FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swimming & diving team will be represented at the upcoming Olympics for the fourth-straight games, as the Hungarian Swimming Federation announced on Wednesday afternoon that senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) has made the team.

The All-American, who will additionally represent her home country at the 2021 European Championship, earned a provisional spot on the Olympic squad when she won the 100-meter breaststroke at Hungary's National Championship earlier this year. The 2021 CCSA Swimmer of the Meet placed second in both the 50- and 200-meter events, as well.

The announcement comes on the heels of Halmai helping the Eagles tie with San Diego State for 32nd at the 2021 NCAA Championship, the team's highest finish since 2015 (26th). The reigning CCSA Swimmer of the Year placed 11th overall in the 200 Breast with a school and conference record time of 2:06.89. Overall, her swim was the ninth-fastest of the event as she out-paced a pair of swimmers in the A Final.

Halmai additionally swam the 100 Breast (23rd, 59.76) and the 200 IM (47th, 1:59.59), out-performing her seed in both races. She was named an Honorable Mention All-American and became the third two-time All-American in program history, joining former Eagles Kira Toussaint (2014-15) and Emma Svensson (2014-15).

"To be able to represent one's country on the greatest stage of our sport is the highest honor," head coach Dave Rollins said. "I am so proud of Petra. She came to us with a dream of making the Tokyo Games, and we turned that dream into a goal and now a reality. It's an incredibly exciting moment for her, her family and our program."

Halmai has been an Olympic hopeful since before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the games to be pushed back. Last season, she qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championship in the 200 Breast and had the 10th- fastest time in the nation. She was named a CSCAA First-Team All-American for her efforts, just the second Eagle to achieve the feat in an individual event (Kira Toussaint, 100 Back, 2014).

The Hungarian will be the sixth Eagle swimmer to compete at the Olympics, joining Eva Lehtonen (Finald, 2008 Summer Olympics), Danielle Beabrun (Saint Lucia, 2008 & 2012 Summer Olympics), Karen Vilorio (Honduras, 2012 Summer Olympics), Lani Cabrera (Barbados, 2016 Summer Olympics) and Evita Leter (Suriname, 2016 Summer Olympics).

"I'm really excited and feel honored to represent my country," Halmai said. "Competing at the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I started to swim. And now, I can be someone who says 'my dream came true'. I was always motivated, but now I am more motivated than ever." 

The opening ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held on Friday, July 23 and the action will run through Sunday, Aug. 8. NBC will broadcast the entirety of the games and each event can additionally be watched on the NBCOlympics.com live stream. For a more detailed view of the daily competition schedule, click here.

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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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. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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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