Swimming and diving teams change each year as older student-athletes graduate and younger ones take their place, but when the Atlantic 10 Championships come around, it seems as though everything stays the same.
For the third straight year, the women’s top three finishers were identical, as GW took third place this past weekend in Buffalo, N.Y., behind Richmond in first and St. Bonaventure in second.
The men’s side ended with Massachusetts first, St. Bonaventure second, LaSalle third and GW fourth, which is identical to last year’s results and almost the same as 2002. Fordham squeezed into third place that year, moving LaSalle and GW back a spot.
In Sunday’s action, two of GW’s younger swimmers put forth the Colonials’ best performances, as freshman Sean Flaherty and sophomore Maggie Moss each won events.
Flaherty took first place in the 1,650-yard men’s freestyle with a time of 15:47.39, a full three seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Rhode Island’s Ben Robinson. GW junior Bryan Ferretti took fourth in that event.
Moss won the 200-yard women’s backstroke in 2:02.77, edging out Richmond’s Casey Dluhos by less than two-tenths of a second. Senior Kristin Fagley finished in seventh place.
In the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle, senior Crystal Freeman led the Colonials by finishing in sixth place. Sophomore Nicole Cadman was next for GW in 17th place.
In the men’s three-meter dive, senior Robert Stuart finished as the highest Colonial in fifth place overall, while senior James Golihar took seventh.
Saturday was highlighted by Moss winning the 100-yard backstroke and senior Ruth Dubyel taking second in the 100-yard butterfly. Flaherty also took second in the 200-yard backstroke.
Of the 17 male swimmers and divers listed on the team roster, the championships marked the final competition for three men – Stuart, Golihar and Andrew De Sorbo.
Four of 20 women participated in their last collegiate competition, as Dubyel, Fagley, Freeman and Suzanna Ford will all graduate.
Team members could not be reached for comment Sunday.
