FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swim and dive team returned to the pool after nearly two months, Wednesday afternoon, to take on the Miami Hurricanes. The Eagles battled, but ultimately fell to Miami, 198-100.

"Tough loss today," said head coach Dave Rollins. "Being off racing for two months showed in our events and we get to learn and grow from today. I'm excited for our effort and support. That has been a staple for our program and will continue to be moving forward. The seal has been broken and we will only continue to get sharper as we approach CCSAs."

Senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) shined for the Green and Blue, winning three races. Her first victory of the day came in the 200 fly as she won with a time of 2:04.40. She followed that by touching first in the 200 breast with a time of 2:18.97 before claiming victory in the 400 IM with a time of 4:30.81, winning both races by more than three seconds.

Sophomore Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) had a solid day as well as he finished second in both backstroke events. In the 100 back, she swam 58.86 and in the 200 back, she clocked in with a time of 2:06.68.

Senior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie) touched second in the 100 fly with a time of 57.74 while finishing third in the 50 free with a time of 24.27. Junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) also had a third-place finish on the day as she swam 5:12.24 in the 500 free.

The quartet of Halmai, Czarnecka, senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas), and freshman Macy Mullis (Colbert, Ga./Madison County) took second place in the 200-medley relay while Czarnecka, Pike, Hixenbaugh, and junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) finished second in the 200-free relay with a time of 1:37.00.

In the diving events, junior Delaney Nelson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) was the top Eagle on the 1m with a score of 239.18 while junior Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Bishop MacDonelle CHS) led FGCU in the 3m with a score of 263.63.
 
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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 34-25-1 (.575) dual meet record, which includes a 13-2 (.857) mark against CCSA opponents, in his sixth 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 before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. 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.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#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 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.