Senior Fiona Muir helped the Emory University Women's Swimming and Diving team get off to a strong start the 2019 NCAA Division III Championships as she successfully defended her 50 Freestyle title Wednesday night at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC.
Muir, the 2018 national champion and national runner-up in both 2016 and 2017, closed out her tremendous individual 50 Freestyle career with a repeat performance in the championship final. Muir threw down a finals time of 22.75 to win the event, becoming the ninth female in Division III history to win multiple titles in the women's 50 Free.
Classmate Meg Taylor added All-America honors in the event, earning bronze with a championship mark of 23.03. Taylor later added another third place effort, teaming with senior Ashley Daniels and sophomores Bethany Seagraves and Lucy Daro to record a 1:42.03 in the 200 Medley Relay.
The Eagles turned in an additional six All-America Honorable Mention performances on Wednesday with junior Maria Turcanu in the 500 Freestyle (9th, 4:54.98), freshman Clio Hancock (9th, 2:02.37), senior Julia Durmer (10th, 2:03.18), freshman Josie Uerling (13th, 2:05.25), Daniels (14th, 2:05.40) in the 200 IM and freshman Zoe Walker in the 50 Free (16th, 24.21).
Through one day of competition, the Eagles find themselves in second place in a tight three team race. Kenyon leads the field with 103 points followed by Emory at 101 and Denison at 99.
The NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships continues on Thursday with a slate featuring the 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 400 Medley Relay and the men's 1-meter diving. Preliminaries begin at 10:00 AM EST with finals to follow in the evening at 6:00 PM EST.