2025 A-10 Swimming and Diving Championships
- February 19-22, 2025
- Hampton Aquatic Complex — Hampton, Virginia
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Start Times: prelims – 10 am ET/ final – 6 pm ET
- Day 1: finals only – 5 pm ET
- Championship Central
- Defending Champions
- Women: George Washington (3x)
- Men: George Washington (4x)
- Live Results
- Livestream: Prelims | Finals
Schedule
Wednesday, February 19
- 200 medley relay
- Women’s 1-meter diving
- 800 freestyle relay
Thursday, February 20
- 500 freestyle
- 200 IM
- 50 freestyle
- Men’s 1-meter diving
- 200 freestyle relay
Friday, February 21
- 100 butterfly
- 400 IM
- 200 freestyle
- 100 breaststroke
- 100 backstroke
- Women’s 3-meter diving
- 400 medley relay
Saturday, February 22
- 1650 freestyle
- 200 backstroke
- 100 freestyle
- 200 breaststroke
- 200 butterfly
- Men’s 3-meter diving
- 400 freestyle relay
2024 Final Standings
Last year, George Washington swept the A-10 Championships for the third consecutive year, with the men’s program winning it’s fourth-straight championship. The women and men both dominated the team race, as the GW women won by 420 points and the men by 388.5 points. Richmond earned runner-up status on the women’s side, while the UMass men finished second, 20.5 points ahead of St. Bonaventure.
Women:
- George Washington — 890
- Richmond — 470
- Fordham — 413.5
- Duquesne — 404
- George Mason — 306
- Davidson — 303.5
- UMass — 296
- St Bonaventure — 234
- La Salle — 165
- Rhode Island — 148
- Saint Louis — 95
Men:
- George Washington — 844
- Umass — 455.5
- St Bonaventure — 435
- George Mason — 422
- Davidson — 408.5
- Fordham — 386
- La Salle — 347
- Saint Louis — 185
2024 NCAA Qualifiers
The A-10 sent four athletes to the 2024 NCAA Championships, three from George Washington and one from Fordham. Ava DeAngelis, Ava Topolewski, and Djurdje Matic represented GW, while Ainhoa Martin swam for Fordham. The lone A-10 representative at the men’s NCAA Championships, Matic qualified for the ‘B’ final of the men’s 100 butterfly, finishing 14th. He also took 34th in the 50 freestyle in the final NCAA meet of his career.
DeAngelis, who has since transferred to Ohio State, earned the highest finish of the three A-10 swimmers at the women’s NCAAs, placing 33rd in the 100 breast and 34th in the 200 breast. Her teammate, distance swimmer Topolewski, finished 39th in the 1650 freestyle and 63rd in the 500 free. Then, Martin, Fordham’s second NCAA qualifier in program history, took 38th in the 200 breaststroke and 56th in the 200 IM.
Swimmers To Watch
Women:
Melissa Nwakalor — Sophomore, Richmond
Sprinter Melissa Nwakalor put the A-10 on notice last week when she broke her conference and program records in the 50 freestyle with a 21.98. It was her first time breaking the 22-second mark, as she sliced three-tenths off her previous school record and went well under last year’s NCAA invite time. She’s the heavy favorite to repeat as the A-10 champ in the event, as she’s almost a second clear of the next fastest swimmer in the conference this season, George Mason’s Ali Tyler (22.86).
Nwakalor also owns the A-10’s fastest 100 freestyle season-best at 49.80. She’s not got the same clearance in this event—George Washington’s defending bronze medalist Chloe Hernandez sits at 50.01—but after clearing 50 seconds for the first time at midseason, Nwakalor looks primed to move up from her 6th place finish in the event a year ago.
Ainhoa Martin — Senior, Fordham
We already mentioned Martin as one of the four swimmers from the A-10 to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Championships but after going three-for-three at the 2024 A-10 Championships, Martin is one of the key swimmers to watch at this meet. This year, she aims to defend her titles in the 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, and 400 IM. She swam lifetime bests to win two of those titles, hitting 2:09.55 in the 200 breaststroke and 1:58.25 in the 200 IM.
