ATLANTA – Whether it was in the prelims or in the finals, each member of the FGCU swimming and diving team captured a season-best mark on day one of the Georgia Tech Invite held at the McAuley Aquatic Center.

"Fantastic first day!" stated head coach Dave Rollins. "Team energy is incredible, we are the smallest team here but we are definitely not the quietest. Everyone swam a season-best time today which is what we are looking for. We use this meet to gauge where we are in our training and what adjustments we need to make. For some of the ladies to swim lifetime best times is incredible! Our relays are faster than they were a year ago and that's a great sign heading into the next semester. Tomorrow is a great day for us, looking forward to getting back at it!"

The Eagles currently sit in 9th place out of 10 squads as they are 31 points ahead of ECU (62) and only trail the Georgia Tech by 32 points for 8th.

FGCU kicked off the meet in the 200 free relay setting a season-best time of 1:31.12 to finish 6th. The team of Gracie Redding (Orlando, Fla./The First Academy/FSU), Rebecca Moynihan (Palmerston North, New Zealand/Waiopehu College) , Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland./Liceum nr 10 w Lublinie) and Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) shaved off more than three seconds for the new personal mark as Redding led off with an NCAA 'B" time of 22.69.

In the 200 IM, Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) placed third (2:02.44) in the C Final to lead into the 50 free where Redding swam to an NCAA 'B' time (22.53) in the B final to give FGCU 12 points. Meanwhile, Moynihan's time of 23.17 (22.99 in the prelims) gave FGCU an extra four points.

On the 3M board, Melissa Novak (Frederick, Md./Oakdale HS) continued to bump the Green and Blues point total as she placed 17th (258.60). The Eagles ended day one on a strong note as the quartet of Doris Eichhorn (Berlin, Germany/HTW Berlin), Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School), Cassidy Fry (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood HS) and Redding etched a time of 3:40.70 in the 400 medley relay – a new season-best by 10 seconds.

On a notable note, Kellie Fischer (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial High School) recorded a lifetime best on the B relay team as she led off in the 100 back (55.76) as she joined Redding (50 free), Czarnecka (50 free) and Karin Schienvar (200 IM, 2:08.06) (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel HS) as those who produced lifetime best times Thursday.
 
Team Standings
1. #10 Florida- 360
2. #12 Auburn- 281.5
3. South Carolina- 181.5
4. Alabama- 181
4. #22 FSU- 181
6. Virginia Tech- 161
7. #19 UNC- 160
8. Georgia Tech- 125
9. FGCU- 93
10. ECU- 62

Friday, Nov. 16 – Prelims ESPN | Finals ESPN | Live Results
(In order of event, prelims start each day at 10 a.m. ET, finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET)
200 medley relay
400 IM
100 fly
200 free
100 breast
100 back
Women's diving
800 free relay   

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date 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.

HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Entering into his third season, head coach, Dave Rollins is only the second head coach in program history, taking over on Sept. 1, 2016. In his second season, Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles, as well as the program's fourth-straight and ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in each of his two seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men's swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans along with multiple conference champions. A standout collegiate athlete in his own right, Rollins was inducted into the University of Arizona's Hall of Fame in 2017 as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
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.