Whether it was in the prelims or in the finals, each member of the FGCU swimming and diving team captured a season-best mark on day one of the Georgia Tech Invite held at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
"Fantastic first day!" stated head coach Dave Rollins. "Team energy is incredible, we are the smallest team here but we are definitely not the quietest. Everyone swam a season-best time today which is what we are looking for. We use this meet to gauge where we are in our training and what adjustments we need to make. For some of the ladies to swim lifetime best times is incredible! Our relays are faster than they were a year ago and that's a great sign heading into the next semester. Tomorrow is a great day for us, looking forward to getting back at it!"
The Eagles currently sit in 9th place out of 10 squads as they are 31 points ahead of ECU (62) and only trail Georgia Tech by 32 points for 8th.
FGCU kicked off the meet in the 200 free relay setting a season-best time of 1:31.12 to finish 6th. The team of senior Gracie Redding, sophomore Rebecca Moynihan, freshman Wiktoria Czarnecka and senior Hannah Burdge shaved off more than three seconds for the new personal mark as Redding led off with an NCAA 'B" time of 22.69.
In the 200 IM, senior Christina Kaas Elmgreen placed third (2:02.44) in the C Final to lead into the 50 free where Redding swam to an NCAA 'B' time (22.53) in the B final to give FGCU 12 points. Meanwhile, Moynihan's time of 23.17 (22.99 in the prelims) gave FGCU an extra four points.
On the 3M board, sophomore Melissa Novak continued to bump the Eagles point total as she placed 17th (258.60).
The Eagles ended day one on a strong note as the quartet of senior Doris Eichhorn, sophomre Petra Halmai, junior Cassidy Fry and Redding etched a time of 3:40.70 in the 400 medley relay – a new season-best by 10 seconds.
On a notable note, freshman Kellie Fischer recorded a lifetime best on the B relay team as she led off in the 100 back (55.76) as she joined Redding (50 free), Czarnecka (50 free) and junior Karin Schienvar (200 IM, 2:08.06) as those who produced lifetime best times Thursday.
Team Standings
1. #10 Florida- 360
2. #12 Auburn- 281.5
3. South Carolina- 181.5
4. Alabama- 181
4. #22 FSU- 181
6. Virginia Tech- 161
7. #19 UNC- 160
8. Georgia Tech- 125
9. FGCU- 93
10. ECU- 62
Quotes from other coaches:
Auburn: "It was a good, solid day for us," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "The (women's 200 free) relay team getting a big win to start the night off was awesome. Claire (Fisch) leads off with one of the fastest performances in Auburn history and then later on wins the 50 free in almost the same time. She had an awesome day."
"Alison (Maillard) did a decent first list," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said, "but then she was 30-points under (her first list) in finals. We try to dive consistent in prelims, get ourselves in position in finals to step up and we didn't do that today."
"Overall it was a little disappointing day for us," Shaffer said. "I thought coming in that we were starting to make some progress and improving upon our scoring potential. Whether it was a lack of focus or just a lack of competitiveness I thought we were a little off our game."
South Carolina: "It was a very solid first day for our men and women," said South Carolina head coach Mcgee Moody. "We had some breakout swims this afternoon and we believe that our team will get stronger as the meet goes on. Fyyn Minuth, Anton Down-Jenkins, Emma Barksdale and Christina Lappin led the way for our team today and I look forward to who will be next to step up as the weekend unfolds."
FSU: “I thought we swam great today,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said, “We had a lot of fun and produced some fantastic swims. Obviously, we’re excited for our automatic cut in the men’s free relay, but we have a lot to be happy about across the team both in the pool and on the boards.”
“I thought we had a decent day today,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “We did some great things and I really like where we are in the season. The kids are fighting and working hard to get better and I like where we are after today.”
Georgia Tech: “I’m extremely proud of the way our team came out today and competed,” Georgia Tech head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “We brought a ton of energy all day long, supporting each other through every event, and it showed in our final relay when Rod, Caio, Christian and Darren broke the school record and won the 400 medley and with Rod breaking the 100 back record to start the relay. I’m also really proud of Cami for winning the 3-meter. She’s worked so hard to come back from her injury and I’m so happy to see her back in first.”
Friday, Nov. 16 – Prelims ESPN | Finals ESPN | Live Results
(In order of event, prelims start each day at 10 a.m. ET, finals begin at 5:30 p.m. ET)
200 medley relay
400 IM
100 fly
200 free
100 breast
100 back
Women's diving
800 free relay
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