2021-22 Swimming & Diving Roster

Kostas Lymperopoulos

Grace Wielar

  • Class Senior
  • Highschool St. Catherine's School
  • Hometown Richmond, Va.

Biography

PERSONAL BESTS
50 Free (relay) 24.20 High School
50 Free (open) 24.26 WVU Invitational (11.21.2019)
100 Free 52.12 High School
200 Free 1:50.56 High School
500 Free 5:12.35 Bruno Invitational (11.30.2018)
1000 Free 10:59.22 High School
100 Back 56.16 BIG EAST Championships (2.28.2020)
200 Back 2:00.44 BIG EAST Championships (2.29.2020)
100 Fly 56.15 High School
200 Fly 2:05.01 High School
200 IM 2:05.70 High School
400 IM 4:32.09 High School
 
CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS
2019-20 (Sophomore)
BIG EAST Champion (tie) 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3rd Leg) - 3:21.62 (51.26 split)
BIG EAST Champion 800 Yard Frestyle Relay (2nd Leg) - 7:16.85 (1:51.82 split)
All-BIG EAST 200 Yard Backstroke
All-BIG EAST 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3rd Leg)
All-BIG EAST 800 Yard Freestyle Relay (2nd Leg)
ACADEMIC HONORS
BIG EAST All-Academic Team (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22)
Athletic Director's Honor Roll (Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022)

Villanova Career: Veteran member of the Wildcats freestyle and backstroke groups who has been a 13-time BIG EAST scorer during her career … That total includes eight individual top-eight finishes and an All-BIG EAST performance in the 200 back her sophomore year … Two-time BIG EAST champion as part of the Villanova lineups in the 400 free relay and the 800 free relay … Has been a part of BIG EAST team titles each year of her collegiate career … Four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection and has earned a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in all eight of her collegiate semesters.
 
2021-22: Scored in all three events she took part in at the BIG EAST Championships … Competed in all 11 events during her final season; BIG EAST Championships (2/23-26): Played a part in Villanova winning its ninth consecutive BIG EAST title by scoring in all three events she competed in … Qualified for the Consolation Final in the 200 Back, finishing 16th with a time of 2:04.28 … Was 18th in both the 100 Fly (58.09) and 100 Back (57.91); Penn State (1/28): Anchored the “B” team to f 3:37.77 finish that was good enough for second in the 400 Free Relay … Touched sixth in the 100 Fly at 59.16 and seventh in the 100 Back with a time of 59.80; West Virginia/Iowa State (1/22): Had two top-10 swims … Finished seventh in the 200 Back at 2:07.13 … Was 10th in the 100 Fly with a time of 1:00.79; Pittsburgh (1/20): Recorded sixth-place finishes in all four events she competed in … Posted times of 59.70 in the 100 Back, 2:09.94 in the 200 Back and 1:00.10 in the 100 Fly … Swam third leg for the “B” team that finished the 200 Medley Relay in 1:50.78; Rutgers (1/17): Helped the “A” Team to a winning time of 3:28.42 in the 400 Free Relay, swimming a third-leg split of 53.39 … Touched fifth in the 200 Back at 2:06.38 … Third leg for the “B” team in the 400 Medley Relay that finished third in 4:04.80; Richmond (1/14): Won the 200 Back with a time of 2:06.67 … Finished third in the 100 Back at 58.85 and was fifth in the 100 Fly at 1:00.57 … Anchored the “B” Team to a fifth-place 1:52.19 in the 200 Medley Relay; La Salle (11/22): Opening leg for the third-place 200 Free Relay team that finished in 1:39.78 … Finished fourth in the 100 Back in 1:00.30; WVU Invitational (11/18-11/20): Part of two top-five relay teams that finished fourth in the 200 Free (1:35.56) and fifth in the 400 Free (3:28.36); Penn (11/10): Swam opening leg on the 400 Free Relay team that finished second in 3:39.13 … Third leg for the fourth-place 200 Medley Relay team that finished in 1:49.05 … Grabbed fifth-place finishes in the 100 Back (59.36) and 200 Back (2:09.16); Georgetown (10/30): Part of the second-place 400 Free Relay team that finished in 3:34.13 … Finished fourth in the 200 Back with a 2:07.61 time; UCONN (10/16): Swam second leg for the third-place 400 Free Relay team (3:34.47) and first leg for the fifth-place 200 Medley Relay team (1:50.73) … Finished sixth in the 100 Back (59.16).
 
