing things in training that they have either not done in a long time or have never done. That’s been really encouraging to see.”
THE DRIVE FOR FIVE: GW returns eight student-athletes who earned First Team All-Conference honors and 16 who scored at the A-10 meet in 2021, led by Karol Mlynarczyk, who became the first man since GW Athletic Hall of Famer David Zenk to sweep Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie Performer honors at the conference meet.
As a first-year, Mlynarczyk won six gold medals at the four-day meet, highlighted by a career-best swim in the 100-yard backstroke (:46.03) that would’ve been good enough to earn an invitation to the NCAA Championship. Marek Osina and Tyler Kawakami also collected six medals to help the Buff and Blue cruise to the team title.
Notably, that trio combined with Emils Pone on a sensational swim in the 400 medley relay, finishing in 3:10.28 to beat the previous A-10 record by nearly two seconds and the rest of the field by more than five with a time that ranked No. 33 nationally this season.
Oscar Madsen (500 free, 4:27.75) also earned an individual gold in 2021, and Dylan Arzoni, Dylan Koo, Josh Legge and Ethan Tulenko were part of relay wins that week.
On the diving side, junior Spencer Bystrom is the top returner after securing bronze on the 3-meter board with a career-best score of 304.75.
GW graduated one of its all-time greats in Pone. It’s impossible to replace his leadership by example on the pool deck, but the group has added firepower going into the new season with a crop of newcomers headlined by Durde Matic, a Serbian national champion who helped ECU win the 2020 AAC title, as well as accomplished first-years Bode Ringenbach and Connor Rodgers.
In a recent goal-setting session, Thomas was pleased to see the group aiming high with hopes to make gains individually and as a team on the national level.
“They’re their goals, and I think that’s critical,” Thomas said. “They need to buy-in and believe that they can do these things.”
“Then, if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk. We’re transitioning into that realm now where we’ve established those goals, and now we want to take action working toward them every day.”
FRIENDLY COMPETITION: The GW women placed fourth at the A-10 meet last season, paced by All-Conference swimmers Erin McCarthy and Marlee Rickert.
As a junior, McCarthy showed major improvement to secure a pair of individual medals, including gold in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:40.68), while Rickert made a shining debut with a program-record swim in the 100-yard backstroke (:54.62) to earn silver.
In all, 13 of the squad’s 14 scorers from the A-10 meet have returned. Among the veterans, there are six other swimmers who have previously earned All-Conference recognition: graduate student Andrea Ho, seniors Andrea Moussier, Rebecca Smolcic and Grace Olivardia, and juniors Stine Omdahl Petersen and Becca Brown.
All four divers who competed at last spring’s A-10 meet – Gabriella Arendes, Jamie Doak, Caitlin Inall and Carolina Stocchi – are also back. Doak collected bronze on the 3-meter board in her debut at the conference meet.
The squad has been fortified with the addition of 10 newcomers, each of whom bring personal-best performances that would’ve been good enough to score at the last conference meet.
Carly Perri is a graduate transfer from Duke who is a former ACC finalist and CSCAA Scholastic All-America honoree, and the group of first-years features has impressed every step of the way, especially Pennsylvania product Molly Smyers and decorated divers Dara Reyblat and Olivia Rosen.
That infusion of talent and competition has been beneficial for everyone, according to Thomas.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see them mix in and work out with our returners and push us,” Thomas said. “We had a whole bunch of first-years come in, and they were ready to roll. From a training standpoint, they’ve been killing it, and it’s been great to see some of the returners respond to that and perform at a higher level than they ever have in training.”
THE ROAD AHEAD: Saturday’s meet opposite one of the nation’s best programs represents the first chance for the Buff and Blue to test themselves. They’ll also be in action next weekend with a trip to Old Dominion.
The rest of the schedule provides plenty of other challenges, including dual meets at Pitt and Navy and invitationals at Princeton and Virginia. The program is also planning to send contingents to the Toyota U.S. Open and Speedo Juniors Nationals in December.
The A-10 Championships are set to be held Feb. 16-19 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, but for right now, the focus is squarely on what’s sure to be a festive season opener at Smith Center Pool.
“It’s such a long season,” Thomas said. “Thinking about February, at this point, is useless to me. We have everything planned out, what we want to do from a training standpoint, but the key right now is seeing what we can do every day to keep ourselves moving forward.”
