GREENSBORO, N.C. – At the end of a historic week at the 2021 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship, senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) led the FGCU swimming & diving team to a tie with San Diego State for 32nd place. The All-American competed in the 200 IM, the 100 Breast and the 200 Breast, racking up six points in the process.

Halmai finished the meet in style and became the first Eagle to qualify for an NCAA individual final since Elise Haan (2016, 100 Back), doing so in the 200 Breast. The event, which saw Halmai place 11th in the B Final and set new FGCU/CCSA records, earned the Hungary native Honorable Mention All-American distinction.

Virginia won the overall team title with 491 points, while NC State (354) and Texas (344.5) rounded out the top three. FGCU was one of seven non-Power 5 programs to be represented in the final team standings, joined by Houston (30th, nine points), San Diego State (T-32nd, six points), Wyoming (35th, four points), Akron (36th, three points), Navy (T-37th, one point) and Oakland (T-37th, one point).

 "What a fantastic week for FGCU and our program," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Performing our best when the lights were brightest is something we pride ourselves on. There has been so much uncertainty over the past 12 months and after last year's NCAA Championship being called off, it could have been very easy for Petra to not be as motivated. But that's not who she is. Earning All-American honors, swimming best times, and setting school records at her first NCAA Championships is an incredible accomplishment. It's been an amazing three days and I couldn't ask for a better way to end the past 12 months."

In the first NCAA Championship swim of her career, Halmai swam a life-time best prelim time of 1:59.59 to place 47th in the 200 IM on Thursday morning. After entering the meet seeded 60th, she moved up to 47th in the rankings.

Halmai continued to have success on the second day of action, breaking both the school and conference records in Friday's 100 Breast. Her time of 59.76 earned her a 23rd-place finish, despite beginning the day ranked 32nd. Though she missed qualifying for that evening's finals by just seven spots, she set herself up for a great swim in the 200 Breast the following day.

Saturday was the finale for both the NCAA Championship and for Halmai herself, as the All-American turned in her strongest race of the meet during the final day of competition. During the morning preliminary session, she laid down a time of 2:08.62 to place 16th overall and punched her ticket to the evening's finals.

In the consolation final, Halmai swam a blistering 2:06.89 to place 11th overall. Her time shattered both the previous FGCU and CCSA Conference records of 2:07.38. Overall, her swim was the ninth fastest of the event, as she out-paced a pair of swimmers in the A Final. The performance additionally boosted the FGCU swimming & diving team to its final standing at 32nd overall, marking its highest finish since 2015 (26th).

Along with being one of seven non-Power 5 programs to place in the final standings, Halmai helped the Eagles to outscore Auburn (multi-time National Champions), Duke, Florida State, Iowa, Penn State, South Carolina, Washington State, UCLA and Utah.

This completes a historic season for Halmai, who is the eighth individual Eagle in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championship. She will now turn her attention towards the European Championship and the upcoming Olympic Games. After winning the 100-meter breaststroke and placing second in both the 50- and 200-meter events, Halmai was named to the team that will represent Hungary at the European Championships. Additionally, she earned a provisional spot on the squad that will represent the country at the Olympics.

For complete coverage of FGCU swimming & diving, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCU_WSwim), 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.

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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#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 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 40 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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