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Emory Men Win Two NCAA Titles on Opening Night; Set DIII Record in 200 Medley Relay

Emory Men Win Two NCAA Titles on Opening Night; Set DIII Record in 200 Medley Relay
Posted: Mar 15, 2023

The defending champions opened the 2023 NCAA Championships on a strong note Wednesday night, as the Emory University men's swimming & diving team captured a pair of event national titles, established one new national record and broke two school records.

After one day of competition in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Eagles pace the field with 110.5 points and hold a 30-point lead over second-place Kenyon College through four events.

Senior Pat Pema made a statement in the night's first event, claiming the first individual championship of his career with a dominant display in the 500 Freestyle. Pema threw down a school record time of 4:20.41 as he won the finals by over a second.

As the night opened with a national title, it was only fitting that the night end in the same fashion as Ryan Soh, Jake Meyer, Jeff Echols and Colin LaFave claimed Emory's second straight national championship in the 200 Medley Relay. Blistering splits by Echols and LaFave aided the Eagles in making history as the group broke a six-year old national record, going under the previous top DIII time of 1:26.14 set by former Eagles Sage Ono, Andrew Wilson, Cooper Tollen and Oliver Smith at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

In addition to the two national championships, junior Nicholas Goudie turned in a bronze medal performance in the 50 Freestyle at 19.87 while both sophomore Crow Thorsen and senior Will O'Daffer reached the podium in their respective events to earn All-America acclaim. Thorsen finished eighth in the 500 Free at 4:27.52 with O'Daffer also taking eighth in the 200 IM at 1:49.44.

Rounding out the top Wednesday finishers were two All-America Honorable Mention finishes with freshman Sven Becker taking 11th in the 200 IM with a time of 1:48.80 and LaFave finishing 10th in the 50 Free with his sub-:20 time of 19.97.

The 2023 NCAA Championships continue on Thursday with a slate of the 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 400 Medley Relay and men's 1-meter diving. Prelims get underway at 10:00 AM with the finals to follow in the evening at 6:00 PM.