FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swim team will make its 2022-23 season debut this weekend at the Bellarmine Duals in Louisville, Ky. It will be a two-day event with the meet getting started on Friday at 5 p.m. before continuing Saturday at 10 a.m.
The format for the weekend will be a multiple-dual event meaning that FGCU will be competing against the Knights as well as Gardner-Webb and Southern Indiana simultaneously.
The team was supposed to begin its season on Oct. 14 at home against Campbell, but due to the effects of Hurricane Ian, the meet was cancelled.
The Eagles return three swimmers that won gold medals at the CCSA Championships a year ago led by senior
Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla.) who was part of four winning relay teams. Seniors
Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky.) and
Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany) also return after each winning a pair of golds on relays as well.
Other returning medalists for the Eagles this year include seniors
Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky.),
Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla.), and
Michaela Sizemore (Fredericksburg, Va.). The Eagles will also bring back 3m diving gold medalist
Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), but divers will not be competing this weekend.
It will also be the Green and Blue debut for a number of Eagles including freshmen
Mia Burke (Owings Mills, Md.),
Liv Hettinger (West Fargo, N.D.), and
Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio) as well as transfers
Emma Bjoernholdt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark/St. Leo University),
Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./UMBC), and
Izabela Zekuciova (Drmoul, Czech Republic/North Texas).
For McAtee, Hogan, and junior
Emma Hixenbaugh, it will be a homecoming meet for them as they are all Louisville natives.
Head Coach
Dave Rollins, who is in his seventh season leading the Eagles, is joined by a new assistant coach this year in
Aly Tetzloff. The former standout at Auburn also brings experience competing at the national level and professional circuit in the International Swim League.
The Eagles will be looking for its 11th CCSA Championship this season after finishing second a year ago. The 2023 CCSA Championships will be held from Feb. 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn.
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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 35-26-1 (.573) dual meet record, which includes a 14-2 (.875) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 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.
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
