Following the fifth-straight NCAA Division III Championship winning season for the women, and a third-place national finish for the men in 2013-14, the Emory University Swimming and Diving Teams opened their 2014-15 campaigns on Friday, October 10 with the annual Blue-Gold Meet.
The National Championship for the women in 2013-14 was the team's seventh overall, each of which has come in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the men's third-place finish marked the 13th time in the last 15 years that they have finished in the top-three at the NCAA Championships. Both the men and women claimed University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships as well, marking the 16th-consecutive season that Emory has swept the team championships at the meet.
The Emory women will be returning 21 letter-winners from last year's National Championship team, including 13 of the team's 18 participants at last year's NCAA Championships. Junior Elizabeth Aronoff will look to defend her National Championship in the 200-yard breaststroke last year, while senior Nancy Larson (six all-America honors) and sophomores Marissa Bergh and Annelise Kowalsky (five all-America certificates apiece) will hope to lead the squad as well. Other returning all-Americans for the Emory women include seniors Megan Beach, Dana Holt, McKenna Newsum-Schoenberg, Michelle York and Nina Zook, junior Ellie Thompson, and sophomores Claire Liu andMarcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe.
For the men, who will be returning 19 letter-winners from last year, junior Andrew Wilson will look to lead the way, after winning National Championships as a part of the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays last year, in addition to runner-up finishes in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, and a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Senior co-captain Hayden Baker was also part of the winning 400-yard medley relay in 2014, and added an All-America Honorable Mention. Junior Matt Kuhlik added an All-America finish in the 200 Free Relay, while sophomore Mitchell Cooper and junior Eagan Zettlemoyer each earned All-America Honorable Mentions at last year's NCAA Championships.
In addition to the returners, the Emory women added 12 freshman swimmers and a pair of divers to the roster, while the men added 12 new swimmers and a diver to the 2014-15 team.
Emory will open its intercollegiate competition schedule on Saturday, October 18 at home against Division I UNC-Wilmington, as a part of Family Weekend. Other dual meets during the season include:
- at Birmingham-Southern (Nov. 1),
- at home against SCAD (Nov. 8),
- at Florida Southern (Jan. 9),
- at home against Darton and West Florida (Jan. 24) and
- at Sewanee (Jan. 31), and at UGA (Jan. 31).
In addition to the dual meets, Emory will host the second-annual Emory Diving Invitational on Saturday, November 22nd, and travel to Oxford, Ohio for the Miami Invitational on December 4th – 6th. The Eagles will also swim at the Austin Grand Prix in Austin, Texas from January 15th – 17th.
For the second-straight season, the Emory will host the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships from February 11th – 14th, welcoming the other seven conference schools to Atlanta, Georgia. The Eagles will host their final meet of the year the following weekend, the Emory Invitational, from February 20th – 21st.
Qualifying Eagles will then turn their attention towards the 2015 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Shenandoah, Texas from March 18th – 21st.