Back-to-Back Atlantic Ten Champions: Women’s Swimming and Diving

Wednesday, February 15

Geneva, OH

ALL DAY

George Washington University

Atlantic 10 Championship

Swimming and Diving A-10 Championship Celebration.

Photo by: John Reid/Atlantic 10

Back-to-Back Atlantic Ten Champions: Women’s Swimming and Diving

2/18/2023 11:42:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Final Results Men's Recap

Buff and Blue win back-to-back titles for first time in program history

GENEVA, Ohio - For the third time in four years, and second year in a row, the George Washington Women's Swimming and Diving team is on top of the A-10.

The Buff and Blue completed its dominant run at the A-10 Championships on Saturday night and have now won back-to-back Conference titles for the first time in program history. GW is the team to beat in the A-10.

In five years under the direction of A-10 Coach of the Year Brian Thomas, GW has won three of five conference titles, including the women's first A-10 Championship back in the 2019-20 season.

The Buff and Blue dominance started from the very beginning. GW broke the A-10 record in the women's 200-yard medley relay in the first race of the meet and showed no signs of slowing. GW led after night one and only saw its lead grow. The Colonials finished with 794.5 points, 315 more than the second-place team.

In total, GW occupied 27 spots on the podium - 12 times with gold medals in hand. Program records were abundant over the four days, and so were conference records. The Buff and Blue swiped one A-10 meet record and three A-10 overall records.

Phoebe Wright was chosen as the meet's Most Outstanding Rookie Performer after dominating all weekend. Wright secured individual medals in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke, while also collecting medals in four of GW's relays. Wright will also leave with a program record to her name in the 200-yard backstroke.

It was a team effort through and through, with 17 student-athletes scoring in double digits. Julia Knox and Wright each posted 53-point performances - the highest marks on the team.

"I thought our women were excellent all week long" Thomas said. "It was a reflection of good and consistent work on their part. We have some athletes that are excellent trainers day in and day out. They consistently bring a positive attitude to the pool deck and more than that an excellent effort.

"The other thing worth pointing out is the continued improvement on the diving end. Chris has done a phenomenal job with our group building a real powerhouse on the diving side. Scoring more than 100 points just in diving is legit, so it was awesome to see that.

"I don't know how many school records we set, I've lost count on the women's side, but at least 10-11 which is unbelievable for a Championship meet. We'll count that up and see where we landed, but really excited for the women and really proud of what they accomplished - too many individual accolades to mention, but really proud."

Night Four Highlights:

Star rookie Ava Topolewski kicked off night four with an A-10 record-breaking swim (16:27.78) in the 1650-yard freestyle. Not only did Topoewski break the conference record, which had stood for more than six years, but she broke Bambi Bowman's program record which had stood since 1995. Molly Smyers followed behind Topolewski and collected a silver medal (16:36.22) in the event.
GW set another program record and placed one on the podium in the 200-yard backstroke. First-year phenom Phoebe Wright set the record (1:56.04) in the final of the event after tying the record in this morning's prelims.
Marlee Rickert won the gold medal (49.71) in the 100-yard freestyle and was just .04 off the program record.
Julia Knox put an exclamation on her monster run at the A-10 Championships by setting the program record in the 200-yard breaststroke. Knox took bronze (2:12.39) in the event and completed her fourth program-record swim of the meet.
Moriah Freitas added her second individual medal of the meet with a win (1:59.36) in the 200-yard butterfly final. She was just over a second off of the program record time.
The women put an exclamation mark on the meet with a silver-medal (3:19.22) 400-yard freestyle relay swim.