Swim & Dive Ready for a Record-Setting Week at the 2023 Patriot League Championships

WASHINGTON - One year removed from a week that saw American University swimming & diving set nine school records and earn three medals, the Eagles are headed back to the Patriot League Swimming & Diving Championships with hopes of raising the bar yet again. The meet, hosted by Bucknell University, is set to begin on Wednesday evening, February 15, and conclude Saturday night, February 18. Fans unable to attend can following along on ESPN+ for one session on day one and three sessions on each of the other three days of competition.

Meet Information

The 2023 Patriot League Men and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships will take place beginning Wednesday, Feb. 15, through Saturday, Feb. 18, at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pa. All 10 Patriot League schools will compete.
The four-day event will begin on Wednesday with the men's 3-meter diving trials at 2 p.m. The swimming events will kick off Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. with the first heat of the women's 200-yard medley relay final. Preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. and the finals will swim at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The remaining diving trials will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m.

Notes on American

The Eagles are led by Garland Bartlett who takes the team to her second PL Championships as head coach following five years as an assistant. Bartlett's team is at numbers not seen in many years, with a combined 51 student-athletes currently.
Last year, 35 of those were freshmen and sophomores who had never competed in a Patriot League Championship. After one great conference meet a year ago, the Eagles are that much more prepared this time around.
Standout junior Mimi Watts, who earned AU's first Patriot League First Team selection since 2011 as a sophomore last year, closed out the 2022 Championships with three individual and four relay school records in addition to her two silver medals and one bronze. She was the first swimmer to medal at all for the Eagles since 2013. With 50 total points scored, Watts tied for sixth among all women's swimmers at the PL Championship.
This year, Watts will compete individually in 50 free (Thursday), the 100 fly (Friday) and the 100 free (Saturday). She holds school records in the 50 free (22.72) and 100 fly (52.81), and has the second-best time in the 100 free (50.97).
While the Eagles will focus once again on strong relays and look to break school records yet again, there are a number of other individuals looking to advance to the top eight or top 16 in their events, including a couple of freshmen.
Freshman Sophia Hemingway holds top 10 spots all-time for AU in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, as does freshman Peyton Thurman for both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.
Junior transfer Maddie Mara holds the fifth spot all-time in program history for the 100 and 200 breaststroke and will look to advance at her first PL Championships.
Other strong contenders on the women's side are junior Sasha Uspenskaya who will swim the 200 IM and the 100 and 200 backstroke, and sophomore Amaya Tomma in both backstroke events as well.
After setting an individual school record in the 50 free a year ago (20.20), junior Nick Buckley is back and looking for more. He'll compete in the 100 fly and 100 free in addition to the 50 free, where he has the eighth-best time in the PL this season coming into the week.
Other strong contenders to advance to finals on the men's side are junior Caleb Farris (100 fly), junior Will Deitch (100 back) and sophomore Griffin Batt in diving.
The Eagles have plenty of other swimmers to watch in both programs, with a total of 10 women and five men having set new top 16 personal-best times in program history so far this season.

Coach Bartlett on the PL Championships

We're really building on the success from last year which was a great meet for us. We have a fairly young team still, but so many sophomores and juniors with that crucial extra year of experience now.
Coming off our eight-day training trip in Puerto Rico to turn right around and have such a great meet at Colgate really gave us a lot of confidence. That was a definite turning point.
They've all put in the work and I'm just so excited to see it pay off at the conference championships.

Championship Schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 15 – 2 p.m. – Men's 3-Meter Diving Trials; 6 p.m. – Men's 3-Meter Diving Finals, 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay
Thursday, Feb. 16 – 10 a.m. – Swimming Prelims; 1 p.m. – Women's 1-Meter Diving Trials; 6 p.m. – Women's 1-Meter Diving Finals, 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 400 Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 17 – 10 a.m. – Swimming Prelims; 1 p.m. – Men's 1-Meter Diving Trials; 6 p.m. – Men's 1-Meter Diving Finals, 100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 200 Free Relay
Saturday, Feb. 18 – 10 a.m. – Swimming Prelims; 1 p.m. – Women's 3-Meter Diving Trials; (approx) 3:15 p.m. – 1650 Freestyle Heats; 5:45 – Senior Recognition; 6 p.m. – Women's 3-Meter Diving Finals, 1,650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 400 Free Relay

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