George Washington Rolls Past Georgetown With Senior Day Sweep

George Washington vs Georgetown

• January 19-20, 2024
• Washington, D.C.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: GW Sports

WASHINGTON – Senior Day for GW swimming and diving was a chance for nine of GW’s graduating student-athletes to put on a show in the Smith Center one last time. The class, which features student-athletes with multiple A-10 Championship rings, a multitude of program and conference records, and even the Buff & Blue’s latest representative to the men’s NCAA Championships, got the send-off they deserve on Friday and Saturday as GW sent Georgetown packing by a final score of 215-85 (women’s) and 188-112 (men’s).

The Revolutionaries started fast on Friday night with the divers earning nine of 12 spots on the podium, before the swimmers put the meet away early on Saturday, winning the first 12 races and 23 of Saturday’s 28 total races. The Buff and Blue have now swept Georgetown in seven-consecutive meets, a win streak that started back in the 2016-17 season.

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• Another women’s diving record fell by the wayside on Friday evening as Olivia Paquette put together a phenomenal showing on the 3-meter board, finishing with 336.90 points and blowing out the previous program record (315.83), which Paquette set earlier this season.

• The women’s diving contingent earned huge points for GW, finishing both the 1m board and 3m board with first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishes. Paquette won both boards (1m: 261.53; 3m 336.90), while Dara Reyblat took second on both boards with a personal-best on the 3m (1m: 254.03; 3m: 291.83), Veronica Fyfe took third on both boards with a personal-best in the 3m (1m: 249.23; 274.05) and Olivia Rosen took fourth on both boards (1m: 247.80; 3m: 217.80).

• The swimmers got started on Saturday with the 200-yard medley relay, which GW earned points in with first- and second-place finishes. GW’s A relay took first place (1:44.27), swam by Marlee Rickert, Ava DeAngelis, Ava Topolewski and Barbara Schaal.

• The Revolutionaries filled the podium in the 1000-yard freestyle as Topolewski finished in first (10.16.53), Molly Smyers finished in second (10:31.71) and Taylor Bernosky finished in third (10:39.88).

• GW earned another sweep of the top-three spots in the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore Phoebe Wright led the way (1:54.09), followed by Colleen MacWilliams in second (1:55.95) and Olivia Tighe in third (1:56.10). Wright and MacWilliams went on to podium side-by-side once more, this time in the 200-yard backstroke, led again by Wright (2:01.22) with MacWilliams coming in third (2:06.59).

• Rickert got her Senior Day individual victory in the 100-yard backstroke (57.55), an event in which she holds GW’s second-best time ever. Graduate transfer Yulia Groysman, also celebrating her Buff & Blue Senior Day, tapped in second (57.83) just behind Rickert.

• A pair of juniors landed spots in the top-three in both breaststroke events. DeAngelis took home wins in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.78) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.39), while Julia Knox grabbed third in both events (100 breaststroke: 1:07.31; 200 breaststroke: 2:24.79).

• In the 200-yard butterfly, Topolewski, Smyers and Zoe Schneider finished in first, second and third place. Topolewski paced the group (2:03.97) for her second individual win of the day, followed by Smyers (2:05.27) in second and Schneider (2:05.87) in third.

• Still unsatisfied after two race wins, Topolewski (5:01.45) eked out Schneider (5:01.49) by .04 seconds to win the 500-yard freestyle. Bernosky completed the podium sweep after tapping in third (5:10.28).

• Groysman got her Senior Day victory in the 100-yard butterfly (56.94) after narrowly beating teammate Moriah Freitas (57.08), who finished in second.

• GW put a bow on Senior Day as the A and B 400-yard freestyle relays took first and second, respectively. GW’s A relay (3:31.56) was swam by Rickert, Riley Kudlac, Wright and Tighe.

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• Ben Bradley (303.98) and Michael Wood (303.30) took first and second place, respectively, on the 1-meter board with a pair of personal-best scores. Bradley finished on the podium for both boards, also taking third place on the 3m board (297.90).

• GW’s men got going on Saturday with first- and second-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay. GW’s A relay was almost two seconds faster than Georgetown’s and took first place (1:30.62), swam by Ganesh Sivaramakrishnan, Preston Lin, Djurdje Matic and newcomer Georgi Yanev.

• Misha Lyubavskiy got a win on his Senior Day in the 1000-yard freestyle, cruising to the finish more than seven seconds faster than the competition (9:32.47). Looking for more, he later won the 500-yard freestyle (4:36.11), swimming with teammate Philip Moldovanu who took third (4:41.47).

• Toni Dragoja tapped in first and earned full points in the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.76). The sophomore transfer from Zagreb, Croatia went on to win both short freestyle swims as he collected first place in the 100-yard freestyle (45.46), while senior Dylan Koo tapped in third (47.60).

• Karol Mlynarczyk, who has the fastest-recorded 100-yard backstroke of anyone on the team, got his Senior Day win in that event (49.27). Sivaramakrishnan followed behind Mlynarczyk and took second place (51.67). Mlynarczyk went on to win in the backstroke once more, claiming victory in the 200-yard backstroke (1:49.30).

• GW newcomer and first-year Ralf Roose got his first victory in the Buff & Blue in the 100-yard breaststroke (57.12). Roose, out of Tartu, Estonia, wanted more and won again, this time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:05.58). Also reaching the podium and finishing in third place in the 200-yard breaststroke was fellow first-year Ben Sosnowski (2:02.70).

• In the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Daniel Nagy nabbed first place (1:50.42), followed by first-year Justin Dostal in second (1:52.22).

• Matic, the school record holder in the 100-yard butterfly, beat out teammate Nagy by more than a second to win the race (48.14). Nagy picked up another podium along the way, taking second place (49.27).

• The Buff & Blue A and B 400-yard freestyle relays closed out the meet with first- and second-place finishes in the 400-yard freestyle relay, respectively. GW’s A relay (3:03.90) was swam by Matic, AJ Wood, Dragoja and Koo.

UP NEXT
GW swimming and diving returns to action next weekend for the final dual meet of the year, next Saturday, Jan 27, at 11 a.m. when the Revolutionaries take on Yale in New Haven, Conn.

Courtesy: Georgetown Athletics

WASHINGTON – Georgetown University’s men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams fell to George Washington University in the first meet of the spring semester. The women’s team fell 215-85 while the men lost 188-112.

ON THE RECORD
“It was great to get back to racing again. We’re coming off a great training trip, and I was really pleased with how we executed our race plans today.” – said Head Coach Jack Leavitt on the meet.

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS 

• Shaun Kronenwetter earned a first-place finish in the 50 free with a time of 20.90.
• Nicolas Santiago and Charlie Reichle went first and second in the 3-meter dive with a score of 325.13 and 208.33, respectively.
• In the 400 IM, Jack Brearton finished first with a time of 4:03.06.

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• Freshmen Taplin Seelbach finished first in the 50 free (24.29) followed by Isabella Wylie in second with a time of 24.58.
• In the 100 free, Madeline Malone placed first with a time of 52.58.
• Erin Hood picked up another first-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:24.33.