2024 NCAA Qualifier in the 100 breaststroke Ava DeAngelis has announced her transfer to Ohio State for her senior season. She has one year of eligibility remaining.
DeAngelis entered the NCAA transfer portal earlier this month upon the news that head coach Brian Thomas left the program. Although the transfer portal closed at the end of April, some exceptions allow for athletes to enter late including coaching changes.
In her time at GWU, DeAngelis consistently dropped time. As a freshman, her highest finish at the conference level was a 5th place finish in the 100 breaststroke as she swam a 1:02.06.
In her sophomore season, she made three conference ‘A’ finals. She finished 2nd in the 100 breast in a 1:01.01, 5th in the 200 breast in a 2:15.47, and 8th in the 400 IM in a 4:30.73.
DeAngelis earned her first NCAA invite as a junior and captured her first A-10 title as she won the 100 breast in a 59.75. She also finished 2nd in the 200 breast at A-10s in a 2:09.94 and was 3rd in the 200 IM in a 2:00.72. Her 100 breaststroke swim earned her the NCAA invite and she went on to finish 33rd in the event (59.94) and 45th in the 200 breast (2:11.73).
The arrival of DeAngelis comes at the right time for the Buckeyes who graduated their top two 100 breaststrokers Hannah Bach and Josie Panitz. Both swimmers made the NCAA ‘A’ final in the 100 breast as Bach was 6th in a 57.40 while Panitz was 7th in a 58.38. Panitz was the team’s top 200 breaststroker as well and finished 18th in the event at NCAAs in a 2:08.66.
The two swimmers were the only Buckeyes under the 1:00 mark in the 100, although rising senior Reese Dehen was just off of breaking the 1:00 mark with a 1:00.52 at Big Tens.
In addition to her potential individual contribution, DeAngelis also helps reboost the team’s medley relays. The team’s 200 medley relay finished 2nd at 2024 NCAAs while the team’s 400 medley relay finished 13th. Bach swam the breaststroke leg on both relays, splitting a 25.68 on the 200 medley and a 59.19 on the 400 medley.
any word on where Brian Thomas is going?
I always liked Brian – hope he lands well