FORT MYERS, FL – The FGCU women's swimming (0-1) and diving team welcomed in-state foe Florida (3-0) for the first time to The Nest and battled from start to finish, ultimately dropping the season opener, 219-79, Saturday afternoon at the FGCU Aquatics Complex.

"Thank you to everyone who came to support us today," said head coach Dave Rollins. "Despite the end result, our team chemistry and support was phenomenal. Their belief in one another and competitive drive never changed. We competed well and definitely learned a few things that we can work on. We are in a great spot to start the season and are excited for next week!"

As Rollins alluded to, despite the result, the Eagle's competitive drive helped them place a swimmer and diver in the top-3 of nearly each of the 16 events held. In the first event of the day, 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 Hannah Burdge (Stuart, Fla./Martin County HS) placed second in the 200 medley, touching out in 1:45.76 as they were narrowly edged by UF's time of 1:44.15.

Rising sophomore Halmai recorded a trio of top-3 finishes, placing second overall in the 100 breast (1:05.03) and also in the 200 breast (2:19.51). The Hungarian then went on to touch the pads in a time of 2:07.26 in the 200 individual medley (IM) for third place.

Senior Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) produced a pair of second-place finishes for the Eagles, first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.68 and followed it up in the 100 fly touching out in 56.52 seconds. In addition, Elizabeth Zeiger (Cumberland, R.I./Homeschool) claimed second in the 500 free (5:04.40) as well as the 200 IM (2:06.82).

Other notable times include Gracie Redding (Orlando, Fla./The First Academy/FSU) coming up one second short of her season best last year in the 50 free with a time of 23.55 seconds this afternoon, while Eichhorn placed third in the 100 backstroke with a swim of 57.45 seconds.

In the diving portion of the meet, Melissa Novak's (Frederick, Md./Oakdale HS) score of 258.75 on the 1-meter dive gave her a third overall finish as she turned a second-place result on the 3-meter dive with a score of 290.77. Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) also scored points for the Green and Blue in the 1-meter (246.75) and the 3-meter (246.30).

Complete results for today's meet can be found here.

UP NEXT
FGCU will travel across Alligator Alley for the TYR Classic hosted by FIU next Friday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. and will then welcome the Panthers and UNF the following day at noon for dual meets. The matchup against the Ospreys will be the first of three conference matchup set for this year.   

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.