9/30/2021 3:42:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
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Schaffer welcomes GCU women’s largest recruiting class
By: Chelsie Davidson
The Grand Canyon's women's swimming and diving team will have 13 newcomers on the 2021-22 roster with 11 freshmen and two transfers. This class will feature student-athletes from eight countries and four states, with a plethora of state and national champions.
"We are excited to welcome the largest and most accomplished recruiting class in the history of the women's program," GCU associate head coach Chris O'Linger said. "We have several domestic and international recruits coming in that will play a major role in the next generation of our swim program. We are looking to not only taking a step and competing for conference championships, but that these women will establish a culture that puts us on the national scene."
Alba Fernandez Alvarez
Freshman Alba Fernandez Alvarez comes to GCU from Oveido, Spain. Alvarez attended the I.E.S. Rio Trubia High School and swam for the C.N. Santa Olaya club team. Alvarez competed at nationals, where she placed second in the 200-yard individual medley in 2017, third in the 200 iindividual medley in 2019 and fourth place in 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley.
Freshman Shiori Bak hails from Ringwood East, Victoria, Australia, where she was a member of the Whitehorse Diving Club and the Diving Victoria High Performance Squad. Bak competed at the Junior Elite Nationals from 2014-2019 and placed in the top 10 in 2018 and 2019 on platform. Bak also represented Austrailia at the Amsterdam Diving Cup and the Dresden International Youth Meet in 2016.
Freshman Lauren Briggs is from Renton, Washington, where she attended Kentridge High School. She was also a member of the Chinook Aquatic Club and the Valley Aquatics Swim Team. Briggs holds two high school records in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. She also attended the state meet every year, competing in at least two events. Briggs placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke at the 4A state championship as a junior. She was nominated to the all-state first team and earned MVP in her sophomore and senior years.
Freshman Maria Brunlehner attended Sportschule Potsdam High School in Potsdam, Germany. Brunlehner, a native of Mombasa, Kenya, was a member of the Potsdamer Schwimmverein club and earned a medal at the German Youth Championships. She also competed with the Kenyan team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Freshman Maria Chatzi comes to GCU from Ioannina, Greece, where she attended 16th Lyceum in Thessaloniki, Greece. Chatzi swam for the Greek Swimming Federation. In 2019, she placed in the top 20 at the Greece national competition. Chatzi also competed in international competitions, like Multination Junior and Gymnasiade ISF School summer games.
Reagan Fulton
Freshman Reagan Fulton comes from Burns, Oregon, where she attended Burns High School. Fulton was an AAU All-American in 2020 on the 1- and 3-meter dives. She was also named her team's Swimmer of the Year in 2018. Fulton was a member of the Nevada Diving Club, for which she earned the Love of Diving Award. She also trained with the Tulatin Hills Diving Club and Ripfest Diving Academy.
Freshman Lauren Hicks is an Arizona native who attended Red Mountain High School in Mesa. Hicks holds team records in the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay. In addition, she holds the second-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke and recorded top-10 times in more than four events. In 2020, Hicks was named the Most Valuable Swimmer her senior year. She was also a member of the Mesa Aquatics Club, where she holds top-10 relay and individual swim records. Hicks set the team record in the 200 freestyle relay and contributed to the Senior State Championships and Four Corner Speedo Sectionals with her club.
Freshman Laura Kellberg comes to GCU from Espoo, Finland, where she attended Mattlidens Gymnasium. With her club team, Cetus Espoo, she won the 400 freestyle relay at the 2019 Finnish National Championships. At the junior level, Kellberg competed in a variety of international competitions. In 2016 and 2017, Kellberg competed in the European Youth Olympics. With the Finnish national team, she took home a bronze medal in the 100 backstroke at the Nordic Championships in December of 2019. Kellberg also competed at the Junior Finnish National Championships in more than 10 events each year from 2014-2019.
Raphaela Nakashima
Sophomore Raphaela Nakashima joins the Lopes from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she attended Colegio Amorim High School. Nakashima competed at the Gymnasiade World School Games, where she placed eighth in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes. In 2016 and 2017, she won the 50 and 100 breaststrokes at the Brazilian School Swimming Championships. In addition, Nakashima also placed second in the 200 individual medley.
As a Brazilian national team member, she won the 100 breaststroke eight times from 2016-2020. She placed second in the event this year. Nakashima also traveled with the South American team and placed second in the 200 breaststroke.
At the Brazilian national championships, Nakashima won a gold medal in the 100 breaststroke and received silver medals in the 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. Nakashima also competed in the well-known Jose Finkel competition this year, when she placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
Senior Morgan Peterson, a transfer from Palomar College in California, was undefeated at leagues and received the "Swimmer of the Year" award for the Avocado East League as a sophomore. In addition, she broke the 100-yard backstroke record in 2018. The Carlsbad, California, native attended Classical Academy High School and was a member of the South Bay Aquatics, College Area Swim Team, North Coast Aquatics, Rancho San Dieguito and Inland Coastal Aquatics.
Aleksandra Wegrzynowska
Freshman Aleksandra Wegrzynowska comes to GCU with a very impressive resume. The Wroclaw, Poland, native attended Szkola Sportowa Gimbasket High School. Wegrzynowska attended the Polish Championships in December 2019, when she beat four records and won seven medals (3 golds, 3 silver and 1 bronze) in the junior category. She also won a bronze medal in the senior category. Wegrzynowska beat four records at the Polish Championships and won four medals, three in the junior category and one in the senior.
Wegrzynowska was a member of the WKS Slask Wroclaw club team. At the Polish Senior Championships, she was a four-time finalist with three finishes in the top four. She took home third place in the 400 freestyle (4:08.92), fourth place in the 400 individual medley (4:42.08) and the 200 butterfly (2:11.71) and seventh place in the 200 freestyle (2:01.16).
Freshman Christa Wilson comes to GCU from Dishforth, England, where she attended Ripon Grammar School. Wilson qualified and participated in the British Championships, British Summer Championships, English Swimming Championships, Winter National Championships, Commonwealth Trials and the Olympic Trials. In addition, she was selected for Intercounties and English Schools Swimming Association teams that won back-to-back championships.
Sophomore Emma Willmer joins the Lopes after spending the last two years at San Diego State, where she was a two-time Mountain West Championships finalist as a freshman. Willmer attended Edison High School and placed third at the state championships as a freshman and earned a spot on the all-state first team.
The Huntington Beach, California, native was a member of the Empire Swim Club and Irvine Novaquatics. She was a two-time Sunset League champion, three-time California Interscholastic Federation finalist, Futures Medalist and won the team championship twice while competing with Empire. With Irvine Novaquatics, Willmer competed at Winter Junior Nationals in 2018 and 2019 and was a two-time finalist.
