George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Atlantic 10 Championship
Swimming and Diving Embarks on A-10 Championships
2/14/2023 11:49:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
GW sets out to win men’s and women’s titles for second consecutive season
WASHINGTON - GW swimming and diving is heading to the Atlantic Ten Championships with its sights set on bringing both the A-10 men's and women's trophies back to Foggy Bottom for the second year in a row. The A-10 Championships are held in Geneva, Ohio at the SPIRE Institute, and run from Wednesday through Saturday. Each day of the meet will be streamed on ESPN+, and live results can be found here and on the Meet Mobile app.
Building on the Past:
Last season was the first time in program history in which both the men's and women's teams brought home A-10 titles in the same year. Since Head Coach Brian Thomas took over the program in the summer of 2018, the Buff and Blue have been red-hot, winning three of four men's championship titles and two of four women's championship titles.
Returning to SPIRE:
GW is bringing back top performers from up-and-down the roster to the SPIRE Institute for another go around at the A-10 titles.
On the men's side, GW is returning the reigning A-10 Most Outstanding Performer Marek Osina, along with the reigning A-10 Most Outstanding Rookie Connor Rodgers.
Also back for another go around at the A-10 Championships is Djurdje Matic. Matic won seven gold medals in his A-10 Championship debut last season after transferring from East Carolina.
The Buff and Blue men are also bringing back a long list of A-10 All-Conference First Team award winners. Ethan Tulenko, Philip Moldovanu, Karol Mlynarczyk, Dylan Koo, Tyler Kawakami, along with Matic, Osina and Rodgers highlight the list.
On the women's side, GW also has a lengthy list of top returners. Becca Brown, Ava DeAngelis, Julia Knox, Grace Olivardia, Stine Omdahl Petersen, Marlee Rickert and Barbara Schaal each made their way onto the A-10 All-Conference Second Team list after playing large parts in the 2022 A-10 Championship.
Siena Senn is another name to watch out for. Before transferring to GW by way of Davidson, Senn won gold at both the 2020 and 2021 A-10 Championships in the 500-yard freestyle.
When it comes to diving, GW enters the A-10 Championships with some of the top diving scores from around the conference. Junior Jamie Doak ranks sixth in the A-10 this year in the one-meter dive (276.75), while first-year Olivia Paquette enters the weekend with the league's second best three-meter dive (309.00) of the season.
On the men's side, Spencer Bystrom ranks fifth in the three-meter dive (307.65) and eighth in the one-meter dive (282.90) this season.
First-Years Phenoms:
First-years Phoebe Wright and Ava Topolewski have found success in their young collegiate careers. The two rookies combine for three of the A-10's fastests swims this year, all of which came at the mid-season Big Al Invitational. Wright owns the league's fastest 200-yard freestyle of the year (1:48.65), while Topolewski owns the A-10's fastest 1000-yard (10:00.06) and 1650-yard (16:32.64) freestyles of the season.
The men are also bringing a contingent of impressive first-years. Preston Lin, a Georgia native, brings with him the conference's quickest 100-yard breaststroke (55.03) time of the season. Ganesh Sivaramakrishnan has also impressed during his rookie season - he brings with him the A-10's second quickest 100-yard backstroke (47.86) time, which is second only to Mlynarczyk.
Players Mentioned
