FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason swimming and diving teams will face Atlantic 10 opponents for the first time this season, competing against Richmond, Duquesne and Davidson in the third annual Richmond Duals on Friday and Saturday in Richmond, Va.
The divers will compete at Robins Center Natatorium on the Richmond campus, while the swimmers will compete at SwimRVA, the Collegiate Sports Aquatics Center. The diving competition begins at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, with swimming beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, diving begins the day at 9:30 a.m., while swimming starts at 10 a.m. at the Aquatics Center.
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The event consists of three dual meets over two days. On the women’s side, the Friday competition will be scored as two separate dual meets, with Mason swimming against Davidson and Richmond facing Duquesne. The two teams with the highest scores will compete against each other on Saturday, with the other two teams in competition against each other on the second day.
On the men’s side, Mason and Davidson will compete in a single dual meet over both days. Men’s and women’s one-meter and three-meter diving events will take place both days at the Robins Center Natatorium.
The Patriots will face the top three teams from last season’s Atlantic 10 Championships.
Richmond’s women’s team won the Atlantic 10 title for the sixth straight time. Duquesne finished second and Davidson was third.
Last weekend, the Patriots women’s team defeated Delaware 167-127, while the men’s team earned a 184-114 victory over the Blue Hens.
“The team felt good and is obviously more confident coming out of the meet,” Mason head coach Peter Ward said. “We just move it up a notch going into this weekend and that will be important when we face our first conference opponents. Against Richmond, Duquesne and Davidson we certainly have our hands full, so it’s nice to have that confidence going into it.”
Three members of the Mason swimming and diving teams earned weekly awards from the Atlantic 10 on Tuesday. Senior Sydney Fisher was selected as the women’s Performer of the Week and senior Paul Helfgott was named the men’s Performer of the Week.
Freshman Attila Kiss was tabbed Rookie of the Week after winning the 500-yard freestyle for the second straight meet.
“Kiss was dominant in the 500-yard and had his teammate touch him out in the 1,000-yard, but he swam a terrific race,” Ward said. “He’s much better at the longer races, so the 500-free is kind of a sprint for him. We’ve seen him develop that speed in the last two months, so that’s been exciting to see.”
Helfgott collected first place points last season at the Richmond Duals and heads into the event after posting first place finishes in both the one-meter and three-meter boards against Delaware.
“It’s huge for Paul, you can see the confidence in him,” Ward said. “He has committed himself to what he’s doing in workouts and dry land. He’s gotten bigger and stronger and he’s put the work in to get better. We’ve seen that improvement and now the confidence that comes with winning.”
Last season at the Richmond Duals, Alec Morin was the top medalist on day one on the men’s side. He won both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events and swam the anchor leg of Mason’s winning 200-yard medley relay.
Steven Craig won the 1,650-yard freestyle by nearly 22 seconds on day one and took first place in the 400-yard IM on day two. Matthew Lynch finished first in the 200-yard butterfly during the first day of competition and also won the 100-yard butterfly on day two.
For the Mason women’s team, Fisher claimed the 50-yard freestyle both days and also posted a win in the 100-yard freestyle. Erin Schulte recorded a win in the 1,650-yard freestyle and Steff Maurer touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle.
The teams will swim in a total of 22 events on both Friday and Saturday at the Richmond Duals, with the men’s and women’s teams each swimming a total of 11 events.
