Conference USA swimming and diving champion FIU caps off a wonderful season by earning three of the four specialty awards. Senior Johanna Gustafsdottir and freshman Silvia Scalia were tabbed Swimmer of the Year and Freshman Swimmer of the Year, respectively, while teammate Rebecca Quesnel was named Freshman Diver of the Year. Old Dominion senior Rachel Eckert took the other top honor as she was voted the league's Diver of the Year.
Swimmer of the Year: Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU, Sr., Reykjavik, Iceland
Diver of the Year: Rachel Eckert, Old Dominion, Sr., Rochester, New York
Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Silvia Scalia, FIU, Fr., Lecco, Italy
Freshman Diver of the Year: Rebecca Quesnel, FIU, Fr., Burlington, Ontario
Swimmer of the Year: Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU, Sr., Reykjavik, Iceland - Backstroke/Freestyle/IM
C-USA Swimmer of the Meet Gustafsdottir lead FIU to its first ever conference title in program history by winning three individual titles at the championship. Her times in the 200-individual medley (1:57.33) and 400-IM (4:11.83) both broke meet records in the process, while she also took the gold in the 200-breaststroke with an NCAA B cut time of 2:12.35. Gustafsdottir would go on to swim in all three events at the NCAA Championships, her fourth-consecutive appearance to the championships.
For her career, Gustafsdottir will leave FIU with six records and a total of 13 conference championship titles. She holds the top Panther times in four individual events (100-freestyle, 200-freestyle, 200-breaststroke and 200-IM) and two relay events (400-freestyle and 400-medley). The Icelander's name can be found in the top-10 in 11 different individual events in the FIU record book.
Diver of the Year: Rachel Eckert, Old Dominion, Sr., Rochester, New York
Eckert earned C-USA Diver of the Meet honors after winning both the one- and three-meter dive events at the championships. The veteran wiped away the field at the conference finale as she won both dives convincingly. In the one-meter, Eckert beat the next-closest competitor by 40 points with a score of 292.90 and bettered the runner-up in the three-meter by 59 points with a mark of 336.50.
The Rochester, New York, native then became the first Monarch diver to reach the NCAA Championships after placing third in the three-meter and sixth in the one-meter at the NCAA Zone Qualifiers. She was also the only C-USA diver to reach the NCAA Championships. Eckert owns the Old Dominion records in both dives and was named C-USA Diver of the Week four times this season.
Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Silvia Scalia, FIU, Fr., Lecco, Italy - Backstroke/IM
Scalia capped off her debut season with impressive showings at the NCAA Championships. She swam a school-record 52.46 seconds, breaking her previous program-best, in the 100-backstroke as she fell just four spots back of qualifying for the final. Scalia's previous record in the event was 52.58 seconds, which she set by winning the gold at the C-USA Championships. The backstroke specialist earned a mark of 1:53.54 in the 200-backstroke at the NCAA Championships, besting her previous school record of 1:53.80 set at the conference championship. The Italian was just .09 seconds shy of qualifying for the finals.
Along with her golds in the 100- and 200-backstroke, Scalia was a part of the winning FIU 400-freestyle relay team. She racked up 21 first-place finishes this season and became the only swimmer in C-USA history to reach five C-USA Swimmer of the Week medals in one season.
Freshman Diver of the Year: Rebecca Quesnel, FIU, Fr., Burlington, Ontario
Quesnel received six Diver of the week medals in her opening season, one of only four divers in C-USA history to achieve the feat. Although she missed the C-USA Championships due to an injury she suffered at the Canadian Junior Nationals, Quesnel still ranks in the top-3 in the one- and three-meter dives this season.
The Canadian holds the second-highest score in the three-meter with a 312.08 and places third in the one-meter with a 295.57. Overall, the debutant captured five first-place triumphs during her rookie campaign and registered 13 total top-3 finishes.
