GENEVA, Ohio – Richmond women's swimming maintained its lead through day three of the 2021 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships, while George Washington held onto the lead on the men's side after Friday's third day of competition at the SPIRE Institute. The four-day event concludes Saturday with the crowning of the women's and men's champions.
Richmond increased its lead over the women's field by finishing with 467.5 points Friday, followed by second-place Duquesne with 394 points. Davidson is in third with 374, while George Washington (306) and Massachusetts (248) round out the top five.
George Washington men's swimming also held onto the lead after the third day with 576.5 points, well ahead of second-place George Mason's 376. St. Bonaventure is in third with 353 points and Davidson is fourth with 341.5. UMass completed the top five team rankings with a 312.5.
GW broke two men's records Friday, with the 400-yard medley relay team of Karol Mlynarczyk, Emils Pone, Marek Osina and Tyler Kawakami shattering the conference and championship records by nearly two seconds while also setting the pool record with a 3:10.28. Pone also swam the men's 400-yard individual medley in a record 3:46.32, surpassing his own mark of 3:47.52 set in 2019. Pone also set the league record in the 100-yard IM on Thursday.
The diving championships, being held separately at George Mason's Aquatic Center, concluded Friday with the scores being incorporated into the swimming team scores. In women's diving, Hailey Fisher and Marina Toone of George Mason finished 1-2 in the women's 1-meter dive. Fisher scored 284.50 and Toone tallied 274.65. on the men's side, St. Bonaventure's Michael Bruno placed first with a score of 344.60 in the 3-meter dive. GW's Peter Nachtwey (325.90) and Spencer Bystrom (304.75) finished second and third.
Duquesne's women's team was dominant on Friday, winning four of the six finals races to surpass Davidson and slide into second place. Emma Brinton won the 400-yard individual medley with a 4:16.72, and was followed closely by teammate Emma Menzer at 4:17.76 to give the Dukes a one-two punch in scoring. Hanna Everhart finished the 200-yard freestyle in 1:47.90, claiming another victory for Duquesne. Audrey Steen earned the third Dukes victory with a win in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.24. Duquesne's final win was in the 400-yard medley relay, with the team of Reagan Linkous, Steen, Madison Dickert and Everhart just barely edging out Richmond at 3:40.86, 0.10 ahead of the Spiders team of Katelyn Pennell, Sara Greene, Claire O'Shaughnessy and Margaret Purcell's 3:40.96.
Davidson's Shelby Stanley won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.11, 0.8 seconds shy of the record. St. Bonaventure's Rachel Kimmel won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.75.
George Mason and George Washington split the Friday men's finals, with GW capturing four gold medals and Mason winning two. Pone's win in the 400-yard IM was the first GW gold, followed by a win in the 100-yard butterfly by Mlynarczyk with a time of 47.26. Mlynarczyk, a freshman who captured three goals on Friday, also won the 100-yard backstroke with a 46.22.
George Mason's two wins came in back-to-back men's events, with Anthony Nguyen taking gold in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:38.18, and Dylan Peck winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a 53.64.