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.