FORT MYERS, Fla. – On a day that started by honoring seven seniors, the FGCU swim team kept the good vibes going as they won eight races on day one against North Florida, taking a 122-43 lead after nine events.

"Very special day today," said head coach Dave Rollins. "Honoring our senior class, seeing them swim together and create lifelong memories, brought plenty of happy tears. As a team, we are in a great spot. Multiple lifetime best and season best times is what we are looking for. With another two weeks until the CCSA Championships, we see what these ladies are capable of."

The meet got started as the Eagles took the top two spots in the 200 medley relay with junior Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School), senior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie), and junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) teaming up for the victory with a season-best time of 1:41.98.

Sophomore Rebecca Winn (Wawrick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School) followed by winning the 400 IM. She was the only Eagle in the six-person field, but she managed to touch the wall first with a time of 4:31.73, also a season-best.

Emma Hixenbaugh picked up the third win of the day as she swam a personal best in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.61. Senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas) and freshman Dani D'Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough HS) were right behind her with times of 1:52.80 and 1:53.61, respectively.

Halmai collected the next two wins for the Eagles as she touched first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.85 and the 100 breast with a time of 1:01.27.

In the 50 free, D'Ambrosio led a trio of Eagles in the top three with a time of 23.90. Hixenbaugh came in second at 24.05 while junior Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund) was third at 24.13.

After the shortest race of the day, junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) won the longest race, touching first in the 1650 free with a time of 17:27.15.

The Eagles ended the day the same way they began, with a relay win as Jerew, Czarnecka, Pike, and Reinhardt took home the win in the 400 free relay with a season-best time of 3:26.18.

FGCU will return to the pool tomorrow afternoon for day two against the Ospreys. The first event is scheduled for 12 p.m.

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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 34-26-1 (.566) 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.