On Oct. 26, the Emory women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams coasted to victory, topping Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) in a dual meet, winning 28 of the 30 events.
The No. 1-ranked women’s team toppled their opponents in all 14 swimming events, led by UAA athlete of the week senior Caroline Olson, who recorded victories in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle. Olson also contributed to an Eagle victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay along with junior Christy Taylor and freshmen Catarina Sterlacci and Katerina Savvides for a time of 1:39.18.
Other winning Eagles included freshman Anna Glowniak in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.71. Fellow freshmen Nina Turcanu, Savannah Sowards and Caroline Maki took home titles in the 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, respectively. Sophomores Allie Dixon and Gaige Elms also won the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard backstroke, respectively. To finish out the day, freshman Sarah Byers placed first in the 200-yard breastroke and senior Maria Turcanu won the 500-yard freestyle.
“Our team performed well,” Olson said. “We pushed ourselves, and we maintained focus throughout.”
The No. 3-ranked men’s team defeated Birmingham-Southern in all 16 of their events, with sophomores Zach Lorson and University Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week Lucas Bumgarner and freshman Nicholas Goudie leading the way with two event victories each. Bumgarner performed particularly well, as he set a school record in the 1-meter dive with a score of 334.20.
Lorson won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:02.83 and the 500-yard freestyle with a finish of 4:41.41. Goudie took care of business in the sprint freestyles, posting times of 21.02 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and 46.58 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.
Additional standout men’s performers included senior Sage Ono in the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Tyler Russell in the 100-yard breaststroke and sophomore Hwa Min Sim in the 100-yard butterfly.
Ono said he felt the meet went just as planned.
“The team performed really well, given the training phase that we are in,” Ono said. “We were a little bit lacking on our relay starts. We did a really good job closing the races.”
Sophomores Lawrence Redmond and Jack Kelleher won the 200-yard backstroke and breaststroke, respectively, while junior Kellen Stillman and freshman Brian Hollis completed the 200-yard sweep with victories in the freestyle and butterfly, respectively. Freshman Alex Webster capped off the men’s individual races with a 1000-yard freestyle victory. The 200-yard freestyle relay team also coasted to victory, as Stillman, junior Chris Nicholson, freshman Matthew Scruton and sophomore Alex Feldman compiled a time of 1:26.78.
Overall, Ono believed the team met its lofty expectations.
“From a mental point of view, [the meet] was a big confidence booster for a lot of people on the team,” Ono said. “Everybody has improved which is very positive. It was a good way to practice how we want to prepare for our races.”
The Eagles will return to action on Nov. 8 and 9 when they host the Emory Fall Invitational.
