The FGCU women's swimming and diving team (10-2, 3-0 CCSA) won five of nine events on the second day of competition Saturday morning against in-state rival Florida State to win the two-day meet by a score of 186-148, and earn programs first ever win over FSU.
The Green and Blues' charge was led by a strong performance in the 1000 yard freestyle by Lani Cabrera (Barbados/St. Ursala's Secondary School) who paced the pool with a time of 10:16.17 which beat out the second place finisher, Kendall McIntosh from FSU who finished the event in a time of 10:17.55.
"Obviously a special day for a program and a special day even more so for the seniors," said head coach Neal Studd. "The seniors may have wanted to have a team they could have rolled over, but instead they got FSU which turned out to be great since we gained our first ever win against them. This was a weekend where we take a lot of positives with their, attitude, professionalism and like you said their racing was excellent. They stayed calm and had some came back wins like Emma who came back on a couple of events because she wanted it more. This was very important heading into the CCSA Championship and the NCAA's."
Senior Nina Schiffer (Dortmund, Germany/SG Dortmund) gained the first victory on the day for the Eagles' when she won the 400 yard IM in a time of 4:30.68. Emma Svensson (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) narrowly lost in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 50.40, the winner Kaitlyn Dressel from FSU finished in 49.52.
The Green and Blue closed out the meet with four straight victories. Kira Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands/Keizer Karel College) started the streak off with a win in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 55.27. Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) followed with a strong win in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.23. Cabrera's win in the 1000 yard freestyle was the third win during the stretch of four straight for the Eagles.
The final win of the day came in the 200 yard freestyle relay when the team of Svennsson, Toussaint, Kristen Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Stephen's College) and Becky Derogatis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Indian River/Cardinal Gibbons HS) came from behind and finished in a time of 1:33.16.
Senior Cayla Collins (Largo, Fla./Osceola High School) led the way on the 1-meter dive board with a third place finish and a score of 278.62.
UP NEXT
FGCU will travel to Athens, Ga. to compete in the CCSA Championship. The Championship is a four day event that begins Feb. 18 and ends on Feb. 21.
The 22nd-ranked Florida State women’s swimming and diving team (1-5) fell in its season finale to Florida Gulf Coast (9-2), 186-148 as the two-day meet came to a close on Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla.
“We fell on the wrong side of a lot of close races,” FSU head coach Frank Bradley said. “Our top swimmers were solid, but it’s that depth that needs to start stepping up. Our elite athletes are setting up well to have a great NCAA meet, but if we want to do well at ACC’s that depth needs to start getting better and making their spots.”
The Seminoles won seven events on the weekend with Chelsea Britt and Kaitlyn Dressel setting new Lee Country/FGCU Aquatics Center pool records on Saturday. Dressel won the 100 free with a time of 49.52 while Britt took the 100 fly at 54.70.
“Kaityln and Chelsea were there like always,” Bradley said. “Despite how they felt they still stepped up and swam well.”
On Friday, the Seminoles fell behind 98-69 after Britt, Josie Cuda and Blaire Mulka contributed individual wins.
Cuda posted a two-second win in the 200 free with a time of 1:51.50 before losing a tight race in the 500 free (4:58.78) placing second by four-one hundredths, while Britt won the 200 fly at 2:02.00.
Mulka grabbed her first collegiate victory with a score of 309.97 on 3-meter.
The Seminoles started Saturday’s session off with a win in the 400 medley relay with the team of Bianca Spinazzola, Natalie Pierce, Britt and Dressel touching in pool record timing of 3:41.41.
After the Eagles swept the 400 IM, the Seminoles answered with a sweep in the 100 fly as Colby Harvey grabbed second behind Britt with a time of 56.72 and Lydia Ware held on for third with a 58.25.
“I thought Colby stepped up in her races,” Bradley said. “She’s started to emerge as that secondary flyer behind Chelsea and I’m anxious to see how she competes this next month.”
Following Dressel’s win in the 100 free, FGCU took the next three events by a combined time that was just under two-seconds at 1.97. Spinazzola grabbed second in the 100 back (55.40), Pierce was the runner-up in the 100 breast (1:03.59) and Kendall McIntosh took second in the 1000 free (10:17.55).
“Those were three tight races,” Bradley said. “Those are swims we can’t afford to lose at ACC’s but I thought Kendall had nice swim.”
Mulka added her second victory on the weekend taking 1-meter with a score of 286.50 while Caroline Gerhardt was second with a total of 282.00.
The Eagles held on and won the 200 free relay (1:33.16), out-touching the team of Dressel, Alexi Smith, Spinazzola and Haley Powell (1:33.28).
“Dual meets are over and it’s officially championship season,” Bradley said. “We have a lot of work to do but we’ll see what kind of team we have here soon.”
The Seminoles will next compete at the 2015 ACC Championship in Atlanta, Ga. The women and both diving teams will compete through Feb. 18-21 while the men’s swimming portion will take place on Feb. 25-28.
