On Saturday afternoon, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded their dual meet against the University of the South, held at the Woodruff Physical Education Center (WoodPEC) at Emory University. Both teams emerged victorious.
The Emory men were successful in each of the 11 swimming events. This included a victory by the Eagles in the 400-yard freestyle relay consisting of senior Jack Polisini, senior Jake Stephens and freshman David Funderburk, with a time of 3:14.41. In the 200-yard medley relay, freshmen Mitchell Cooper, David Tao and sophomores Andrew Wilson and John Galvin won with a time of 1:37.01.
The Emory women claimed triumphs in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.56 seconds, as well as the 100-yard freestyle with 54.22 seconds, won by senior Ellen Schafer. Schafer, together with junior Dana Holt and freshman Grace Swinnerton also won the 400-yard freestyle relay, coming in at 3:39.25. Senior Sarah Greene secured a win in the one-meter dive with a score of 274.27, winning as well the three-meter dive with a score of 269.25. Sophomore Elizabeth Aronoff obtained Emory’s only ‘B’ cut time of the meet by winning the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:05.92.
Additional victories for the Eagles included the 1,000 yard freestyle by Jake Stephens (10:20.67), the 200-yard freestyle by freshman Mitchell Cooper (1:43.10), the 50-yard freestyle by sophomore Matt Kuhlik (21.82 seconds) and the 200-yard individual medley by senior Matt O’Brien (1:59.08). The Eagles also accomplished conquests in the 100-yard butterfly by senior Darrell Eacret (52.15 seconds), the 100-yard freestyle by sophomore Eagan Zettlemoyer (48.01 seconds), the 100-yard backstroke by freshmen Christian Baker (53.32 seconds), the 500-yard freestyle by sophomore Andrew Wilson (4:52.99) and finally the 100-yard backstroke by freshmen David Tao, with a time of 1:00.51.
The Eagles were also able to record three qualifying marks for the NCAA. The Emory women improved their record to 4-4, while the men now stand at 3-5.
“This season has been tremendous,” Stephens said. “Our team has every reason to be confident as we head into our big meets [UAA’s and NCAA’s]. From the outside looking in it may seem like our 3-5 record isn’t impressive, but that’s because we swim against some of the best teams in Division I.”
Stephens also expressed excitement about Emory hosting the UAA championships.
“It will be pretty hectic around the WoodPEC, but we hope that doesn’t scare away anybody from coming out and supporting us,” he said. “It’s assured to be an exciting meet!”
– By Catalina Marchant De Abreu
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