WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Mason men's and women's swimming teams opened the 2016-17 season with first place finishes at the Potomac Relay Invitational held at American University on Friday.

Mason won 17 of the 18 events with the only loss a second place finish to Georgetown in the men's 3x100 butterfly relay.  Last season, both the Mason men's and women's teams finished first out of the four teams in the Potomac Relay Invitational.  The men's team won eight of nine relays to earn 120 points, while the women's team won five relays to finish with 108 points last year. 

Sydney Fisher helped lead Mason on Friday, breaking the pool record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.55, eclipsing the previous record of 23.86.  She joins former teammate Travis Lauri on the Reeves Aquatic Center Pool Record board. 

Sophomore Marla Albanese, junior Amy Tansill, senior Steff Maurer and Fisher won the 200-yard medley relay (1:46.49).  Junior Rachel Williams and seniors Megan DeJong, Erin Schulte and Sarah Brallier combined to win the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:56.54).  Fisher, Williams, Albanese and Maurer won the 200-yard freestyle relay.  Fisher, Maurer, Albanese and Schulte touched the wall first in the 500-yard freestyle relay (4:43.31). 

Junior Dorothy Reilly, freshman Hannah Ikenberry and Maurer finished first in the 300-yard backstroke relay (2:59.06).  The Mason women's team also won the 300-yard breaststroke relay (3:33.14), 400-yard IM relay (4:11.69), 300-yard butterfly relay (2:54.93) and 1000-yard freestyle relay (10:37.83).

The men's team won eight events on the night.  Junior Alec Morin, freshman Logan Eubanks and seniors Jackson Hannam and Zepher Begnell won the 200-yard medley relay by more than five seconds (1:34.77).  Senior Evan Owens, junior Steven Craig, sophomore Hagen Dietrich and freshman Attila Kiss swam their way to a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:07.58).

In the 300-yard breaststroke relay, senior Ryan Frayne, freshman Christopher Stankiewicz and Hannam took first place (2:59.29).  The men's team also won the 300-yard backstroke relay (2:40.14), 500-yard freestyle relay (4:12.76), 400-yard IM relay (3:38.07) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:25.45).

The Patriots are back in the pool against Navy and UMBC on Oct. 7 in Annapolis, MD.

Women – Team Scores

1.  George Mason 126

2.  American University 72

2.  Georgetown University 72

4.  Howard University 58

5.  VMI 22

 Men – Team Scores

1.  George Mason 122

2.  Georgetown University 76

3.  Howard University 56

4.  VMI 54

5.  American University 48