The George Washington University women’s swimming & diving team fell to Atlantic 10 rival La Salle, 134-94, in GW’s home opener at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center.  The Colonials were paced by freshman Sarah Landry, who won both diving events, and junior Lauren Fuchs, who won the 200-yard breaststroke.

Landry got the Colonials off to a great start in the early diving session taking with 1-meter dive with 248.63 points.  Afterwards, she took the 3-meter dive with 245.78 points.

Fuchs earned a win in the 200-yard breaststroke, an event the Colonials dominated on the day.  GW swept first through fourth place with the East Setauket, NY native taking the crown in 2:27.77.  Fellow junior Ariana Berdini and sophomores Katrina Timlin and Jen Cohn followed in times of 2:30.97, 2:36.88 and 2:37.75, respectively.  Fuchs was also a member of the winning 400-yard Medley relay team ashe teamed with junior anchor, Jessica Miga, sophomore Emily Leik and freshman Noelle Miesfeld.

Miga, Leik and Miesfeld also took second place finishes in individual events.  Miga placed second with a 25.53 in the 50-yard freestyle.  Leik touched the wall in 2:16.24 in the 200-yard IM and Miesfeld took second in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:12.11.

Freshman Sisi Ruan also had a solid day for GW as she placed second in all three of her freestyle events (200, 500, 100-yard) in times of 2:02.20, 5:25.88 and 10:59.87, respectively.

The Colonials’ next competition is the Patriot Invitational, held at George Mason’s Jim McKay Natatorium inside the Aquatic and Fitness Center on Fri.-Sun, Nov. 16-18.

The George Washington University men’s swimming & diving team fell to Atlantic 10 rival La Salle, 142-77, in GW’s home opener at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center.  The Colonials were highlighted by a victory in the 1-meter dive by freshman Dan Thomann to open the day.

The diving portion preceeded the swimming portion and Thomann got GW off to a solid start.  Accumulating 217.43 points in six dives, the freshman from Chester, CT, won the 1-meter dive.  Thomann took third in the 3-meter dive to follow.

Freshmen Jim Forrest and Andrew Maguire both managed second place performances in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, respectively.  Forrest and fellow freshman Fred Schneider finished second-third in the longest distance event on the day in times of 10:28.03 and 10:34.42.  Maguire finished the 200-yard butterfly in 2:01.49, and also took third in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:15.04.

Freshman Konrad Kopczynski earned a pair of third place finishes in the 100 and 200-yard freestyles, touching the wall in 49.77 and 1:48.56, respectively.

Senior Mark DeSimone, a traditional breaststroker, was forced to swim the 50-yard freestyle, but managed a third place performance in 24.57.  Junior Tom Pullen also took third n the 200-yard IM in 2:00.75.

GW was without the services of junior David Zenk and sophomore Rick Rogers who are competing at the CWPA Southern Championships (Men’s Water Polo) in Annapolis, MD.

The Colonials’ next competition is the Patriot Invitational, held at George Mason’s Jim McKay Natatorium inside the Aquatic and Fitness Center on Fri.-Sun, Nov. 16-18.