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Florida Tech Splits With Florida Atlantic

Florida Tech men’s and women’s swimming opened the home portion of the schedule, taking on Division I foe Florida Atlantic at the Panther Aquatic Center on Friday.

The Panther men secured possibly their biggest team win ever, defeating the Owls 144-118. The FIT women had a number of great performances but were overcome by FAU 166-96.

“Today was a successful day for our program,” said head coac Justin Andrade. “They executed every aspect of the competition, and supported each other. The team is incredibly grateful for the support of the Florida Tech community and it helped fuel the men’s team to a big win over a strong Division I opponent. Our team stood up to the challenge and swam with confidence and passion. I couldn’t have asked for a better attitude, and it paid off.”

Ferruccio Rossi broke his own school record, improving his time in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 9:35.54. Thomas Steenberg narrowly clipped the school-record in the 200-yard freestyle, touching in 1:42.32 for the win. Jonas Schwarzenbacher (52.09) and Kaikea Nakachi (52.71) finished first and second, respectively, in the 100-yard backstroke, with Schwarzenbacher’s time also breaking the FIT-record. Nir Barnea, Jonah Rieman, Steenberg and Westerlund snagged first in the 200-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:24.30. Steenberg’s time of 20.88 during the relay race was just quick enough to beat Barnea’s record set earlier this season against Savannah College of Art and Design.

Additionally for the Panther men, Brian Dumont captured the win in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.15 and Barnea grabbed the title in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing with a record time of 50.24. Schwarzenbacher (1:56.86) outpaced all comers in the 200-yard backstroke, while Dumont (2:10.48) finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke. Rossi recorded another win, taking the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:42.58. Finally, Nathan Hufnagel also registered a notch in the win column, taking the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:57.62.

On the women’s side, Dar Raz, Samantha Conger, Madison Hart and Lauren Suarez joined forces to grab second and easily outmatch the school-record in the 200-yard medley relay, making the final touch in 1:45.64. Raz also broke her own FIT-record, claiming third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.24. The record in the 100-yard breaststroke would also fall, as Conger finished in 1:06.35 for first. Conger would snag her third record of the meet in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching in 2:23.29. Suarez wouldn’t be outdone, breaking the school-record in the 100-yard freestyle with a second-place time of 53.11. Bernadette Murphy’s time of 24.19 in the 200-yard freestyle relay set a new school-record, helping the Panther team to a second-place finish. Finally, Raz garnered first in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 57.27.

“It’s great to have records set this early in the season,” said Andrade. “We are just getting into the bulk of our training, and the team is responding very well. They are training hard and training smart, and it shows. I am very proud of the team.”

The Panthers now travel tomorrow to Winter Park, Florida for a 1 p.m. ET meeting with the Tars of Rollins College.

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