East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University swim and dive team is preparing for its first home meet of the 2024-25 season against Indiana State. The event will take place on Saturday, November 9, at 1 p.m. at Jones Natatorium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Fans can follow live results through the Meet Mobile App and check EMUEagles.com for a post-meet recap.

This marks the third meeting between Eastern Michigan and Indiana State. Last season, Eastern lost to Indiana State with a score of 204-96 in Terre Haute on November 3, 2023. Before that, their last encounter was in the 1981-82 season when Eastern won 77-62.

The Eagles recently began their Mid-American Conference (MAC) play with a narrow victory over Buffalo Bulls, finishing at 149.5-148.5 on October 26. This win signifies the second time under Head Coach Derek Perkins that his team has started a season with two consecutive wins.

Historically, the Eagles have a record of 2-3 in home openers during Perkins' tenure and an overall record of 35-14 in such meets throughout the program's history. Last year, they were defeated by Miami University RedHawks with a score of 179-120 in their first home meet.

In their recent outing against Buffalo on October 26, Abby Szadorski led the team by winning both breaststroke events and improving her times significantly. Ciara Wheeler contributed with a fourth-place finish in the one-meter dive.

Nine freshmen will compete at Jones Natatorium for the first time this Saturday: Riess Estep, Aisling Gutierrez, Nehir Guven, Rose Kendrick, Megan Lupa, Nehir Oz, Taityn Speier, Azra Umut, and Adley Zamore.

Rebekah Knapp was named MAC Diver of the Week on October 23 after achieving an NCAA Zone Diving Championships cut earlier this season against Cleveland State on October 18.

The Eagles began their current season with a significant win over Cleveland State by an impressive margin of victory—190 to 108—on October 18.

Entering his sixth year as head coach, Derek Perkins holds an overall record of 14-19 and a MAC competition record of 10-10. Under his leadership, there have been numerous academic achievements within the team.

Looking ahead to this season's schedule, Eastern will participate in nine regular-season meets culminating in the MAC Championships from February 26 to March 1 across various states including Michigan and Ohio.

Newly appointed Head Diving Coach Tom Gimm brings extensive experience to Eastern's diving program. Previously serving as Head Diving Coach at Ohio University from 2016 to 2018 and more recently working with Moss Farms Diving club; he aims to enhance diving performance among athletes like Rebekah Knapp who achieved notable success last season during MAC Championships where she secured second place scoring over three hundred points (301).

Returning members include Kiersten Russell who recorded fifth-fastest backstroke time within school history alongside Nina Larosa whose freshman year saw her clock eighth-best breaststroke result ever registered among teammates returning also includes standout swimmer Abby Szadorski continuing contributions made throughout previous campaigns building upon strong foundation established thus far ensuring competitive edge remains intact moving forward into upcoming fixtures yet come underway shortly thereafter scheduled next week off followed hosting Oakland Golden Grizzlies Thursday November twenty-first four p.m..

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