FORT MYERS, Fla. – With less than two weeks before CCSA Championships, the FGCU swim team had one final tune-up this weekend against North Florida. After winning all but one race yesterday, the Eagles went a perfect 8-for-8 on Saturday, cruising to a 238-72 victory over the Ospreys.

This is the first dual meet win of the year for the Eagles as they go to 1-4 on the season while UNF falls to 1-5.

"Really proud of our performance today," said head coach Dave Rollins. "Our 200 free relay was faster than our gold medal relay at last year's CCSA championships, which is a great sign of things to come. Congratulations to our seniors on their final home meet and now we shift focus to the main event. The ladies are ready."

The Eagles started the day with a win in the 400 medley relay as junior Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija I Ekonomska Skola Benedikta Kotruljevica), senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School), senior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie), and senior Brittney Pike (Boerne, Texas/Boerne Samuel V. Champion/Arkansas) won with a season-best time of 3:41.21.

Sophomore Sophia Macaisa (Iverness, Fla./Lecanto HS) followed by winning the 500 free with a time of 5:16.48.

In the 200 back, junior Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) touched first with a time of 2:04.65, a new season-best.

The Eagles followed by dominating the 200 breast as they finished in the top four spots led by sophomore Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School) who swam a season-best time of 2:18.41. Sophomore Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee), sophomore Karen Arngeirsdottir (Reykjanesbaer, Iceland/Fjolbrautaskoli Sudurnesja), and junior Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia/Gymnazium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) followed closely behind.

In the 100 fly, the Eagles took the top three spots as junior Michaela Sizemore (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford Senior HS), senior Taylor Williams (St. Petersburg, Fla./Osceola Fundamental HS), and Alicja Ulicka (Rybno, Poland/Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace IM.Wislawy Syzmborskiej) all swam under a minute, led by Sizemore who went 58.14, a new personal-best time.

Freshman Dani D'Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough HS) won the 100 free with a time of 51.72. Sophomore Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/X Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mitsrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie) and senior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State) finished second and third, respectively.

Junior Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual HS) won the final individual race of the day as he touched first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.05.

The Eagles capped off the weekend with a victory in the 200 free relay as the squad of junior Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High), Czarnecka, Pike, and junior Kaja Reinhardt (Herdecke, Germany/Helene-Lange-Gymnasium Dortmund) took home the win with a season-best time of 1:32.40.

The Green and Blue will now head to Lynchburg, Virginia for the CCSA Championships on February 16-19, looking for their 11th CCSA Championship.

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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 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.
 
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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.