The combination of a week-long Florida training trip and a match-up against Emory’s Division II counterparts resulted in the first loss of 2015 for the men and the first win for the women’s swimming and diving team against Florida Southern College last Friday, Jan. 9.
Florida’s men, ranked third in Division II, beat the Eagles 176-107. Junior Andrew Wilson led Emory’s men, winning the 100-yard breaststroke (56.49 seconds), the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.56 minutes) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.82 minutes). Both breaststroke times earned Wilson NCAA ‘B’ cut times.
Emory’s fourth win came from sophomore Christian Baker in the 500-yard freestyle, who finished with a 4:41.09 mark. The men were able to maintain second place for several events including the 200-yard medley relay, the 100-yard freestyle, the 200-yard butterfly, 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard individual medley.
With this loss, the men’s team dropped to 2-2 on the season, while Florida Southern improved to 3-1. However, Emory still stands first in the University Athletic Association (UAA) rankings and third in the nation.
The women ended their day successfully with 10 event wins, giving them a 176-105 edge on the Moccasins, also ranked No. 1 in their division.
“The win was really exciting, especially coming at the end of our two week winter training phase,” sophomore Kristine Rosenberger said. “We were all pretty beat up from the training trip, so I think the fact that we were all able to get behind each other and swim some pretty fast times really speaks for our determination and our ability to persevere.”
The wins also resulted in three NCAA ‘B’ cut times, two of which came from the 200-yard breaststroke: sophomore Annelise Kowalski winning the event with a 2:23.75 time and junior Elizabeth Aronoff in second place with at 2:24.13. The third ‘B’ cut time came from the 200-yard butterfly, as freshman Rebecca Upton came in first place with a 2:08.29 time.
Junior Ellie Thompson also helped lead the women, winning both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke with times of 59.14 seconds and 2:06.20 minutes, respectively. Thompson then helped capture the 200-yard medley relay win, teaming with Kowalsky, Rosenberger and sophomore Claire Liu and finishing with a time of 1:47.57. Senior McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg also helped the women, winning the 1,000-yard and 500-yard freestyles with 10:23.53 and 5:06.60 times, respectively.
Senior Dana Holt put another event win on the board for Emory with her 1:55.20 time in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior Nancy Larson added the next win in the 50-yard freestyle with 24.86 seconds, and freshman Megan Campbell in the 100-yard butterfly with 59.45 seconds added the last win of the day.
“The meet was against a good Division II team, so it was good competition for us and an opportunity for people to get up and swim fast,” Liu said. “Winning during our hardest part of training was a good set-up and confidence booster for the rest of our season going into championship meets.”
The women's team continued their perfect record for dual meets this season, improving to a 5-0 overall, dropping the Florida Southern women to 1-4 overall. Emory maintains first place in both the UAA and national rankings.
“As we move towards the end of the season, keeping a positive team atmosphere and moving forward together as one unit with every one on the same page will get us excited about championships,” Rosenberger said.
The Emory men and women will return to competition at the Arena Pro Swim Series, hosted at the University of Texas at Austin, Jan. 15 to 17.
“[At Austin,] I’m excited for the experience to be at such a high level meet with the top notch competitors,” Liu added. “I'm going to support my teammates, swim my best and have fun with it.”
— By Elana Cates, Asst. Sports Editor
Eagles Split Against Florida Southern, Return North
Freshman Brandon Shinsato swims freestyle to the finish. Shinsato and the Eagles took on Florida Southern College last Friday. The meet came near the end of a week-long training trip in Siesta Key, Fla. | Photo Courtesy of Emory Athletics
