Riding the strength of two national championships, the Emory University men's swimming & diving team surged into second place as the NCAA Championships continued on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After not collecting gold on either of the first two nights at the meet, the Eagles made up for lost time with a pair of national championship performances. With the wins to go along with podium finishes in each of the six events on the evening, Emory will head into the final night of competition with 250.5 points under its belt.
The Eagles, looking to win their fourth consecutive national title as a team, will need to make up a deficit of 47.5 points across the final day of races as Denison University leads the field with 298 points. Fellow UAA member Chicago holds steady in the third position with 211 points.
In the first event of the night, the Eagles made more history as for the fourth consecutive season Emory was crowned as the 200 Medley Relay national champion. The quartet of seniors Nolan Lahmann, Jeff Echols, Dylan Yin and junior Henri Bonnault dropped a 1:26.72 in the championship bout and tied Tufts University for the top honor.
Three events later, Bonnault captured glory once more as he broke through on the Breaststroke stage with the title in the 100. Bonnault exploded for a 52.61 time in the finals to win his first-ever individual crown.
Sophomore McKee Thorsen made an appearance on the podium for the first time in 2025 as he was Emory's top performer in the 200 Fly. Thorsen went for 1:46.00 as he finished fifth overall.
Adding individual podium efforts for the Eagles on Friday was freshmen duo Zachary Spicer and Solly Berkenwald in the 100 Backstroke and 1-meter. Spicer netted the first All-America honor of his career as he was seventh at 48.03 and on the board, Berkenwald capped off his stellar rookie campaign with a sixth place finish with a score of 497.50.
Taking to the pool after Berkenwald in the 1-meter, the group of Thorsen, sophomore Hayden Tupper, junior Sven Becker and senior Alexander Pollack followed suit with their own sixth place showing in the final event of the night as the group recorded a time of 6:33.50 in the 800 Freestyle Relay.
Lahman and classmate Liyang Sun rounded out the highlights on night three with Sun placing 10th in the consolation final of the 100 Breast with a time of 53.98 and Lahmann touching in 12th with a mark of 48.46 in the 100 Backstroke.
The NCAA Championships conclude on Saturday with a final schedule consisting of the 1650 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 200 Breaststroke, women's 3-meter diving and the 400 Freestyle Relay.
Prelims start at 10:00 AM with finals to follow at 6:00 PM.
