FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's swimming and diving team (10-2, 3-0 CCSA) won five of nine events on the second day of competition Saturday morning against in-state rival Florida State to win the two-day meet by a score of 186-148, and earn programs first ever win over FSU.

The Green and Blues' charge was led by a strong performance in the 1000 yard freestyle by Lani Cabrera (Barbados/St. Ursala's Secondary School) who paced the pool with a time of 10:16.17 which beat out the second place finisher, Kendall McIntosh from FSU who finished the event in a time of 10:17.55.

"Obviously a special day for a program and a special day even more so for the seniors," said head coach Neal Studd. "The seniors may have wanted to have a team they could have rolled over, but instead they got FSU which turned out to be great since we gained our first ever win against them. This was a weekend where we take a lot of positives with their, attitude, professionalism and like you said their racing was excellent. They stayed calm and had some came back wins like Emma who came back on a couple of events because she wanted it more. This was very important heading into the CCSA Championship and the NCAA's."

Senior Nina Schiffer (Dortmund, Germany/SG Dortmund) gained the first victory on the day for the Eagles' when she won the 400 yard IM in a time of 4:30.68.  Emma Svensson (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) narrowly lost in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 50.40, the winner Kaitlyn Dressel from FSU finished in 49.52.

The Green and Blue closed out the meet with four straight victories. Kira Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands/Keizer Karel College) started the streak off with a win in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 55.27. Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) followed with a strong win in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.23. Cabrera's win in the 1000 yard freestyle was the third win during the stretch of four straight for the Eagles.

The final win of the day came in the 200 yard freestyle relay when the team of Svennsson, Toussaint, Kristen Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Stephen's College) and Becky Derogatis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Indian River/Cardinal Gibbons HS) came from behind and finished in a time of 1:33.16.

Senior Cayla Collins (Largo, Fla./Osceola High School) led the way on the 1-meter dive board with a third place finish and a score of 278.62.

UP NEXT
FGCU will travel to Athens, Ga. to compete in the CCSA Championship. The Championship is a four day event that begins Feb. 18 and ends on Feb. 21.
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.