COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – After one of the most successful individual seasons in program history, FGCU swimming & diving's junior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) has been named an All-American by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, as announced on Wednesday.

A two-time CCSA gold medalist from this year's championship meet, Halmai becomes the second individual to earn such honors, joining former Eagle Kira Toussaint (2013-15), who received a selection after placing eighth in the 100-yard backstroke at the 2015 national championship. The same season, the Eagles' 200-yard freestyle relay team also earned the honors by placing eighth in the 'A' final.

"An All-America honor is truly special, and is not something that occurs for us at FGCU every day," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Without being able to compete at the NCAA Championships, we won't truly know where she could have finished her season, but we do know she was ready to be at her best when the lights were brightest. Congratulations to Petra for hard work, commitment and dedication."

Halmai took the 2020 CCSA Championship by storm, earning top finishes and breaking both school and conference records in each of her two individual events. Her performances were highlighted by her final race in the 200-yard breaststroke, where she shaved an astounding four seconds off the CCSA record and punched her ticket to the national meet with a final time of 2:07.38. Halmai also set a record in the 100-yard breaststroke, where she turned in a record-breaking 1:00.01, an NCAA 'B' cut time.

For the Hungarian, the postseason success is the result of a year of hard work. A four-time CCSA Swimmer of the Week selection, she took home the 200-yard breaststroke all but three times during the regular season and swam multiple personal bests throughout her junior campaign.

"It's very exciting to be named an All-American," Halmai said. "It's very humbling to be one of only a handful of athletes at FGCU to ever receive this honor. I'm thankful to my family, teammates and coaches, especially Dave, for always believing in me and helping me be my best self. I'm excited to see what we can do next year."

Halmai joins Liberty's Payton Keiner as the only student-athletes from the CCSA Conference to be represented on the All-American list. She is also now one of just nine FGCU student-athletes to receive such an honor.

The cancellation of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships modified the selection criteria. As opposed to the past, where you had to place in an 'A' final at the national championship to receive the honor, all relays achieving "A" standards, individuals selected to the NCAA Championships and divers entered in uncontested events from the Zone C Diving Qualification meet were all named All-American.

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HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 32-20-1 (.615) dual meet record, which includes an 11-2 (.846) mark against CCSA opponents, in his fourth season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), as well as the program's fourth-straight title in 2018, marking the ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his 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 helping to develop 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.

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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--