Emily Kahn finds home in the DakotaDome pool
Emily Kahn is a freshman freestyle swimmer at USD and has been breaking records since she committed to the university.
Prior to Kahn’s commitment, she was a four event state qualifier in her first three seasons at George Washington High School. During her junior year, she placed second in the 100-meter freestyle and finished fifth in the 200-meter freestyle.
Kahn set a new school record at USD this season in the 50-meter freestyle with an end time of 26.41 seconds at a meet against Omaha. She also won the 100-meter freestyle and came in second in the 200-meter medley relay.
“I’m really excited for my next three seasons now and I’m really grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been given here,” Kahn said.
Heading into Summit League competitions, training looked a little different for Kahn and her team. They put in a lot of extra work to get the outcomes they wanted, Kahn said. This meant her team spent extra time in the weight room and in the pool.
“After Christmas break, we got here and we’ve just been putting in a lot of work in the pool and in the weight room doing conditioning. I’ve been keeping in mind that I have a lot of goals for myself,” Kahn said.
Kahn has been swimming since she was six years old. Once COVID-19 hit and she wasn’t able to swim as much, she was devastated and couldn’t wait to get back in the pool, Kahn said.
“I realized how much I loved to swim and how big of a part of my life it was,” Kahn said. “Once I had the chance to get back in the pool, I never took it for granted again.”
Kahn said she enjoys being a part of the swimming and diving team at USD. She has loved going to all the meets this year, and she enjoys the supportive atmosphere from her fellow teammates and coaches.
“We all get up and cheer for each other and that made every week a unique and fun experience,” Kahn said.
Although Kahn doesn’t know where she sees herself in the future regarding her swimming career, she did say that swimming will always be a part of her life.
