The 2024-25 season saw the Emory University men's swimming & diving team remain one of the premier programs in the country as the Eagles notched their seventh consecutive top two finish at the NCAA Championships to go along with their 26th straight University Athletic Association conference championship.
Led by three national championship performances as well as 10 First Team All-America honors and 13 Second Team All-America efforts, the Eagles amassed 323.5 points across the four-day national meet in Greensboro, North Carolina. It marked the 23rd consecutive season the Eagles finished inside the top five at the NCAA Championships as well as the third national runner-up finish since 2017.
Emory continued to excel in Breaststroke events as the team stayed true to its "Breaststroke U" moniker. Junior Henri Bonnault, who was one of the Eagles' strongest performers throughout the season, won his first-ever individual national title as Emory once again saw a swimmer win gold in the 100 Breaststroke. A night later, senior Liyang Sun had a storybook ending to his career as he captured the win in the 200 Breaststroke in the final swim of his collegiate career.
In addition to the breaststroke sweep, the Eagles shined once again in the 200 Medley Relay as the group of Bonnault, Jeff Echols, Nolan Lahmann and Dylan Yin brought home the title – the fourth straight for the Eagles in the event – as Emory tied Tufts University for the championship.
Bonnault, Lahmann and Yin topped the team with three First Team All-America honors each with Yin and Lahmann added multiple Second Team All-America honors as well. Yin secured a consolation win in the 50 Freestyle while Lahmann posted 10th and 12th place finishes in the backstroke events.
A month prior, the Eagles rode the momentum of eight event titles to their 26th straight UAA championship as the team outlasted NYU by 95.5 points.
Freshman Solly Berkenwald had a dominant rookie season where he swept both UAA diving crowns on his way to becoming the UAA Men's Diver of the Year. Following his stellar performance at UAAs, Berkenwald swept both regional titles and earned All-America First Team acclaim in the 1-meter and Second Team All-America honors on the 3-meter.
Adding individual titles for the Eagles in Atlanta were Bonnault and Sun in the breaststrokes, McKee Thorsen in the 200 Freestyle and Ben Pritchard in the 500 Freestyle. Emory also won the 200 and 400 Medley relays and as a team, collectively totaled 17 All-UAA finishes.
Head Coach Jon Howell and his cohorts were honored as Coaching Staff of the Year on the men's side for the seventh time while Diving Coach Tomasz Rossa earned Diving Coach of the Year for the first time.
The 2024-25 season also represented a season full of academic achievements as the Eagles garnered a bevy of national recognition.
Echols, Lahmann and Sun headlined the honorees with their selections to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team. Echols, Lahmann, Yin and Adam Braunschweig also became the latest Eagles to receive the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Furthermore, 24 Eagles were honored earlier this summer with their selections to the CSCAA Scholar All-America list with 13 members drawing a spot on the First Team.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2024-25 season:
NCAA Division III Champion
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Henri Bonnault
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100 Breaststroke, 200 Medley Relay
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Jeff Echols
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200 Medley Relay
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Nolan Lahmann
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200 Medley Relay
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Liyang Sun
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200 Breaststroke
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Dylan Yin
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200 Medley Relay
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All-America First Team (Top Eight Finisher at NCAA Division III Championships)
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Sven Becker
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800 Freestyle Relay (6th)
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Solly Berkenwald
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1-Meter Dive (6th)
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Caden Bjornstad
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200 Freestyle Relay (7th)
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Henri Bonnault
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100 Breaststroke (1st), 200 Medley (1st), 400 Medley Relay (2nd)
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Johnny Bradshaw
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200 Freestyle Relay (7th)
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Jeff Echols
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200 Medley Relay (1st), 400 Medley Relay (2nd)
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Nolan Lahmann
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200 Medley Relay (1st), 400 Medley Relay (2nd), 200 Freestyle Relay (7th)
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Alexander Pollack
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800 Freestyle Relay (6th)
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Zachary Spicer
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100 Backstroke (7th)
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Liyang Sun
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200 Breaststroke (1st)
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McKee Thorsen
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200 Fly (5th), 800 Freestyle Relay (6th)
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Hayden Tupper
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800 Freestyle Relay (6th)
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Dylan Yin
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200 Medley Relay (1st), 100 Fly (7th), 200 Freestyle Relay (7th)
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Colin Zexter
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400 Medley Relay (2nd)
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Graham Zucker
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200 Backstroke (7th)
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All-America Second Team (Finished 9th – 16th at NCAA Division III Championships)
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Solly Berkenwald
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3-Meter Dive (11th)
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Caden Bjornstad
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400 Freestyle Relay (9th)
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Jeff Echols
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100 Fly (12th)
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Nolan Lahmann
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200 Backstroke (10th), 100 Backstroke (12th)
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Alexander Pollack
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200 Freestyle (15th)
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Ben Pritchard
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1650 Freestyle (10th)
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Zachary Spicer
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200 Backstroke (9th)
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Liyang Sun
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100 Breaststroke (10th)
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McKee Thorsen
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200 IM (9th), 400 Freestyle Relay (9th), 200 Freestyle (T-10th)
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Hayden Tupper
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200 Freestyle (9th), 400 Freestyle Relay (9th)
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Dylan Yin
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50 Freestyle (9th), 400 Freestyle Relay (9th)
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University Athletic Association Diver of the Year
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Solly Berkenwald
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UAA Coaching Staff of the Year
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Jon Howell, Cindy Fontana, John Petroff, Bob Hackett
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UAA Diving Coach of the Year
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Tomasz Rossa
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UAA Champion
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Solly Berkenwald
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1-Meter Dive, 3-Meter Dive
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Henri Bonnault
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400 Medley Relay, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Medley Relay
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Jeff Echols
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400 Medley Relay, 200 Medley Relay
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Nolan Lahmann
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200 Medley Relay
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Ben Pritchard
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500 Freestyle
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Zachary Spicer
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400 Medley Relay
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Liyang Sun
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200 Breaststroke
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McKee Thorsen
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200 Freestyle
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Dylan Yin
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200 Medley Relay
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Colin Zexter
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400 Medley Relay
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All-UAA (Top Three Finisher at UAA Championships)
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Sven Becker
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800 Free Relay (3rd),
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Solly Berkenwald
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1-Meter Dive (1st), 3-Meter Dive (1st)
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Henri Bonnault
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400 Medley Relay (1st), 100 Breaststroke (1st), 200 Medley Relay (1st), 200 Breaststroke (3rd)
