LYNCHBURG, Va. – It came down to the final few events, but after three days of competition at the Liberty Natatorium, the FGCU swimming & diving team (2-2, 2-0 CCSA) emerged from the 2021 CCSA Conference Championship with a share of the league's crown. Both FGCU and Liberty secured 1,748.50 team points, thus splitting the championship title. Incarnate Word finished third overall with a final score of 1,281.

The Eagles, who brought home the 10th CCSA title in program history with their triumph, were also represented among the meet's superlative awards. For the second time in her career, senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) was named CCSA Swimmer of the Meet, sharing the title with UIW's Ximena Conde Merlos. Over the course of three days of action, the All-American collected three individual medals (100 Breast, 200 Breast, 200 IM) and was a part of two of the Eagles' winning relay entries (200 and 400 Medley Relays). Additionally, she was the only record-breaker of the meet, taking down the previous 100 Breast mark with her preliminary swim of 59.98.

"So many things had to happen for us to achieve this," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Kaja (Reinhardt) had to win a swim-off so she could be in the A Final for the 100 Free and everyone in the finals had to improve upon their prelim times. It was a total team effort. None of this is possible without them coming together and putting into action the motto of 'team over self'. They gave everything they had to make this dream come true. I am so proud."

Coming into Wednesday's competition, the Eagles were 59 points behind first-place Liberty in the team standings. However, that quickly changed thanks to the trio of sophomores Michaela Sizemore (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford Senior High), Hannah VanDress (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot) and Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU), who combined for 89 points in the 1650 Free. Sizemore led the effort with a second-place swim and was joined on the podium by VanDress, who finished third. With the addition of Niepelova's fifth-place finish, the group handed FGCU the overall lead (1327.5 to Liberty's 1324.5).

The Flames then shifted momentum back in their favor in the following event when they swept the 200 Back. Both sophomore Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) and freshman Alicja Ulicka (Rybno, Poland/Liceum Ogonoksztalcace IM.Wislawy Szymborskiej) were still able to score for the Green & Blue, placing sixth and seventh in the 'A' Final. Freshman Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) also added to the team's total by finishing 11th overall.

FGCU responded to Liberty's push with back-to-back event wins, as junior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum 10 NR W Lublinie) captured the 100 Free title and Halmai defended her crown in the 200 Breast. Czarnecka, who swam a personal-best and NCAA 'B' Cut time of 49.51, was joined on the podium by freshman teammate Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/ X Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mitsrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie). Rabiniak also swam a personal best en route to earning the silver medal. The duo was joined in the scoring by sophomore Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund), junior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State) and junior Meghan Schienvar (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel HS). In order, that group finished fourth, ninth and 18th.

While defending her title in the 200 Breast, Halmai swam an NCAA 'A' Cut time of 2:08.17 and became the event's three-time champion. She was joined in the 'A' Final by freshman Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School) and sophomore Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual School), who came in fifth and ninth. With their effort, FGCU regained a seven-point advantage over Liberty.

After swimming the mile earlier in the day, Sizemore then secured more points for the Eagles via a fifth-place swim in the 200 Fly. In total, the Eagles collected 61 points in the event, as sophomore Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) and junior Alexis Durlacher (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida State) also scored with 12th- and 15th-place times.

Sizemore's top finish set the stage for the dramatic finale that occurred during the 400 Free Relay event. FGCU entered the race down eight points in the team standings and needed to win the relay outright in order to secure at least a share of the conference title. The quartet of Czarnecka, Rabiniak, Merriman and Reinhardt was able to do just that, as their 3:20.87 swim bested second-place Liberty by nearly a full second.

With their win, the Green & Blue's 400 Medley Relay entry solidified the team's final total of 1,748.50 points and handed FGCU its first conference championship since 2018. The relay was one of four that the Eagles won throughout the meet and the team also collected 13 individual medals over the course of the three days of competition. The championship title is the third that the Eagles have won under Rollins' tenure (2017-18).

Certain members of the team will now prepare for postseason events, including the likes of the UF Last Chance Meet (Feb. 27-28). NCAA Zones for diving will take place from March 11-13, while the NCAA Championship is set for March 17-20.

For complete coverage of FGCU swimming & diving, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCU_WSwimDive), Instagram (@FGCU_WSwimDive) and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU swimming & diving or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

Final Team Standings
T-1. FGCU – 1,748.50
T-1. Liberty – 1,748.50
3. UIW – 1,281
4. UNC Asheville – 1,012.50
5. Campbell – 996
6. Georgia Southern – 823
7. Gardner-Webb – 799.50
8. Bellarmine – 500

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 34-22-1 (.609) dual meet record, which includes a 13-2 (.857) 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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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 83 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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.
 
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