WASHINGTON – After opening the 2015-16 season with victories at Howard, the George Washington men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads return to the pool at UMBC on Saturday for dual meet action. Diving will compete for the first time this year.
Reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie Performer of the Week Josh Monacelli led the men with four race wins at Howard on Saturday. The Orlando, Florida, native helped the Colonials to a pair of victories in the 200-yd medley and 400-yd freestyle relays, while finishing first as an individual in the 200-yd individual medley and 100-yd breaststroke.
On the women’s side, junior Lauren Law also grabbed four first-place finishes, teaming up for wins in the 200-yd and 400-yd free relays and claiming solo victories in the 50-yd free and 100-yd butterfly. The victories made it a winning debut for first-year head coach James Winchester.
Saturday will mark UMBC’s third week of competition after taking on Rider and Navy. The women’s squad downed Rider before being edged by Navy, while the men’s team fell in both contests.
The Retrievers are coming off of a strong 2014-15 season that saw the women win the America East Championship, while the men took home the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Championship.
“UMBC is going to be a big challenge for us this weekend,” said Winchester. “Coach Craddock has built a great program over there – one that we aspire to be like.
“Our challenge is only tougher due to some unfortunate injuries we have had in the pool, and coming off peak week, this will be one of the toughest meets we’ll face this season. Despite that, I know our team is excited to rise to the challenge that will be a good marker of where we want to perform at the end of the season.”
Saturday’s meet will mark GW’s men’s and women’s diving teams’ first competition of 2015-16, as no diving component was included in the opening meet at Howard. Sophomore Iman Lee returns to the boards after serving as GW’s first diver since the program’s reinstatement a year ago to compete at the Atlantic 10 Championships in her rookie campaign. Freshmen Miranda Simon and Jake Ortiz will make their collegiate debuts on Saturday.
The meet is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the UMBC Aquatic Complex in Baltimore.
Swimming news courtesy of George Washington Swimming & Diving.
