FIU claimed the 2015 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship, earning the school's first C-USA championship of any sport since joining the league. The Panthers won eight of the meet's events to earn 765 points. Two-time defending champion Rice came in second with 661.5 points, while WKU took third place with a score of 645.
Final C-USA Championships Results Get Acrobat Reader
Senior Johanna Gustafsdottir of FIU was tabbed C-USA Swimmer of the Meet after notching three individual triumphs, including two C-USA Championship record-breaking times, and holding a place on a winning relay team. Gustafsdottir set record times in her victories in the 200-yard individual medley, breaking the mark she set a year ago, and the 400-IM. The veteran capped off a fabulous championship by taking the gold in the 200-breastroke Saturday night with an NCAA B cut time of 2:12.35 and being on the Panthers 400-freestyle relay team that won the final event.
Old Dominion senior Rachel Eckert was selected C-USA Diver of the Meet after a pair of top finishes. Eckert dominated the competition in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, winning by 39.80 points and 59.25 points, respectively. She also placed in platform diving, receiving the bronze with a score of 192.90
FIU's Randy Horner was selected C-USA Swimming Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. C-USA Diving Coach of the Year honors went to Noah Scully of Old Dominion.
2015 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championship Team Scores
1. FIU - 765 points
2. Rice - 661.5 points
3. WKU - 645 points
4. Marshall - 484 points
5. North Texas - 357 points
6. Florida Atlantic - 323.5 points
7. Old Dominion - 294 points
2015 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Specialty Award Winners
Women's Swimmer of the Meet: Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU
Women's Diver of the Meet: Rachel Eckert, Old Dominion
Women's Swimming Coach of the Year: Randy Horner, FIU
Women's Diving Coach of the Year: Noah Scully, Old Dominion
2015 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Event Champions
200-yard medley relay - Rice (Alicia Caldwell, Rachel Moody, Casey Clark, Marissa Konicke), 1:38:11
800-yard freestyle relay - WKU (Susan Marquess, Michelle Craddock, Sydney King, Allie Duff), 7:12.21 (NCAA B)
500-yard freestyle - Susan Marquess, WKU, 4:44.05 (NCAA B)
200-yard IM - Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU, 1:57.33 (NCAA B), meet record
50-yard freestyle - Letizia Bertelli, FIU, 22.90 (NCAA B)
3-meter diving - Rachel Eckert, Old Dominion, 336.50
200-yard freestyle relay - WKU (Logan Graumann, Michelle Craddock, Susan Marquess, Hannah Musser), 1:30.69
400-yard IM - Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU, 4:11.83 (NCAA B), meet record
100-yard butterfly - Casey Clark, Rice, 51.98 (NCAA B) , meet record
1-meter diving - Rachel Eckert, Old Dominion, 292.90
200-yard freestyle - Agi Bucz, Florida Atlantic, 1:45.58 (NCAA B)
100-yard breaststroke - Claire Conlon, WKU, 1:00.77 (NCAA B)
100-yard backstroke - Silvia Scalia, FIU, 52.58 (NCAA B)
400-yard medley relay - WKU (Nadine Laemmler, Claire Conlon, Hannah Musser, Michelle Craddock), 3:37.18
1650-yard freestyle - Erin Flanigan, Rice, 16:27.98
Platform diving - Lily Kaufmann, FIU, 227.10
200-yard backstroke - Silvia Scalia, FIU, 1:53.80 (NCAA B)
100-yard freestyle - Agi Bucz, Rice, 49.01 (NCAA B)
200-yard breaststroke - Johanna Gustafsdottir, FIU, 2:12.35 (NCAA B)
200-yard butterfly - Susan Marquess 1:56.91 (NCAA B)
400-yard freestyle relay - FIU (Silvia Scalia, Paulina Zelazna, Jenny Deist, Johanna Gustafsdottir), 3:18.85
WKU repeats as the Men's Invitational champion with 909.5 points. Old Dominion was a close second with 894 points, and Florida Atlantic came in third (663.5).
Hilltopper standout sophomore Fabian Schwingenschloegl earned Swimmer of the Meet honors for the second-consecutive year after nabbing three individual titles. Schwingenschloegl collected his first victory in the 200-IM, setting a new career record with a time of 1:45.41. The German then grabbed the gold in the 100-breaststroke and the 200-breaststroke to close out his championships.
Sophomore Zach Batus of WKU was chosen as the Men's Invitational Diver of the Meet after collecting two first-place finishes as well as a silver medal. Cox won the three-meter event with 313.90 points and topped the field in the platform dive with a score of 296.90. He finished second in the one-meter dive (242.15).
Old Dominion's Carol Withus Swimming Coach of the Year honors, while WKU's Chelsea Ale garnered Diving Coach of the Year accolades.
Men's Invitational Team Scores
1. WKU - 909.5 points
2. Old Dominion - 894 points
3. Florida Atlantic - 663.5 points
Men's Swimmer of the Meet: Fabian Schwingenschloegl, WKU
Men's Diver of the Meet: Zach Batus, WKU
Men's Swimming Coach of the Year: Carol Withus, Old Dominion
Men's Diving Coach of the Year: Chelsea Ale, WKU
Florida International
For the first time in school history, FIU athletics has won a Conference USA title in a sport as the women’s swimming and diving team was crowned league champs on Saturday night. The conference title gives the Panther swimming and diving program its first ever, as the program started in 2003. FIU finished with 765 points, 2014 champion Rice came in second with 661.5 points while Western Kentucky placed third with 645 points.
