Jeff Kim/Contributor
For the second year in a row, Emory University will host the University Athletic Association (UAA) Swimming and Diving Championships.
The meet will start on Wednesday, Feb. 11 and continue through Saturday Feb. 14 in the Madeleine Jude Brown Aquatic Center inside the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC).
Wednesday will kick off the competition with the men’s 1-meter dive preliminaries at 12:45 p.m., and finals at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday will include the 200-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay and the women’s 3-meter dive.
Friday will include the 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, 800-yard freestyle relay and the men’s 3-meter dive.
The meet will conclude Saturday with the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 1,650-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle relay and the women’s 1-meter dive.
Thursday through Saturday’s preliminaries are set to start at 10 a.m. with the finals the same day at 5:30 p.m.
“The UAAs are not really our target meet,” Head Coach Jon Howell said. “Our main focus is still nationals, but this is a good opportunity to have a dry run for nationals and try to get some times down. It’ll be a good preview of what’s to come.”
Going into the competition, both the Emory men’s and women’s teams are ranked number one in the UAA. The men are followed closely by University of Chicago (Ill.) and Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.). The women have a big lead on the number two Washington and number three Chicago.
Last year’s UAAs proved successful for the Emory men and women, both claiming first place. The women, who then went on to capture their fifth-consecutive NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championship won the UAA Championships by 785 points. Washington came in second followed by Chicago. The men won, with second place Chicago just 3.5 points behind, the closest margin in the UAA conference’s history. Washington came in third with 1,150.5 points.
The women had many strong performances at the championships. Senior Nancy Larson claimed the Women Swimmer of the Year after her first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (23.42 seconds), the 100-yard freestyle (50.81 seconds), and the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.86).
She also led the UAA-record setting 400-yard medley relay team (winning with a time of 3:46.30) and the 800-yard freestyle relay team (winning with a time of 7:29.02).
Sarah Green, now graduated, was named the Women’s Diver of the Year after her first-place win in the 1-meter dive and second-place finish in the 3-meter dive.
Sophomore Annelise Kowalsky was named the Women’s Rookie of the Year after setting two UAA records in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.94) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:31.31).
This year, junior Andrew Wilson not only has his eyes on the UAA, but is also looking forward to the NCAAs.
Wilson, a two-time All-American and All-UAA athlete, won the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.65 seconds against the University of Georgia (UGA), a top-ranked NCAA Division I school, two weeks ago.
He also placed second against the UGA Bulldogs in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:05.41.
On the women’s side, Howell will be looking to his seniors to take the lead, including Larson and McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg, who both impressed with NCAA ‘B’ cut times at the UGA dual meet. Freshman Ming Ong showed a strong performance against the Division I Bulldogs, recording three NCAA ‘B’ cut times for the Emory women.
She finished third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:06.19), fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.25 seconds) and fourth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:31.13).
Freshman Megan Campbell is looking to have a breakthrough. As a part of the 200-yard medley relay team, she led to a first place finish with a time of 1:51.56, and individually won the 200-yard butterfly (2:10.92) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.34) at Sewanee: University of the South (Tenn.).
“It’s always nice to be at home,” Howell added. “Having the UAAs here at home will give the campus the opportunity to see a championship meet and come and support the teams. I think it’ll be a close meet on the guy’s side, considering last year’s win. We are playing a lot of good teams with outstanding swimmers so it’s going to be fun.”
After the UAAs, the Eagles will have a few weeks off until March 18, when they are hoping to travel to Shenandoah, Texas, for the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships.
Managing Editor | Elana Cates is a College senior from San Diego, California, majoring in English and History. She joined the Wheel's Editorial Board her sophomore year as sports editor. In addition to the Wheel, Elana is also a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and a vice president of the Student Alumni Board.
