The Emory University swimming & diving teams opened the 2026 University Athletic Association Championships Wednesday night in Chicago, Illinois.
Sophomore Solly Berkenwald excelled for the Eagles on the first night as he captured the team's first championship with a dominating performance in the men's 3-meter diving event. During the finals, Berkenwald was lone diver in the field to eclipse 475.00 points as he recorded a stellar winning mark of 589.20. It is Berkenwald's third event title of his career after sweeping both boards as a freshman.
Freshman Thomas Stone added All-UAA honors in the event as the rookie secured third place in his UAA debut with a finals score of 464.65 after clinching a spot in finals with a prelim score of 473.65. Additionally, classmate Gavin Zivitz scored points for the Eagles with a ninth-place effort with a consolation round score of 415.85.
Following Berkenwald's win, the Eagles notched a pair of All-UAA finishes in the lone swimming event of the night in the 800 Freestyle Relay.
For the women, Emory's team of juniors Emma Lunn, Katherine Swan, Natalie Boorjian and sophomore Elodie Mitchell earned a silver medal finish with a time of 7:22.66. New York University won the event with a UAA record time of 7:13.06.
In the men's A final, the group of junior Hayden Tupper, graduate student Crow Thorsen, senior Sven Becker and junior McKee Thorsen clinched a third place finish with a time of 6:32.98. Both Chicago and NYU posted under UAA record times with the Maroons winning the event at 6:28.04.
Elsewhere in the pool on Wednesday, the Eagles had a pair of consolation wins in the 800 Free Relay with graduate student Sammi Thiele, seniors Isabel Huang, Meredith Liu and freshman Holly Brundage turning in a time of 7:26.76 and for the men, freshmen Carson Kalish, Anthony Simmons Jr., sophomore Ben Pritchard and junior Graham Zucker went for a combined time of 6:35.54.
At the end of night one in Chicago, the Emory men leads the field with 173 points followed by Chicago (148) and NYU (146). For the women, the Eagles narrowly trail NYU 98-96 with WashUÂ and Chicago standing third tied at 84 points.
The UAA Championships continue on Thursday with prelims starting at 11:00 AM ET followed by diving prelims at 1:45 PM ET. Finals session will get started at 6:45 PM ET.
