As the fall semester comes to its halfway point, so marks the start of Emory’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving team season. The women are entering the season bearing last year’s NCAA Division-III National Championship title, marking their seventh straight championship victory, while the men have consistently placed in the top three for the past 13 seasons. Emory’s swimming and diving team has remained strong over the years under Head Coach Jon Howell, evidenced by their 18th straight University Athletic Association (UAA) team title on both the men’s and women’s teams. While still early in the season, both teams are working hard to finish on top.
The Eagles kicked off their season with the annual Blue-Gold Intrasquad Meet held at the Madeleine Jude Brown Aquatic Center in the Woodruff P.E. Center (WoodPEC) last Friday afternoon.
The first meet of the season fueled internal competition by dividing both the men and women into blue and gold teams. Each gold team on the men’s and women’s side faced off against their respective blue teams.The final score came down to 175-119 on the women’s team, with gold seizing 12 of 16 events. On the men’s side, gold won 165-96, taking 11 victories of 14 events.
“[The Blue-Gold Meet] is always a good way to kick off the season,” senior Captain Christian Baker said. “It gets the competitive juices flowing and divides the team, which is ultimately good for practice, as well as fun.”
While the Eagles can be seen pushing themselves in the water, much of their hard work is behind the scenes. Mandatory Monday through Friday afternoon, in addition to Saturday morning, practices combined with weightlifting and aerobic heavy conditioning allow the Eagles to be on top of their game.
“We do more weight workouts and more specialized training based on what your strokes are and what you personally need in the water,” senior Captain Annelise Kowalsky said. “The first meet is a really nice way to gage where you are in your training and find out which pieces need to be improved upon for the next phase of training.”
The men’s and women’s teams each welcomed back 11 All-American winners, who are expected to deliver strong performances this season. The athletes to watch on the women’s side are seniors Marissa Bergh, Kowalsky and Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe, juniors Megan Campbell, Cindy Cheng, Ming Ong and Rebecca Upton and sophomores Ashley Daniels, Fiona Muir and Meg Taylor. The All-American winners returning to swim for the men’s team include seniors Baker, Hayes Burdette-Sapp and Mitchell Cooper, juniors Alexander Hardwick, Chandler Lichtefeld, Aaron Schwartz, Oliver Smith and Cooper Tollen and sophomores Thomas Gordon, Alex Kohlman and Trey Kolleck III.
Although they are among strong returning talent, the freshmen newcomers are already making a splash in and out of the water.
“The entire freshman class that came is just a very talented group,” Kowalsky said. “They all look really strong in the water and in the weight room. Just to see the level they are already practicing at compared with the rest of us is exciting, and I think they’ll have a really big and positive impact on our team.”
The men’s and women’s team will have a dual meet this Saturday versus Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.). In the weeks to follow, Emory’s swimming and diving team will compete in dual meets leading up to the Dec. 1 Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, where participants will compete to qualify for nationals.
“This is one of the most talented teams we’ve had in a long time. We are all really working hard to become a cohesive unit, and this is the first year that at least the men’s team has had a serious chance at winning the NCAA’s,” Baker said. “I ideally wish to relish every second of my last season as well as go out on top with a national championship title I would get to share with my team.”
