FAIRFAX, VA...Nov. 20, 2003...George Mason University's swimming and diving teams will host its own Patriot Invitational at the Aquatic and Fitness Center on Nov. 21-23.

Teams competing in the Invitational are American, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, Howard, Saint Francis (PA), Seton Hall, Shippensburg, UMBC and UNC Wilmington.

On the women's side, the Patriots hold a 4-2 overall mark in dual meets and are 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. In its most recent competition, Mason collected nine first place finishes, out of 16 events, against the University of Delaware (Nov. 8) with a score of 168-132. Senior Jamie Downing (Midlothian, VA) notched a first place finish in both the one-meter and three-meter dive events, which led her to receive CAA co-Outstanding Performer of the Week.

The Patriot men are 4-1 overall in dual meets (3-0 CAA), and most recently defeated Delaware at home on Nov. 8 with a score of 170-123. Against the Blue Hens, freshman Tom Koucheravy (Fairfax, VA) highlighted the men's side as he broke Mason's school record in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:14.84, which was 11.80 seconds faster then the second place finisher.

The Patriot Invitational preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday, while the finals have a 6 p.m. start. On Nov. 23, preliminaries and finals will begin at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. Cost of admission for an all-day adult pass is $8 and $5 for an adult single session. Youth and faculty/staff are $2 for a single session, while Mason students are free.