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Johnny Bradshaw
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200 Freestyle Relay (2nd)
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Jeff Echols
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400 Medley Relay (1st), 200 Medley Relay (1st), 100 Fly (3rd)
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Patrick Horton
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200 Freestyle Relay (2nd)
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Nolan Lahmann
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200 Medley Relay (1st), 200 Freestyle Relay (2nd)
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Alexander Pollack
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800 Freestyle Relay (3rd)
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Ben Pritchard
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500 Freestyle (1st), 1650 Freestyle (2nd)
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Zachary Spicer
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400 Medley Relay (1st)
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Liyang Sun
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200 Breaststroke (1st), 100 Breaststroke (2nd)
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McKee Thorsen
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200 Freestyle (1st), 200 Fly (2nd), 800 Freestyle Relay (3rd)
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Hayden Tupper
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800 Freestyle Relay (3rd), 100 Freestyle (3rd)
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Dylan Yin
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200 Medley Relay (1st), 200 Freestyle Relay (2nd)
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Colin Zexter
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400 Medley Relay (1st), 200 Backstroke (2nd)
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CSC Academic All-America
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Jeff Echols
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First Team
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Nolan Lahmann
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First Team
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Liyang Sun
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First Team
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CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team
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Alexander Pollack
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Ben Pritchard
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Caden Bjornstad
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Dylan Yin
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Hayden Tupper
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Jeff Echols
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Johnny Bradshaw
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Liyang Sun
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McKee Thorsen
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Nolan Lahmann
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Solly Berkenwald
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Sven Becker
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Zachary Spicer
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CSCAA Scholar All-America Second Team
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Anderson Holcomb
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Cooper Muench
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Crow Thorsen
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Evan Prabhu
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Jack Teasley
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Jason Amato
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Jeff George
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Lukas Fu
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Michael Kaiser
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Yubo Jin
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Zachary Zhao
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NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships
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Adam Braunschweig
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Jeff Echols
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Nolan Lahmann
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Dylan Yin
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UAA Athletes of the Week
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Liyang Sun
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Oct. 1, Nov. 11
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Solly Berkenwald
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Oct. 1, Oct. 28, Nov. 11, Dec. 9, Feb. 3, Feb. 17, Mar. 3, Mar. 24
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Crow Thorsen
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Oct. 7, Dec. 9
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Jeff Echols
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Oct. 28
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McKee Thorsen
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Jan. 21
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Zachary Spicer
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Feb. 3
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The following were the top marks by Emory swimmers and divers during the 2024-25 season:
50 Free
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Dylan Yin
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19.94
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NCAA Championships
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100 Free
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Hayden Tupper
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44.51
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NCAA Championships
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200 Free
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McKee Thorsen
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1:37.65
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UAA Championships
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500 Free
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Ben Pritchard
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4:24.61
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UAA Championships
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1650 Free
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Ben Pritchard
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15:28.06
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UAA Championships
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100 Back
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Zachary Spicer
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48.03
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NCAA Championships
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200 Back
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Nolan Lahmann
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1:46.11
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UAA Championships
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100 Breast
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Henri Bonnault
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52.61
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NCAA Championships
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200 Breast
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Liyang Sun
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1:56.50
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UAA Championships
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100 Fly
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Dylan Yin
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47.53
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NCAA Championships
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200 Fly
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200 IM
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McKee Thorsen
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1:46.00
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NCAA Championships
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400 IM
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Crow Thorsen
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3:49.21*
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Denison Invitational
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1-Meter, 11-Dives
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Solly Berkenwald
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504.10
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UAA Championships
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3-Meter, 11-Dives
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Solly Berkenwald
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573.10
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UAA Championships
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200 Free Relay
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Dylan Yin, Johnny Bradshaw, Nolan Lahmann, Caden Bjornstad
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1:20.14
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NCAA Championships
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200 Medley Relay
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Nolan Lahmann, Henri Bonnault, Jeff Echols, Dylan Yin
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1:26.72
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NCAA Championships
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400 Free Relay
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Dylan Yin, Caden Bjornstad, McKee Thorsen, Hayden Tupper
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2:57.16
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NCAA Championships
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400 Medley Relay
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Zachary Spicer, Henri Bonnault, Jeff Echols, Colin Zexter
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3:11.56
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UAA Championships
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800 Free Relay
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Hayden Tupper, Sven Becker, Alexander Pollack, McKee Thorsen
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6:32.82
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UAA Championships
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* - Indicates School record