Men’s and women’s swimming and diving dominated Georgetown in what was the last meet in the Charles E. Smith Center.
This weekend, both men’s and women’s swimming and diving took home victories against crosstown rival Georgetown, with the men winning 188-112 and the women winning 215-85 in their last home meet of the season. The Revolutionaries did not waste time on Senior Day, winning the first 12 races Saturday morning.
Officials will demolish the Smith Center’s swimming pool as part of a project that will expand the arena’s basketball facilities.
On the diving board Friday night, sophomore Olivia Paquette led a clean sweep of the one-meter and three-meter diving events, aided by teammates junior Dara Reyblat, freshman Veronica Fyfe and junior Olivia Rosen.
Paquette broke the GW program record for her 6-dive score in the three-meter, a record she previously held. With a new best of 336.90, she improved on the previous record of 315.83, which she set earlier in the year.
Back in the pool, the Revolutionaries continued to dominate. Graduate student swimmer Mikhail Lyubavskiy took care of business in the long-distance events, taking first place in both the 1000-yard freestyle race (9:32.47) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:36.11). Senior Karol Mlynarczyk swept the backstroke events, winning the 100-yard with a time of 49.27 and taking the 200-yard race with 1:49.30.
On the women’s side, sophomore Ava Topolewski also won both long-distance events, narrowly defeating her teammate, freshman Zoe Schneider, by .04 seconds (5:01.45 to 5:01.49) in the 500 freestyle and winning by more than 15 seconds in the 1000-yard freestyle as part of two more sweeps of the podium. Topolewski also contributed to the Revs’ winning team in the 200-yard medley relay.
On top of the Senior Day festivities in which fans honored nine Revolutionaries, GW unveiled the 2023 men’s and women’s swimming and diving championship banners that hang in the Smith Center, a symbol of the legacy the class will leave.
“Probably more than any group I’ve had at GW, they’ve kept focus on what they came here to achieve, academically first, and as swimmers second,” Head Coach Brian Thomas said. “Because of that, they’ve gotten better. Because of that, the program has gotten a lot better. They’re just wonderful, wonderful young people, so it is bittersweet.”
But the Revolutionaries had little to be bittersweet about concerning their performance in the pool. It took almost an hour before Georgetown won their first race of the day, with freshman Taplin Seelbach winning the women’s 50-yard freestyle in 24.29 seconds. Hoya swimmer Shaun Kronenwetter followed that up with a 20.9-second winning swim in the men’s 50-yard freestyle before the first break of the day.
However, the Revolutionaries were quick to recover, winning close races over the Hoyas in both the men’s and women’s 200-yard breaststroke. For the women, junior Ava DeAngelis narrowly defeated Hoya swimmer Erin Hood with a time of 2:18.39. DeAngelis also took home the win in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 1:02.78 and contributed to the 200-yard medley relay victory.
While it was Senior Day, newcomer Ralf Roose impressed, eking out a come-from-behind win for the men in the 200-yard breast over Hoya junior Stephen Kim. Earlier in the day, Roose won a tight race against Georgetown sophomore Bailey De Luise in the 100-yard breast, coming out on top 57.12 to 57.5.
Djurdje Matic capped things off, winning the 100-yard fly with an unofficial time of 48.14.
“He’s probably, if not the best, one of the best swimmers that the Atlantic 10 has ever had in men’s swimming,” Thomas said.
Men’s diving, composed of three freshmen, was also able to contribute to the victorious effort. Freshman Ben Bradley reached the podium in both events, finishing first in the one-meter with a score of 303.98 and coming in third in the three-meter. Freshmen divers Michael Wood and Holden Wheeler placed second and fourth respectively in the one-meter competition with scores of 303.30 and 266.85.
The Revs finished out Saturday’s swim session with first- and second-place finishes in both 400-yard freestyle relays.
Swimming and diving heads to New Haven, Connecticut, to take on Yale on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. for their last dual meet of the year.