Heading into this year’s conference championships, Martin ranks first in the conference in her three primary events, having swam 2:14.11 in the 200 breaststroke, 1:59.50 in the 200 IM, and 4:19.24 in the 400 IM. Martin is a senior, making this her final conference championship, though she’ll have an eye on extending her season to this year’s NCAA Championships.
Ava Topolewski — Junior, George Washington
As a sophomore, Ava Topolewski shone for George Washington at A-10s. She scored 48 points, winning the 1650 freestyle in a conference record (16:08.48) and helping set a conference record in the 800 freestyle relay. She also earned silver in the 500 freestyle with a lifetime best (4:44.44). Last season, she swam the 200 fly as her third event, but it seems she’s switched focus to the 200/500/1650 freestyle.
Topolewski owns the A-10 season-best in all three events and has distance from the field in all of them. She’s almost a second ahead in the 200 freestyle after setting a lifetime best of 1:48.63 this season. She’s got a clearer gap in the 500 and 1650 freestyles with season-bests of 4:47.63 and 16:28.07 as she aims to go three-for-three herself. If she wins the 1650 freestyle, she’ll earn a three-peat in the event.
Men:
Elliot Irwin — Fifth-year, George Washington
Elliot Irwin arrived in DC as a graduate transfer to George Washington after spending the majority of his college career at Lindenwood. Irwin was named the 2024 Summit League Male Swimmer of the Year after winning three individual events and helping Lindenwood to three relay victories at the conference’s championships.
He’s been strong for George Washington this season and heads into his first A-10 Championships with the top time in the conference in the 50 and 100 freestyle after swimming season-bests of 19.72/43.04. Irwin also ranks second in the 100 fly with a season-best of 46.26. Along with aiding the relays, Irwin has put himself in a position to be a three-event ‘A’ finalist, making him a valuable addition to GW’s roster as they aim to maintain control of the conference.
Felix Jedbratt — Junior, La Salle University
Felix Jedbratt was a three-time runner-up at the 2024 A-10 Championships, winning silver medals in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly. This year, he’s aiming to stand atop the podium in at least one of these events. His best chance is the 100 butterfly, where he turned heads at midseason with a 45.50 that ties him as the eighth-fastest swimmer in mid-major history. It was a substantial drop for Jedbratt, as his previous best was a 46.67 from 2024 A-10s. The swim leads the conference by .86 seconds.
That said, Jedbratt also has a strong chance to win the 50 and 100 freestyles after posting season-bests of 19.83/43.18 which rank second in the conference this season. He owns lifetime bests of 19.62 and 42.95 in those events, swum at last year’s conference championships.
Tate Anderson — Junior, George Mason
Junior Tate Anderson is a two-time A-10 champion, winning the 200 freestyle in his freshman season and the 200 backstroke as a sophomore. He’s got no shortage of options for his lineup this season after swimming top three times in the A-10 in five different events—the 50 freestyle (2nd, 20.07), 100 freestyle (3rd, 43.25), 200 freestyle (2nd, 1:35.88), 200 backstroke (2nd, 1:45.41), and 200 IM (2nd, 1:46.65). His times in the 50/100 freestyle and 200 IM are lifetime bests, sliced time off during the Patriot Invite and the U.S. Open.
No matter what he swims, Anderson will be a gold medal threat in three events. He should also factor heavily on George Mason’s relays; last year, he led off the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relays and swam the backstroke leg of the 400 medley relay.
Showdowns
Women:
100 backstroke — After swimming a lifetime best of 54.05 in October, last year’s 200 backstroke champion, Duquesne’s Haley Scholer, shot to the top of the conference rankings in the 100 backstroke. She’s stayed there since, even as the 100 backstroke defending champion, George Mason’s Ali Tyler, swam 54.42 at the U.S. Open. The two women look set to be the primary contenders for this year’s title, which would be a big improvement for Scholer in this event as she finished 5th last season. Scholer and Tyler are the only two sub-55 seconds this season, but Fordham’s Leire Martin is hovering at 55.05 and owns a lifetime best of 54.69 from 2022. George Washington’s Marlee Rickert has also been 55-low this season, swimming 55.12 at a quad meet.
