George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Cavalier Invitational
Swimming & Diving Opens Season at Cavalier Invite
2/4/2021 12:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Colonials look to build on recent success in 2021
GW swimming and diving opens the 2021 season with a strong test this weekend at the Cavalier Invitational. The meet, which includes Pittsburgh and James Madison in addition to host Virginia, runs Friday through Sunday in Charlottesville, Va.
KEEP BUILDING: Entering the new season, GW aims to build on the program’s recent success under Head Coach Brian Thomas within the Atlantic 10 and on the national scene.
The women are chasing a repeat A-10 title after breaking through with their first conference crown last February, while the men will try to return to the top of the A-10 standings with a fourth conference title in five seasons.
It’s already been an unprecedented season with fall competition canceled and the A-10 Championships rescheduled due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, but Thomas has been encouraged by the Buff and Blue’s approach to everything that has come their way.
We’re fortunate in that we have a great culture within our team right now. The right attitudes have been here throughout, and that’s made our job really easy. We’re trying to give them everything we can, and they’ve given the coaching staff the same thing in return, probably ten-fold with attitude and effort.GW Head Coach Brian Thomas
ON REPEAT: The GW women completed their determined climb to the top of the A-10 last season, improving their positioning in the conference standings for a fifth straight season. They piled up 608 points to distance themselves from second-place Fordham, earning nine total medals while being represented in each of the meet’s championship finals.
This season, GW’s roster features seven returning All-Conference performers and 16 student-athletes who scored individually at the A-10 meet. Andrea Moussier, a two-time A-10 gold medalist in the 1,650 free, and Stine Omdahl Petersen, who set program records in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke as a first-year, headline the group of swimmers, while Caitlin Inall leads the diving contingent after qualifying for the championship final on both boards as a first-year.
GW has added a pair of first-years to the mix in Ashley Khoo (Singapore) and Marlee Rickert (Leesport, Pa.).
CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET: The GW men’s bid for a fourth straight A-10 title came up just short in 2020, though Moritz Fath (Most Outstanding Performer) and Peter Nachtwey (Most Outstanding Diver) picked up major awards for their efforts in a runner-up finish. In all, the Buff and Blue claimed 19 medals on the week, including eight golds.
This year, GW’s roster includes eight returning All-Conference performers, highlighted by First-Team honorees Nachtwey, Dylan Arzoni, George Aspougalis, Tyler Kawakami and Youssef Ragab. In total, 11 current Colonials have been a part of at least one team championship celebration, and four of them – Nachtwey, Ragab, Emils Pone and Nick Tomczyk – have been part of multiple.
A two-time A-10 Most Outstanding Diver who has advanced to the NCAA Zone Championships in each of the past three seasons, Nachtwey looks to add to his impressive resume in his senior campaign, while Pone, a three-time A-10 First Team honoree who took a redshirt last season, returns as a graduate student with lofty goals in mind.
GW’s newcomers include a trio of talented transfers in Marek Osina (East Carolina), Cale Blinkman (Minnesota) and Jacob Miller (George Mason), plus a first-year class headlined by Karol Mlynarczyk, who claimed bronze in the 50 back at Polish Nationals over the winter break.
READY FOR A CHALLENGE: After months of hard work behind the scenes, the Buff and Blue are excited to finally begin their competitive season. In addition to the opening meet at nationally ranked Virginia for a select group, GW is set to make a pair of trips to Navy over the next month with an eye on posting times and diving scores for NCAA qualifying consideration.
The 2021 A-10 Championships have been rescheduled after the NCAA meets and will be held April 14-17 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
More than anything, I just can’t wait to step foot on a pool deck and see some racing and see what we can do,” Thomas said. “I think we’ll be pretty good. I think we’ll surprise ourselves a little bit. There’s enough of a body of work now to see what others have done in terms of performance coming off of an inconsistent year to know that there’s fast swimming and great diving ahead of us. It’s certainly possible and something we intend to do.Head Coach Brian Thomas
At the same time, it’s like ‘Let’s just take this thing a day at a time. Let’s try to get ourselves consistent, put in really great work day-after-day, appreciate our time around each other, have some enthusiasm for that and see where it goes.’