2020-21: Scored in the 100 back and the 200 back as well as the 200 free at the BIG EAST Championships … Qualified for the championship final in the 200 back and placed sixth overall in the event … Competed at all four of the regular season dual meets before the conference championships; BIG EAST Championships (4/7-4/10): Helped the Wildcats extend their streak of BIG EAST titles to eight in a row by scoring in all three of her individual events at the conference championships … Her best finish was sixth place in the championship final of the 200 back … She was ranked eighth after a time of 2:02.72 in the preliminaries and moved up two spots to sixth by touching the wall in 2:01.26 in the final … Registered 14th place finishes in both the 200 free and the 100 back with times of 1:53.65 and 57.41, respectively … Recorded season-best marks of 1:53.58 in the 200 free and 57.27 in the 100 back during the prelims; Delaware (2/13): Runner-up in both the 100 back (59.66) and the 200 back (2:07.61) in the season opener … Swam the third leg of the 400 free relay to help Villanova post a winning time of 3:31.28 … Swam the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay in the team’s “B” lineup which posted a third place finish with a time of 1:50.25; Drexel (3/3): Recorded a winning time of 59.33 in the 100 back in a home meet against the Dragons and led off the 200 medley relay in a Villanova lineup that came in first with a time of 1:48.34; Seton Hall (3/7): Finished fourth in the 100 back with a time of 59.40 and was fifth in the 100 fly in 1:00.67 … Swam the third leg of the 400 free relay in a lineup that posted a winning time of 3:34.81 and had the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay in a lineup that finished third in 1:50.83; Loyola Md. (3/13): Finished second in the 200 back (2:08.24) and fifth in the 200 free (1:57.28).
 
2019-20: Part of conference championship performances in the 400 yard and 800 yard freestyle relays in addition to earning individual All-BIG EAST honors in the 200 yard backstroke … Qualified for the ‘A’ final in all three of her individual events at the BIG EAST meet, also placing fourth in the final of the 100 yard backstroke and seventh in the final of the 200 yard freestyle … Recorded season-best times in all three events at the conference championships … Touched the wall third in the final of the 200 free in 2:01.37 after ranking second overall in the preliminary round with a season-best mark of 2:00.44 … Posted a time of 56.16 in the final of the 100 back … Ranked fifth in the preliminaries of the 200 free in 1:51.09 and came in seventh in the final in 1:51.35 … Swam the second leg of the 800 free relay with a split of 1:51.82 in a race that the Wildcats won in 7:16.85 … Registered a split of 51.26 on the third leg of the 400 free relay and Villanova tied for a first place finish with a time of 3:21.62 … Her other top times of the year were 24.26 in the 50 yard freestyle at the WVU Invitational and 53.53 in the 100 yard freestyle at La Salle … Won the 100 back in addition to finishing second in the 100 free and being a part of the runner-up 200 yard medley relay at the La Salle meet … Posted a victory in the 100 back against Connecticut and was part of the first place 400 free relay at Rutgers.
 
2018-19: Tallied top-eight finishes in both the 100 yard backstroke and the 200 yard backstroke at the BIG EAST Championships as a freshman … Came in fourth in the 200 back with a season-best time of 2:00.99 in the final … Cut more than 1.3 seconds off her time and moved up two spots from where she ranked during the preliminary heats … Also came in eighth in the 100 back … Her time of 56.61 in the preliminaries was a season best … Her other top marks during the year were 57.37 in the 100 yard butterfly against Georgetown, 1:55.85 in the 200 yard freestyle versus Richmond, as well as 5:12.35 in the 500 yard freestyle and 2:08.83 in the 200 yard individual medley at the Bruno Invitational … Notched her only first place finish of the season in the 200 back against La Salle and also took third in the 200 free at that meet … Made her collegiate debut against West Virginia and placed third in both the 100 back and the 200 back … Added a second place finish in the 200 back against Connecticut and third place results in dual meets versus Penn, Richmond and Penn State.
 
St. Catherine’s School: Earned five varsity letters in swimming … Team captain … Set six school records during her scholastic career … Four-time all-state performer, earned All-Metro honors as a junior and was a four-time Independent Schools All-League honoree … Helped her team win a state title and set a state record in the 200 yard medley relay … Was a Winter Junior National Qualifier and a five-time NCSA Junior National Qualifier … Named a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American … Graduated cum laude and was an AP Scholar with Distinction as a senior … Inducted to the Spanish Honor Society … Winner of the Lexus Leadership Award.
 
Personal: Younger of two children of Scott and Melanie Wielar … Has an older brother, Drake, who swam at Davidson … Chose to attend Villanova for its perfect mixture of strong academic and athletic programs … Double major in Marketing and Business Analytics in the Villanova School of Business.

Historical Player Information

  • 2018-19Freshman

    Back
    5'4" 120 lbs
  • 2019-20Sophomore

    Back
    5'4" 120 lbs
  • 2020-21Junior

    Back
    0 lbs
  • 2021-22Senior

    Back/Free
    0 lbs