Back on Top: Women's Swimming & Diving Lands Second A-10 Title in Three Years

Saturday, February 19

Geneva, OH

ALL DAY

George Washington University

Atlantic 10 Championships

GW women's swimming & diving celebrates its 2022 A-10 title.

Back on Top: Women's Swimming & Diving Lands Second A-10 Title in Three Years

2/19/2022 11:46:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Results Men's Title Recap

Buff & Blue earned six medals and broke two program records on final day

GENEVA, Ohio - Flexing its impressive depth across the event lineup, GW women's swimming and diving left no doubt at the Atlantic 10 Championship, closing out its second conference crown in three years on Saturday night.

The Buff and Blue totaled six more medals and took down two more program records on the final night of the meet to finish with 701.5 points, well clear of second-place Duquesne (509 points) in the team standings.

GW closed out the meet by earning its 17th medal of the week with Barbara Schaal, Grace Olivardia, Erin McCarthy and Marlee Rickert combining on a runner-up finish in the 400 free relay in 3:21.48.

When it was over, everyone piled in the pool at SPIRE Institute in celebration of the program's first sweep of both A-10 team titles.

That scene capped a memorable week for the Buff and Blue, highlighted by six program-record swims.

The title push, under the direction of A-10 Coach of the Year Brian Thomas, came into focus with all 20 scorers contributing to the final tally. The team was represented in all but one championship final over the four days and managed to earn medals in all five relays, as well.

The comfortable margin of victory was aided by major efforts from seven rookie scorers who shined amid the stakes of the conference meet and a total of 73 points from the diving contingent of Jamie Doak, Dara Reyblat and Caitlin Inall.

Erin McCarthy was responsible for both of the team's golds this week. The senior from Minnetonka, Minn., took the 500 free on Thursday in personal-best time before earning a repeat win in the 1,650 free on Saturday.

McCarthy's championship time of 16:33.25 in the mile was just a second off Hall of Famer Bambi Bowman's 25-year-old program record and led four Buff and Blue representatives among the top 10 in the mile with Molly Smyers (16:48.91) joining her on the podium with a bronze.

Stine Omdahl Petersen and Schaal took down individual records on the final night of the meet.

Petersen dropped her own mark in the 200 breast by finishing in 2:12.90 to take bronze, with Courtney Sicinski (seventh, 2:16.22) and Ava DeAngelis (10th, 2:17.04) also scoring there.

Schaal broke the 200 back record twice on the day with the second swim good for silver in an NCAA B-cut time of 1:56.54, with teammates Isabel Berdecio (seventh, 1:57.99) and Marlee Rickert (eighth, 1:58.15) behind her in the championship.

A midseason addition to the program out of Heidelberg, Germany, Schaal finished the meet with seven medals, including a trio of individual awards.

Carly Perri also reached the podium on Saturday, earning her first solo medal with a third-place finish in the 200 fly in 2:00.99. Rookies Moriah Freitas (2:01.27) and Julia Knox (2:02.25) also finished among the top 10 there.

Senior Grace Olivardia led the way in the 100 free with a 10th-place finish in a personal-best time of 50.91 seconds to help the Buff and Blue clinch another title celebration.