Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Swimming & Diving | Hoyas Rewrite Record Book

The Georgetown swimming and diving team saw four school records, three individual event victories and two NCAA championship qualifications at the three-day Bucknell Invitational this past weekend.

Headlining the successful competition were senior Katie Duncalf and junior Molly Fitzpatrick, who both registered dominant individual performances on Sunday. Duncalf, competing in the 200-yard backstroke, bested her preliminary time of 2:00.61 by over two seconds in the final, finishing with a school-record and NCAA qualifying time of 1:58.37.

Overall, the women’s team placed fifth out of nine teams, earning 968 points, while the men’s squad also finished fifth with a total of 870 points. Towson completed a sweep of the invitational, winning both men’s and women’s team events. Georgetown men placed behind Towson (1271.5 points), La Salle (1049), North Dakota (983) and Fordham (932.5). Meanwhile, the women trailed Towson (1298.5 points), Bucknell (1268.5), North Dakota (1124.5) and Fordham (1096.5).

Complementing Duncalf’s impressive race, Fitzpatrick registered a duo of school records — one on Saturday and Sunday in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events. After Fitzpatrick set a school record in the 100-yard preliminary with a time of 1:02.08, she set a new record time in the final and qualified for NCAA championships, touching the wall after 1:01.69.

The following day, Fitzpatrick continued her dominance in the backstroke competition, dominating her opponents by over six seconds in the 200-yard final with a time of 2:13.52. The Blue and Gray rounded out their record-setting weekend in the 400-yard medley relay as Duncalf, Fitzpatrick, senior Molly Gaynor and freshman Morgan Conley touched the wall after 3:45.76, cementing themselves in the Georgetown record book.

The men also enjoyed successful performances amid the fifth-place finish, highlighted when senior Martin Vanin set the Hoyas’ fourth school record of the invitational in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.17. Senior David Chung finished right on Vanin’s heels in the event, touching the wall 1.5 seconds after his teammate with a sixth-place time of 50.48.

Contributing to the strong weekend for the Hoyas, sophomore Jacob Kohlhoff took fifth in the 100-yard butterfly on Saturday. The sophomore bested his preliminary time by over half a second, clocking in at 1:42.11. Other performances from the men include a sixth-place position in the 200-yard medley relay, which featured a time of 1:32.33 from the quartet consisting of junior Edward Spinelli, sophomore Arthur Wang, Vanin and senior Will Leach, along with an eighth-place finish from Wang in the 100-yard backstroke.

While the swimming team rewrote the program’s record book, the diving team also contributed to the Hoyas’ strong effort. The strongest of which came from senior Jared Cooper-Vespa, who finished runner-up in the three-meter dive. Cooper-Vespa was recently named the Big East Male Swim and Dive Athlete of the Week for his performance against Old Dominion on Nov. 13. Capping off the diving team’s invitational were sophomore Ryan Blom, who took fourth in the one-meter dive, and freshman Elizabeth Miller, who finished seventh in the women’s one-meter event.

The Blue and Gray are back in action in the Golden State when they travel to California for their annual winter-break trip. Their next competition is Jan. 6 against Pepperdine.

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  • S

    SeanDec 7, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    WOW…. Just Wow.. there is no way that you took time to look over this article even once before it was published. I have see some AWFUL writing in the past when it comes to covering swimming but this has got to be the worst. It’s not that you got the strokes wrong in multiple places, its not even that you got the distance wrong in one place. It’s that you claim Molly Fitzpatrick broke the exact same school record as Katie Duncalf by swimming the event in a time 15 SECONDS slower than Duncalf. In case you were wondering Fitzpatrick was swimming Breastroke not Backstroke. These swimmers work their butts off every single day, the least you could do is take the time to proofread your work just once.

    P.S. Jacob Kohlhoff didn’t get fifth in the 100 butterfly where his teammates finished over 50 seconds ahead of him. He didn’t even get fifth in the 200 butterfly (where that time would place him 5th in the ENTIRE NATION). He got fifth in the 200 freestyle (how can you be that wrong?).

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    • C

      Connor SempleMar 1, 2017 at 9:58 pm

      I know Evan personally and can assure you that you have grossly misrepresented his work ethic and integrity. The good writers at The Hoya put just as much effort into their product as you claim the swimmers do, and are college students just like you. Maybe I will come to your next swim meet and heckle you from the stands, as you seem to enjoy doing to aspiring writers from the safety of your keyboard. Nobody cares about swimming anyway. A jellyfish can do what you do every day of its life and it doesn’t even have a brain. Get over it.

      Reply