ATLANTA, GA. — After a quick turnaround, the men's & women's swimming & diving teams faced tough competition in the Emory Eagles today. The women took home a victory by taking 11 event-wins while the men took home seven first-place finishes — but ultimately took the overall loss.
Of 32 events, Queens snagged 18 victories. The Royals did not compete in the two diving events.
"Our athletes faced strong opposition from the Emory Eagles today," Associate Head Coach Jon Lau said. "We knew we would have to bring our A game to compete in their home pool. We had several Royal newcomers who have been key to our team success, such as freshmen Maddie Foster and Abigail Zboran combining to make a 1-2 punch in the 100 fly."
Emory, a powerhouse in Division III, have won the last two NCAA Division III National Championships for their men, while their women were national runners-up in the last two nationals in 2022 and 2023.
The Royals began the meet with a bang as the team of Bianca Wettel, Annika Huber, Maddie Foster, and Danielle Melilli finished in first in the women's 200-yard medley relay with a final time of 1:44.73. The men also came out victorious in the event as Andreas Marz, Balazs Berecz, Conner Wang, and Matej Dusa finished with a time of 1:30.64.
To add to her successful weekend of swim, Maddie Foster added another win in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.61. Daniel Meszaros swam in first in the same event, completing with a time of 1:39.43.
Annika Huber, who grabbed two individual wins on the day, finished in first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.73 and in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:18.90. Huber's time in the 200-yard breaststroke event today now sits in first in the conference.
Other notable wins for the underclassmen included Abigail Zboran's 2:05.28 finish in the 200-yard butterfly and her 56.11 first-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly. The freshman finished over two seconds ahead of Emory's Sarah Daly in the 200-yard butterfly event. Katherine Bailey, young sophomore swimmer for the Royals, tabbed a win of 4:37.55 in the women's 400-yard IM.
For the veterans — owning the 50-yard freestyle events, Mellili finished with a time of 23.76 while Dusa put in a time of 20.40. Melilli also grabbed another win in the 100-yard free with a 51.73 final time while Dusa and Meszaros tied for a first place finish in the men's event with a time of 44.76. Victorious in the 500-yard freestyle for the women was fellow Queens veteran Sophie Lange who ended with a first-place time of 5:07.22.
Additionally, Marz threw in a time of 50.49 in the 100-yard backstroke, good for a first-place finish for the men's squad. Marz also tallied a season-high win in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:49.57 — beating his previous ASUN-best time of 1:49.64 notched on Sep. 29.
Finishing the meet was the 200-yard freestyle medley relay, where both the men & the women were triumphant. Mellili, Ryley Heck, Maren Patterson, and Foster finished in first with a time of 1:36.28 for the women while Dusa, Nien Levy, Ethan Payne, and Jonathan Henschel tallied a final 1:22.09 time.
"This weekend was about character building and learning how to swim fast while tired. Our swimmer's handled the challenge well," Director of Swimming Jeff Dugdale said. "The women continued to show up with many 1-2 finishes. Our men had some great head to head races, however, came up a little short overall."
"In the next two weeks before our next meet, we look to increase our front end speed," added Lau.
Up next, the Royals take a small break before heading back home to face the Gamecocks of South Carolina inside the Levine Aquatic Center on Oct. 20.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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