Emma Paulson Jumps from D1 to D3, Takes MIAC Championships By Storm

By Allie Clark and Wilson Josephsen

Emma Paulson was one of the breakout stars of this year’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship meet. A recent transfer to the University of St. Thomas from the University of Wisconsin – Madison (a Division I program), Emma won all three of her individual events, earning three 2015 NCAA selection times in the process.

Her contributions were an integral part of St. Thomas’ challenge against the dominant Gustavus Adolphus women.

We stole a little time from Emma’s busy preparations for the upcoming DIII National Championships to ask her about her goals for the meet, her experience as a transfer student, and any speedy secrets she can share with the rest of us.

At Nationals this year, Emma will swim the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 200 backstroke. Emma is seeded first in the both the 100 backstroke (her favorite event) and the 50 freestyle. She is no more than a few tenths off the conference record in each of these events, but those records don’t seem to weigh her down.

“Of course I’d like to try to get best times,” she said. “But mostly I just want to have a ton of fun and have an awesome week celebrating with my team.”

Emma hopes this team focus will translate into high-quality performances for each of the relays she’s swimming on. She’ll swim on four relays at NCAAs, missing only the 800 freestyle relay. Her goal is to help break one of St. Thomas’ relays into the top eight. St. Thomas is ranked sixth in the nation in the 200 medley relay, which may be their best bet.

“I have really been enjoying my time at St. Thomas so far,” Emma said. “There is a lot to do around the St. Paul area, my classes are challenging and the people here are very friendly.”

But the friendliest group of all is her close-knit swim kin.

“The swim team is one big family that I seriously can’t get enough of!” Emma said. “I transferred because I wanted to continue to swim and to be closer to my family.”

The Division I to Division III transition has not been a tough one for Emma.

“Division III and Division I programs are different in terms of the intensity and time commitment, but they both allow college students to swim competitively and to be a part of a team,” she said.

Emma has a family history in the MIAC. Her parents attended Concordia College, and she has a brother currently studying at St. Olaf.

“Having that connection makes the conference feel more like home,” Emma said.

What’s her secret to becoming number one in the nation?

During meets she sticks to “pretty much the usual stuff” – eating healthily and sleeping plenty. She did reveal that she has passion for “any and all kinds of ice cream.”

You heard it here first: if you want to become a national champion, it may be time to dig into a sundae. Or maybe just save that for your post-victory reward.