Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Oakland Golden Grizzly Classic on December 3, 2025 , , 2nd of 5
W Swimming
at Oakland Golden Grizzly Classic
2nd of 5
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Nathan Peters
High expectations come with 2023-24 schedule
9/18/2023 10:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Dual meets with Arizona State, Arizona make program history
The Grand Canyon swimming and diving team has high expectations for the 2023-2024 season with the schedule that it unveiled Monday.
The Lopes begin their hunt for WAC titles and NCAA Championship appearances with the Purple-Back Intrasquad meet at home on Sept. 30. The races will include current swimmers as well as alumni.
The first official meet of the season will send the swimmers and divers to Moscow, Idaho. The men will compete against Simon Fraser, a Division II program based in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Red Leafs are the only Canadian university that operates in the NCAA.
The women will face Simon Fraser and Idaho, which they defeated 200.5 to 87.5 last season at New Mexico State. In that meet, during the 100-yard breaststroke, Raphaela Nakashima placed first and Maria Chatzi took second with times of 1 minute, 5.59 seconds and 1:06.37. Chatzi, who is from Greece, also placed first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:24.25.
One week later, the team will travel to Riverside, California, to take on WAC foes Seattle U and California Baptist, as well as Denver. GCU has not swam against Denver since 2007.
The Lopes will compete in two open-water races this season. The first is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Open Water Championship, which takes place in Long Beach, California. In December, the team will head to Miami for the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America National Open Water, in which five men and five women will compete in the 5-kilometer race for the second year in a row.
To start off November, the team will head to Air Force. The last time the Lopes faced off with the Falcons, the men's dual came down to the final race, wiht the Lopes winning the 200-yard freestyle relay for a 179-174 meet victory. In that meet, now-sophomore Jonathan Rom won the 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and the 400 medley relay. Next, the divers will compete at the NAU Diving Invitational in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Aside from postseason aspirations, the biggest meet of the year is the Miami Midseason Invitational, a meet where each athlete wears technological suits to get a true assessment of how they compare to other swimmers in the conference and country. The men will attempt to go back-to-back in winning the midseason meet while the women are coming off of a second-place finish last year.
For the first time in program history, GCU will have dual meets with Arizona State (Jan. 6) and Arizona (Jan. 12). The Arizona State men were NCAA runners-up last season.
The Lopes will host Arizona Christian and New Mexico State on Jan 13. New Mexico State has not swam at GCU since 2019, when the Lopes came out victorious.
To close out the regular season, GCU will travel back to Riverside to compete in dual meets with UC San Diego and California Baptist.
The season finale will take place Feb. 3 against UNLV at home for Senior Day.
The WAC Championships will be held in Pharr, Texas, for the second year in a row. The program is coming off its best combined finish with the women and men each taking second place last season. The anticipation is high after the strong finish with several underclassman returning.
With more than a week of break between WAC and the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, the team will hope to be have athletes at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships and NCAA Championships.
To view the full schedule, click here.
The Lopes begin their hunt for WAC titles and NCAA Championship appearances with the Purple-Back Intrasquad meet at home on Sept. 30. The races will include current swimmers as well as alumni.
The first official meet of the season will send the swimmers and divers to Moscow, Idaho. The men will compete against Simon Fraser, a Division II program based in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Red Leafs are the only Canadian university that operates in the NCAA.
The women will face Simon Fraser and Idaho, which they defeated 200.5 to 87.5 last season at New Mexico State. In that meet, during the 100-yard breaststroke, Raphaela Nakashima placed first and Maria Chatzi took second with times of 1 minute, 5.59 seconds and 1:06.37. Chatzi, who is from Greece, also placed first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:24.25.
One week later, the team will travel to Riverside, California, to take on WAC foes Seattle U and California Baptist, as well as Denver. GCU has not swam against Denver since 2007.
The Lopes will compete in two open-water races this season. The first is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Open Water Championship, which takes place in Long Beach, California. In December, the team will head to Miami for the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America National Open Water, in which five men and five women will compete in the 5-kilometer race for the second year in a row.
To start off November, the team will head to Air Force. The last time the Lopes faced off with the Falcons, the men's dual came down to the final race, wiht the Lopes winning the 200-yard freestyle relay for a 179-174 meet victory. In that meet, now-sophomore Jonathan Rom won the 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and the 400 medley relay. Next, the divers will compete at the NAU Diving Invitational in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Aside from postseason aspirations, the biggest meet of the year is the Miami Midseason Invitational, a meet where each athlete wears technological suits to get a true assessment of how they compare to other swimmers in the conference and country. The men will attempt to go back-to-back in winning the midseason meet while the women are coming off of a second-place finish last year.
For the first time in program history, GCU will have dual meets with Arizona State (Jan. 6) and Arizona (Jan. 12). The Arizona State men were NCAA runners-up last season.
The Lopes will host Arizona Christian and New Mexico State on Jan 13. New Mexico State has not swam at GCU since 2019, when the Lopes came out victorious.
To close out the regular season, GCU will travel back to Riverside to compete in dual meets with UC San Diego and California Baptist.
The season finale will take place Feb. 3 against UNLV at home for Senior Day.
The WAC Championships will be held in Pharr, Texas, for the second year in a row. The program is coming off its best combined finish with the women and men each taking second place last season. The anticipation is high after the strong finish with several underclassman returning.
With more than a week of break between WAC and the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, the team will hope to be have athletes at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships and NCAA Championships.
To view the full schedule, click here.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
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