100 breaststroke — Seniors Emma Shaughnessy and Anna Newman dueled at the Bucknell Invitational, previewing what the women’s 100 breaststroke A-10 final could look like. The race at Bucknell produced the two fastest times in the conference this season, with Shaughnessy posting 1:01.81 and Newman a 1:01.90. Since she transferred to Ohio State, DeAngelis won’t be in the running to defend her title, and Shaughnessy and Newman aren’t the only ones looking to take advantage of the opportunity. Returning ‘A’ finalists Emma De Jong and Sydney Severini both rank in the top eight so far this season, while George Washington is hoping to keep hold of the title with freshman Natalie Sens, who ranks #3 in the conference with a 1:02.25.
100 butterfly — After a thrilling race last year, Fordham’s Jess Zebrowksi and George Washington’s Moriah Freitas hold the top two times in the A-10 this year. They are separated by just .15 seconds, with Freitas holding a 54.08 and Zebrowksi a 54.20. Last year, it took 53.24 to win the title, and with the two already within hundredths of each other, it looks like there’s another great race in store. Duquesne freshman Ashley Freel has also been sub-55 already this season and will look to get in on the action in her debut A-10 championships (54.93). She holds a lifetime best of 54.63.
Men:
100 freestyle — Even if we don’t see Anderson in the individual 100 freestyle, this should still be a great race between Irwin and Jedbratt. At this point in the meet, we should have already seen them go head-to-head in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Irwin leads the way this season ahead of Jedbratt, last year’s runner-up, 43.04 to 43.18 this season. With last year’s winner, Toni Dragoja, transferred to Alabama, the A-10 will crown a new champion in this event. Irwin and Jedbratt come in as the favorites, with only Anderson joining them sub-44 in the regular season.
200 backstroke — Ganesh Sivaramakrishnan finished 4th in this event last season, but looks primed to move onto the podium. He’s exploded in the backstroke events this season. Here in the 200 backstroke, he’s dropped 3.35 seconds this season, ripping a 1:43.45 at the Big Al Invitational. That makes him the heavy favorite in this event with Anderson, last year’s winner, owning a 1:44.52 lifetime best. We’ll see if Anderson can make up the ground, but even if he swims away for the win, this should be a competitive race for 2nd. The 2nd through 6th ranked swimmers in the event are separated by less than a second, with Anderson and his George Mason teammate Ian Rodgers holding down 2nd and 3rd in 1:45.41 and 1:45.94.
800 freestyle relay — It’s not often that we see the 800 freestyle relay come down to the touch, but it could happen at these championships. Davidson’s quartet of Jeremy Kemp, Fletcher, Mitch McClain, and Dylan Felt led the conference with a 6:37.90 from the Bucknell Invitational. But, George Mason is right there with Alex Crown, Cody Scifres, Zane Roberts, and Anderson swam 6:37.90 at their midseason invite. There aren’t many opportunities to race this event during the regular season and as such, it often feels like these times are soft heading into conference championships, which leaves the door open for teams like George Washington (last year’s champions) or Fordham to move up. One advantage Davidson holds as they look to maintain their advantage on the field is that Felt is the fastest 200 freestyler in the A-10 this season with a 1:35.03, though Anderson holds a 1:35.88 season-best. After that, it’s St. Bonaventure’s Alex Behr at 3rd in 1:37.56.
SwimSwam Picks
Women:
- George Washington
- Duquesne
- Fordham
Men:
- George Washington
- St Bonaventure
- George Mason
We’re predicting that George Washington will sweep the conference for another year. Both the women’s and men’s teams boast strong rosters capable of putting multiple swimmers up in the ‘A’ final and both teams should run away with this year’s titles.
On the women’s side, our projections have Duquesne solidly ensconced as the runner-up with Fordham edging out La Salle for third overall. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, St Bonaventure’s depth should help propel them past George Mason for second place.
