Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships
WHEN:  Wednesday, Feb. 14 through Saturday, Feb. 17
WHERE:  SPIRE Institute | Geneva, Ohio
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RESULTS

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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's and women's swimming and diving teams are back in action on Wednesday, competing in the Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

The A-10 Championships begin on Wednesday, Feb. 14 and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 17.  Each day of the four-day competition will include a morning preliminary session and an evening final session, with the top 16 performers competing in the finals.

On the men's side, Mason finished in sixth place with 395 points at last year's Atlantic 10 Championships.  The George Washington men's swimming and diving team won it's first-ever A-10 Championship, finishing the competition with 565.5 points.  La Salle was second (528 points) and Massachusetts finished third (449 points).

In last year's competition, Zepher Begnell shared the top spot on the podium on day one when he finished in a first-place tie in the 50-yard freestyle (20.26). 

Matthew Lynch earned a spot on the podium on day four, winning the bronze in the 200-yard butterfly (1:48.24).  He also placed sixth in the 100-yard butterfly (48.98) and seventh in the 200-yard IM (1:49.90).

Attila Kiss posted a fourth place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle (15:35.66) and placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:28.88).  Ryan Donnelly was fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:46.27) while Alec Morin swam to a fourth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (44.76) and a seventh place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (49.51).

Paul Helfgott, who was named 2017 Atlantic 10 Men's Most Outstanding Diver, won the one-meter dive with a score of 294.40 and placed second in the three-meter event with a score of 295.60. 

On the women's side, Mason finished in seventh place at last year's competition with 306.5 points.  Richmond's women's swimming and diving team finished with 570 points to claim its seventh consecutive A-10 title and 15th in the last 16 years.  Duquesne finished second (498.5 points) and Massachusetts was third (457 points).

Sydney Fisher won the 50-yard freestyle (22.51), 100-yard freestyle (49.83) and 100-yard butterfly (53.48).  She broke the championship, conference and pool record in the 50-yard freestyle on day one of the A-10 Championships last season.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Dorothy Reilly placed sixth (2:03.84) and Christina McLemore was seventh (2:03.87).

The Championships begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14 with the preliminaries of the men's one-meter diving competition.  The Championships will continue Thursday through Saturday, with preliminaries scheduled for 10 a.m. and finals slated for 6:30 p.m. each day.

The Atlantic 10 Championships mark the final team competition of the season for Mason.