LYNCHBURG, VA – Claiming two events Wednesday evening, the FGCU swimming and diving team sits in fourth place after day one of the CCSA Championships at the Liberty Natatorium.
"A lot of great performances today," head coach
Dave Rollins said. "We had 10 lifetime bests swims either individually or on relays, plus we had two event wins. You hate to see a relay disqualification, but it's part of our sport and we have to focus on being better moving forward. Each session is a new opportunity. Tomorrow is a great day for us and we're looking forward to it."
FGCU kicked off the first finals event of the evening taking first in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet of
Doris Eichhorn (Berlin, Germany/HTW Berlin),
Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School),
Gracie Redding (Orlando, FL/FSU) and
Rebecca Moynihan (Palmerston North, New Zealand/Waiopehu College) combined for a swim of 1:38.71, a new season-best mark. Eichhorn (50 back), Halmai (50 breast), and Moynihan (50 free) all produced lifetime best swims.
Halmai's trial time in the 200 breast (2:11.54) became the second-fastest time in program history, just missing the record by three-tenths of a second.
In the diving portion, sophomore
Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) claimed first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 284. The score gives Wakefield a season-best mark. In the final event of the evening, the 800 free relay, the Green and Blue were not able to score due to a disqualification.
The CCSA Championships will continue Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. with the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries. The event finals for day two will start at 6:00 p.m. (200 free relay, 3-meter dive, 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free.).
Standings
1. Liberty-245
2. University of Incarnate Word-244
3. Georgia Southern-197
4. FGCU-153
5. UNC Asheville-134
6. Howard-122
7. Campbell-120
8. Gardner-Webb-110
9. UNF-102
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
In his third season, head coach, Dave Rollins is only the second head coach in program history, taking over on Sept. 1, 2016. Rollins has 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 native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and 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.
