Ohio State Synchronized Swimming Looks To Repeat As Collegiate National Champions – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Artistic Swimming
March 28, 2001
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The Ohio State synchronized swimming team will travel to the long-awaited Collegiate National Championship, where the Buckeyes will attempt to repeat as Collegiate National Champions and vie for their 21st national title.%^$
The championship will be held March 29-31 at the Midtown Aquatic Center in Newport News, Va. The tournament is sponsored by the College of William and Mary and will feature nearly 200 swimmers from 17 different schools. It will be a combined competition.%^$
At the championship, the Buckeyes will fight to defend the national title they took in 2000 from rival Stanford. Stanford is the most competive team the Buckeyes have faced and they meet just once a season at Nationals. In 2000, the Buckeyes topped Stanford at Collegiate Nationals, 95-89.%^$
%^$Buckeyes On Top At%^$North Regionals%^$
OSU last competed at the North Regional Championships, March 3. The Buckeyes hosted the competition and finished in first place, scoring 111 over Miami (63), Minnesota (53.5), Iowa (49.5), Carleton College (42), Illinois (32) and Michigan (20).%^$
Mary Hofer (Jr., Spring Valley, Calif.) took first place in the solo with the score of 97.733. Carolina Moraes (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Isabela Moraes (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil) were the top finishers in the duet, scoring 98.200 and in the trio with Hofer, scoring 97.733.%^$
In the team competition, Ohio State’s `A’ team dominated, scoring 98.333. The Ohio State `B’ team took second, scoring 95.600. Minnesota took third place in the team event with the score of 82.217.%^$
%^$No. 1 In The Nation%^$
The 2000 national champion Buckeyes are no stranger to success, having regained the national title last season. Over the past 24 years, the Buckeyes have claimed 20 national titles, including 13-consecutive from 1985-1997. The Buckeyes were second only to Stanford in 1998 and `99. %^$
%^$Olympians Strengthen Buckeye Squad%^$
Brazilian twins Carolina and Isabela Moraes came back from Down Under for the start of the 2000 season and back on the roster after a nine-month hiatus. The twins competed in the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, where they took 12th place in the duet competition.%^$The Moraes twins played a vital role at the 2000 Collegiate National Champions, taking first place in the duet and trio with Hofer, and contributing in the team event. %^$
%^$On The Mark%^$
The North Regional Championship, March 3, marked OSU’s season-best scores in the solo, duet, trio and senior figures. Hofer won first honors in the solo with a season-best score of 97.733. The Moraes twins produced the season best in the duet, scoring 98.200. The Moraes twins, with Hofer, also hold the season best in the trio with their score of 97.733. Carolina Moraes holds three season records. Her third is in senior figures (85.104). Each record also marked a first-place finish for the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$Head Coach Linda Lichter-Witter%^$
Head Coach Lichter-Witter nearly has three decades of coaching experience. This will be her sixth year of coaching the OSU synchronized swimming team. Lichter-Witter maintains an outstanding overall record of 199-3. She is 14-0 this season so far. She also has earned five regional titles for the Scarlet &Gray.%^$
Under Lichter-Witter, the Buckeyes have won three national championships (1996-97, 2000) and finished as national runners-up for two years (1998-99).%^$
Lichter-Witter has coached 26 All-Americans, one USSSI Collegiate Swimmer of the Year, Ana Cukic and five Olympians including current team members, Carolina and Isabela Moraes.%^$
%^$Seven Buckeyes On National Team II%^$ Head Coach Linda Lichter-Witter is coaching the National Team II this year in addition to the Buckeyes. Lichter-Witter was a coach of the National Team II from 1972-1996 and is returning for the first time in four years. Seven Buckeyes have made the team. Mary Hofer, Victoria Bowen, Suzanna Hyatt, Katie Edwards, Anna Eng, Ellen Faulhaber, Heather Moore and Kim Lester all made the team that will represent the U.S. in Switzerland in July.%^$
%^$Twins And Hofer Can’t Be Beat%^$
Twins Carolina and Isabela Moraes, and Hofer are juniors this year, which makes this season the the third in a row they have dominated the competition with their undefeated trio. The unbeatable trio received their top score in the trio last season at the Collegiate National Championships, with a score of 96.933.%^$
%^$Family Ties%^$
Head Coach Linda Lichter-Witter has signed Lauren Marsh of Spring Valley, Calif. to the Buckeye roster for the 2001-02 season. She is the younger sister of OSU synchro alumna, Emily Marsh, who was a national champion in the duet in 1995-97 and in the trio in 1995-96.%^$OSU synchro has a history of family tradition. Twin sisters, Sara and Karen Josephson, were national champions from 1982-85 and went on to the Olympics. Brazilian twins Carolina and Isabela Moraes are undefeated for the Buckeyes and Lichter-Witter’s daughter-in-law, Annemarie Lichter, is the OSU choreographical coach.