The Panthers won four titles on the day, as senior Johanna Gustafsdottir won the 200 breaststroke, freshman Silvia Scalia won the 200 backstroke, sophomore Lily Kaufmann took home the platform diving and FIU’s 400 freestyle relay team closed the meet victorious. Gustafsdottir, who won four total (three individual, one relay) first place medals this week was named the 2014-15 C-USA Swimmer of the Year. Head coach Randy Horner won the league’s Coach of the Year award was well.
For the week, FIU won eight titles, with seven of them coming in individual events. Gustafsdottir led the way with three, Scalia had two, while Kaufmann and freshman Letizia Bertelli each had one. For the four-day event, the Panthers broke a total of 11school records, with seven coming in individual events while four of them came in relays. Gustafsdottir set three FIU records, junior Valerie Inghels broke two records while Bertelli, Scalia and sophomore Jessica Chadwick each broke one.
On Saturday in the 200 backstroke, Scalia, who improved her personal-best time in prelims, came back in the finals and trimmed nearly two seconds off that to earn the first place finish and the school record. Junior Karin Tomeckova was strong in the finals, clocking in at 1:56 flat to finish second and place her third in program history.
Kaufmann stepped up big for FIU this week, as the Panthers missed their top diver in freshman Rebecca Quesnel due to injury. Kaufmann posted a 240.00 mark in the preliminaries, which was a career-best for her and the second highest in program history. Kaufmann picked up the 20 finals points while freshman Natalia Coronado chipped in with 13 points for her finish.
Gustafsdottir continued her dominance for the week, as she smashed her old school record in the 200 breaststroke finals by posting a time of 2:12.35 to earn the full 20 points for FIU. Senior Jean Madison also qualified for the A finals and earned 11 points for FIU in the event. Sophomore Jessica Chadwick picked up nine points for the Panthers while freshman Chase Harris earned six points by posting a career-high 2:18.94.
FIU closed out the meet in style, as Scalia, freshman Paulina Zelazna, sophomore Jennifer Deist and Gustafsdottir posted the school record time of 3:18.85 in the 400 freestyle relay to earn the victory. Gustafsdottir finished her fantastic career with a final leg of 48.48 seconds to push the Panthers into first.
In the 200 butterfly, Inghels posted a preliminaries time of 1:58.24, which bests her previous school record at FIU. Inghels went on to be FIU’s top finisher in the finals, earning a third place finish to pick up 16 points. Sophomore Jennifer Alfani cracked the FIU top 10 as she earned a time of 2:04.93 to earn six points for the Panthers. Fant also picked up five points for FIU in the finals.
In the 1650 finals, freshman Kyna Pereira posted a mark of 16:47.84, making that the second fastest time in school history. Senior Courtney VanderSchaaf came up big as well, as she earned 12 points for the Panthers by posting a career-high time of 16:55.60 to put her third in the FIU record books. Also posting a personal record was freshman Skye Carey, who touched the wall in 17:19.07, placing her seventh in school history.
For the 100 freestyle preliminaries, freshman Paulina Zelazna posted a then career-best time of 50.37 seconds to move her all the way up to second place in the FIU record books. Deist also posted a personal record in the 100 freestyle prelims as well, finishing in 50.54 seconds which stands in fourth in school history. Bertelli’s prelim time was her best as well, swimming it in 50.64 seconds which stands fifth in the FIU annals. In the finals, Zelazna built on her No. 2 time in the record books, trimming it down to 50.31 which now sits .30 behind Gustafsdottir. Zelazna picked up 14 points for the Panthers in the event, while Deist and Bertelli picked up 12 and 11 respectively.
Western Kentucky
For the second-straight year, the WKU men’s swimming and diving team will bring a championship trophy back to Bowling Green after claiming the Conference USA Men’s Invitational title on Saturday while the Lady Toppers finished the week in third.
The Hilltoppers totaled 909.5 points on their way to their fourth league title under head coach Bruce Marchionda. Old Dominion finished second with 894 points while Florida Atlantic posted 663.5 in the four-day event.
For the women, WKU finished the week with 645 points, trailing this year’s champion FIU’s 765 points and Rice’s 661.5 points.
WKU had five of its 16 first-place finishes in the championship finale, including diver Zach Batus setting a school record in his win on the platform with 286.20 points. Another school record came in the women’s 400 medley relay of Michelle Craddock, Susan Marquess, Hannah Musser and Sydney King setting a school-record time of 3:20.47 to take third.
Daniel McGee notched a win in the 1650 free with a time of 15:30.40 followed by Aymeric Le Corno in third (15:43.65) and Loui Little in fourth (15:45.79). Other podium trips by the Hilltoppers included John Myhre in first of the 200 back at 1:46.15 while Chris Goodman finished third in 1:47.86. In the 200 breast, Fabian Schwingenschlogl took first in 1:55.26 with Tj Bland right behind in 1:56.24. Jesse Musser finished second in the 200 fly at 1:47.04 while he along with Schwingenschlogl, Cody Reul and Lucas De Brito took third in the 400 free relay.
Marquess again notched a win at the championships, taking the title in the 200 fly at 1:56.91. In the 200 breast, Claire Conlon finished second in 2:12.96 while Mollie McNeel in the 1650 free (16:43.25), Nadine Laemmler in the 200 back (1:57.20) and Craddock in the 100 free (49.99) all took third in their respective events.
