FORT MYERS, Fla. - Florida Gulf Coast University swimming and diving rewrote the record books with five new meet records at the Wings Up Classic and three new top ten times.

"It is great to see the ladies competing again," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Even though this fall has been a bit spotty with weather, we have been doing a great job working on our details in the pool and building our fitness away from the pool. To see so many lifetime best times is pretty remarkable, and a few all time top 10 times is surprising this early in the season. The team had a great energy today both on the boards and in the pool. Definitely looking forward to seeing where we can take this program this year."

The Wings Up Classic marked the start of the season for FGCU swimming and diving. The swimmers competed in time trials in the 50 free, back, breast and the 100 IM. The divers competed in two teams with each diver doing two dives on each board. The green team won the one meter and the blue team won the three meter.

In the swimming pool, 26 new lifetime bests were set and all but one event saw a new meet record. Libby Russum set a new meet record in the 50 fly (24.99), Izzy Ackley set a new meet record in the 50 back (25.52) and Cassie Bauer set new meet records in the 50 breast (29.93), 100 IM (58.01) and total time (2:46.18). Eight swimmers, including Bauer, came in ahead of the previous total time record with Ackley (2:47.57), Russum (2:47.75), Mia Burke (2:50.58), Emma Bjoernholdt (2:51.46), Jordan Durocher (2:51.97), Emily McMahan (2:52.25) and Ella Smith (2:53.32) touching faster than the previous record. Only one record held from previous years. This was Jasmin Kroll's 50 free record in 2023. Russum won the event, clocking in at 24.07.

Ackley and Bauer both started their Eagles' swimming careers by etching their names into the the all-time record books. Ackley's time in the 50 back was good for 10th place while Bauer's time in the 100 IM placed her seventh all-time. Russum started her junior year and second in Fort Myers with the ninth fastest 100 IM time (58.31) in program history.

The Eagles head on the road for a pair of two-day meets starting in Jacksonville at the Osprey Invite from Sept. 27-28 before following it up in Miami at the FIU Classic (Oct. 4-5). FGCU returns home for the Green and Blue intersquad meet on Oct 12. Attendance at all meets is free.