2023 BIG EAST Fan Guide: Villanova Women Go For 10 Straight, Georgetown Men Eye Repeat

2023 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships

• February 22-25, 2023
• Nassau Aquatic Center, East Meadow, NY
• SCY (25 yards)
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Villanova (9x)
  • Men: Georgetown (1x)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Video

Villanova rolled to their ninth consecutive BIG EAST women’s title last season, topping UConn by 75.5 points, while the Georgetown men claimed their first in program history with a narrow win over three-time defending champion Xavier.

This season, last year’s winners are the leading candidates to repeat, though the men’s meet in particular figures to be a close one once again.

• Teams Competing: Villanova, Georgetown, Xavier, Seton Hall, Providence, Butler (women), UConn (women)

EVENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday

• 800 free relay
• Men’s 1-meter diving
• 200 medley relay

Thursday

• 500 free
• 200 IM
• 50 free
• Women’s 3-meter diving
• 200 free relay

Friday

• 400 IM
• 100 fly
• 200 free
• 100 breast
• 100 back
• Men’s 3-meter diving
• 400 medley relay

Saturday

• 1650 free
• 200 back
• 100 free
• 200 breast
• 200 fly
• Women’s 1-meter diving
• 400 free relay

SWIMMERS TO WATCH

WOMEN

Audrey Pastorek, Junior – Villanova: After placing third in both backstroke events and fifth in the 200 IM last season, Villanova’s Pastorek comes into the 2023 championships leading the conference in all three events. With the graduation of former teammate Kelly Montesi, who won the 200 back and 200 IM last year, Pastorek is in position to take over the mantle. Plus in the 100 back, Pastorek’s time of 54.39 from he WVU Invitational puts her well clear of the next-fastest swimmer this season by nearly a full second.

Niamh Hofland, Junior – UConn: Hofland was second in the 500 free, third in the 1650 and fourth in the 400 IM as a sophomore last year, a bit of a step back after winning two titles and placing second in another as a freshman in 2021. The British native appears on track to return to the winner’s circle in her junior season, leading the BIG EAST in the 500 free (4:50.79) and 1650 free (16:43.98) by massive margins while ranking second in the 400 IM (4:18.44).

Katie White, Freshman – Villanova: White has established herself as the top 200 flier in the conference by a significant margin, having produced a time at the WVU Invitational, 1:58.59, that’s nearly two seconds faster than what won the title last year (2:00.28). White opens her 200 fly in 56.9, so she likely has a drop in store in the 100 fly, where she comes in ranked third at 55.20.

MEN

Andrew Martin, Senior – Xavier: Martin will seek the career grand slam in the men’s 500 free this week, as the Xavier senior has won the event in each of his first three seasons while also having won back-to-back titles in the 200 free and the 2020 and 2021 titles in the 1650 free. He leads the conference in the 200 free (1:37.46) and 500 free (4:25.75) this season, making him the favorite to sweep both for a third straight time, while in the mile he’ll likely be on the podium once again after taking third last year, but will be hard pressed to overcome defending champion Sean Vizzard from Seton Hall and 2022 runner-up Jake McIntyre from Villanova.

Michael Klimaszewski, Freshman – Seton Hall: Klimaszewski has quickly established himself as one of the conference’s top swimmers in his freshman year, as the Seton Hall Pirate out of London, England currently holds the top BIG EAST time in the 100 fly (47.32), 200 fly (1:46.27) and 50 free (20.67). He also ranks second to teammate Kevin Cary in the 100 free (45.18), and will be a critical factor as the team is primed to challenge for a top spot in the team race.

Ross Pantano, Senior – Seton Hall: Pantano was the runner-up in both backstroke events last season behind the now-graduated Andrew Carbone, opening the door for him to sweep the events after finishing no lower than fifth in either over the course of his collegiate career (with no wins). Pantano hasn’t peaked yet this season, but still leads the BIG EAST in the 100 back (49.28) and 200 back (1:48.86).

SHOWDOWN RACES

WOMEN

200 Freestyle: With last year’s champion Milly Routledge having graduated, the women’s 200 free is slated to be a wide-open race with five juniors and one freshman at the top of the bill. The top returner is Xavier junior Kali Fischer, who was second last season in 1:48.33, but it’s Villanova’s Molly Benson (1:49.07) leading the conference this season and Seton Hall’s Natalie Heim (1:49.45) seeded second. Fischer has been 1:49.61 so far this season, and we also can’t overlook Xavier’s Clara Keiser, fourth last year, and Villanova’s Lexi Elkovitch, who has made big improvements in her junior year after placing 14th in 2022. Georgetown freshman Sophia Ribeiro is lurking as well, seeded fifth on the psych sheets.

100 Butterfly: Last season we saw Georgetown’s Genevieve Youngman walk in and dominate the women’s 100 fly as a freshman, winning the title by over a second in 53.62. This year, it’s been another first-year, her Hoyas teammate Angelica Reali, who has burst onto the scene and enters the championships holding the conference’s top time at 54.33. Youngman lurks in second at 54.76—a faster in-season time than she went prior to last year’s meet—as the two are set for an intriguing head-to-head clash. They both swam their season-bests in the final at the Terrier Invite, so Reali comes in with a head-to-head win under her belt. On top of these two, two more underclassmen, freshmen Katie White (Villanova) and Ella Epes (UConn) are seeded third and fourth.

MEN

100 Breaststroke: The top six swimmers in the BIG EAST are within eight-tenths of one another in the men’s 100 breast, led by Georgetown freshman Bailey De Luise at 55.36. Defending champion Ethan Saunders of Xavier is a close second in 55.49, and should have some time to drop after winning the 2022 title in 54.62. The third seed is Georgetown sophomore Ansen Meyer (55.70), who has shown improvement this season after placing eighth last year, while the 2022 runner-up, Providence senior Kevin Hood, went 54.70/54.81 in last year’s championships but flies under the radar at ninth on the psych sheets.

200 Backstroke: Although the aforementioned Ross Pantano is the favorite in the men’s 200 back, he’ll have a real chance on the hands given the presence of another senior, Xavier’s Jon Bernard, who has yet to race this event in his BIG EAST Championship career but is entered this time around after clocking 1:48.90 earlier this season. Bernard is also entered in the 200 breast, so he may end up dropping the 200 back, but if not, he’ll give Pantano a good run as he holds a best time of 1:46.83 from back in March 2019. Pantano, who is seeded .04 ahead of Bernard at 1:48.86, did get down to 1:44.32 in last year’s final, so it’s still his race to lose, but Bernard could keep him on his toes. Xavier junior Michael Benington hit a PB of 1:47.47 in the 2022 prelims before fading in the final, and he’s the third seed at 1:49.12.

SWIMSWAM PICKS

WOMEN

1. Villanova
2. Georgetown
3. UConn

MEN

1. Georgetown
2. Seton Hall
3. Xavier

The team race could end up being very close on both sides, so we’ll take the easy way out and predict repeat victories for the Villanova women and Georgetown men. The Seton Hall men are looking strong, however, and powered to a big dual meet win over the Hoyas in late January, so they can’t be counted out.