GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Led by a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle by Emma Svensson and a third-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the FGCU swimming and diving team sits in third place after day-one action Friday at the three-day, ultra-competitive Pinch A Penny All-Florida Invitational at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
 
The Eagles posted 201 points to finish ahead of four teams, including Florida State (4th, 195 points) and Miami (5th, 124), as FGCU is behind only host Florida (346) and the University of California (245).
 
Svensson (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) touched in 22.97 in the 50 free to earn 17 points, and her finish was below the NCAA 'B' cut of 22.99 and also .23 seconds ahead of four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, who swims for Cal. The 'B' cut doesn't automatically qualify Svensson for the NCAA Championship, but it does represent a finish below the championship average from last year. Additionally, Svensson anchored the four-member 200 relay team in the first event of the evening as the Eagles finished in 1:32.91 – ahead of Florida State and Miami.
 
"Today was an awesome start for us," said head coach Neal Studd. "This is the first time we have left a day of competition ahead of Florida State. The relay teams were outstanding, and Kira (Toussaint) and Emma both swam faster than they ever have without a full rest. I'm very excited by the great vibe of the team and I'm proud of everyone's performances today."

Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands/Keizer Karel College) served as the lead for the 200 free team and swam her 50 yards in 23.84 before turning things over to Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy) who went just a little faster (23.66). Rebecca Derogatis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Indian River/Cardinal Gibbons HS) kept the low times coming as she swam her portion in 23.38 before Svennson capped the ever-improving relay with a 22.03 – the fastest split time of any anchor, and tied for the quickest split of the entire event.
 
Toussaint and Svennson closed their respective nights in nearly similar fashion as they started as the duo led and anchored, respectively, the 400-yard medley relay team to a fourth-place finish with a time of 3:43.34. The two were joined by Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) and Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Dlocesan Girls' School). In total, the 200-yard freestyle relay team (32) and the 400-yard medley relay team (30) combined to earn 62 of the Green and Blue's 201 points.
 
In addition to the Svennson-anchored 200 relay squad, the quartet of Kristin Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Stephen's College), Evita Leter (Paramaribo, Suriname/Doral Academy), Sandra Wilk (Lexington, Ky./Paul Laurence Dunbar HS) and Maggie Holling (West Palm Beach, Fla./John I Leonard) finished ninth in the same event with a time of 1:37.76 to garner 18 points for the Eagles.
 
In the 500-yard freestyle, Nina Schiffer (Dortmund, Germany/SG Dortmund) finished seventh with a time of 5:04.69 to earn 12 points, while Devon Robins (London, United Kingdom/The Grey Coat Hospital) and Caroline Hamilton (Davidsonville, Md./Archbishop Spalding HS) finished 15th and 16th, respectively, with times of 5:10.89 and 5:12.77.
 
Two events later, the Eagles posted another seventh-place finish for 12 points as Wong touched in 2:08.66 in the 200-yard IM. Armitage closed in 2:11.49 for a 13th-place finish, but still good enough to get the Eagles four points.
 
Additionally in the aforementioned 50-yard freestyle, Toussaint and Derogatis both competed in the 'B' Final and earned a total of eight points. Toussaint touched in 24:10 for 12th place, while Derogatis clocked in at 24:29 for 14th.
 
In diving action, Cayla Collins (Largo, Fla./Osceola High School) finished fifth on the 1-meter board with a 255.83 to earn 14 points for FGCU. Rounding out the diving action for the Eagles were Mikaila Buening (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community HS) with 228.53 for 11 points, Taylor Malewicki (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) with 224.91 for nine points and Emily Slater (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) with 186.15 for seven points.
 
The seven-team invitational – which also includes the University of North Florida and Nova Southeastern University – features some of the best programs in the nation. The field is one of the most competitive the Green and Blue will see this season as five of the seven programs finished in the top 35 at the 2014 NCAA Championship, with Cal taking third, UF claiming sixth, Miami 21st, Florida State 30th and FGCU 32nd.
 
The invite continues Saturday with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and finals starting at 4 p.m. A complete list of Saturday events is below:

200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
3 Meter Diving
800 Free Relay
 
ALL-FLORIDA INVITE FIELD
1) Florida – 346
2) Cal – 245
3) FGCU – 201
4) Florida State – 195
5) Miami – 124
6) Nova Southeastern – 49
7) North Florida – 34
 
For complete coverage of FGCU women's swimming and diving over the weekend, follow on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of each day.
 
FGCU is led by Neal Studd, who has garnered four CCSA Coach of the Year awards, won five CCSA Championships (2009-13) and guided the Eagles to a 25-1 CCSA all-time record since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just three years of postseason eligibility, Studd has coached NCAA Championship Meet qualifiers and competitors each of the three years, with 2014 yielding the best results to date as the Eagles claimed 32nd place and produced two CSCAA All-America honorees.