COLUMBIA, S.C. – The FGCU swimming & diving team will bring its unblemished record on the road as the Eagles travel to Columbia, S.C., for a dual meet against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Halloween night at 5 p.m.
 
"We are very happy to head to South Carolina and face a great SEC program," head coach Neal Studd said. "It is fun for us to go somewhere new. USC has a great program and it's good for our girls to be exposed to teams like this. I'm looking forward to some fast swims and seeing if we can hang with them."
 
TWO AND OH
Finishing first in 10 of 16 events, the Eagles (2-0, 1-0 CCSA) claimed their tenth all-time win over the University of Miami with a 195-104 victory last Saturday at home. The 10 first-place finishes registered by the Green and Blue came from the efforts of four different Eagles. Leading the group was sophomore Kira Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands/Keizer Karel College), who swam backstroke for the winning 200-yard medley relay team, finished first individually in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke and capped the afternoon as anchor in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a winning touch. Joining Toussaint with pairs of first-place results in individual events were Emma Svensson (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan), Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) and Yee Wong (Hong Kong, China/Dlocesan Girls' School) as FGCU earned seven 1-2 finishes in Saturday's contest. The Eagles first win of the season came on October 17 after a convincing 175-120 victory over Incarnate Word to open the home portion and Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association action for the 2014-15 season.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
Friday's contest will mark the first-ever head-to-head competition between the Green and Blue and the Gamecocks (2-1, 0-1 SEC). After opening its season with a 144-123 loss against fellow Southeastern Conference member Kentucky, USC bounced back with wins over Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, beating the Yellow Jackets 177-123 and the Fighting Irish 180-120.
 
CONFERENCE HONOR QUEENS
After four weeks of competition the Eagles have earned five CCSA weekly honors, with the most recent being Toussaint's naming as Swimmer of the Week and Cayla Collins (Largo, Fla./Osceola HS) earning the Diver of the Week title this past Tuesday to mark the Green and Blue's second sweep of the season. FGCU swept the first wave of CCSA weekly honors on Oct. 7 with Svensson named Swimmer of the Week and Collins Diver of the Week following their success at the season-opening All Florida Invite. Svensson continued on to earn another Swimmer of the Week title on Oct. 21 after three first-place touches in FGCU's 175-120 defeat of Incarnate Word.
 
EAGLES IN THE NATIONAL TOP 50
After a four weeks of competition in this season's campaign, the Eagles have recorded 15 times that rank in the national top 50. Of the 15 marks five rank in the top 15, two coming from individual events and three from relays. Individually the Eagles are led by Svensson's 49.72 in the 100-yard freestyle, which ranks seventh, followed by Toussaint's 53.64 in the 100-yard backstroke, which is listed eighth.
 
Listed below are the events in which FGCU has recorded a top-50 time:
 
50 FREESTYLE
19. Emma Svensson – 22.97, All Florida Invitational
 
100 FREESTYLE
7. Emma Svensson – 49.72, FGCU vs UIW
 
1650 FREESTYLE
16. Lani Cabrera – 17:16.37, All Florida Invitational
30. Kellie Roedig – 17:48.39, All Florida Invitational
39. Caroline Hamilton – 17:58.44, All Florida Invitational
41. Natalie Rochette – 18:04.54, All Florida Invitational
 
100 BACKSTROKE
8. Kira Toussaint – 53.64, FGCU vs Miami
 
200 BACKSTROKE
39. Kira Toussaint – 1:59.70, FGCU vs Mimai
 
100 BUTTERFLY
36. Emma Svensson – 55.35, FGCU vs UIW
 
100 BREASTSTROKE
39. Evita Leter – 1:03.41, FGCU vs UIW
 
200 FREE RELAY
12. Toussaint, Sara Hamilton, Becky Derogatis, Svensson – 1:32.91, All Florida Invitational
 
400 FREE RELAY
26. Derogatis, Svensson, Leter, Hamilton – 3:27.66, All Florida Invitational
 
800 FREE RELAY
15. Yee Wong, Svensson, Cabrera, Toussaint – 7:38.52, All Florida Invitational
 
200 MEDLEY RELAY
16. Toussaint, Katie Armitage, Svensson, Derogatis – 1:41.69, All Florida Invitational
 
400 MEDLEY RELAY
15. Toussaint, Armitage, Wong, Svensson – 3:43.34, All Florida Invitational
 
 
 
Following their trip to Columbia, the Eagles will continue action with the Georgia Tech Invite, scheduled for Nov. 20-22 in Atlanta.
 
For complete coverage of FGCU women's swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of the meet.
 
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.
 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.