Courtesy: FGCU Athletics
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swimming & diving team (0-1, 0-0 CCSA) is set to head up to Jacksonville this weekend for a dual against CCSA foe UNF (0-0, 0-0 CCSA) on Saturday, Jan. 16. The meet is scheduled for a 1 p.m. at start at the Bolles School and will be streamed on UNF’s website.
The competition against the Ospreys will be the Eagles’ second this week, as they hosted Miami in a midweek matchup on Wednesday night at the FGCU Aquatics Center. A delay in return of asymptomatic surveillance tests, which are part of the COVID protocol for competition, left FGCU short-handed for the meet against the Hurricanes. Miami ultimately earned a 171-129 victory, though the overall history between the teams still favors FGCU, 8-5.
Senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) led the Eagles during the competition with three first-place finishes, taking home the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events, as well as the 200 IM. Junior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie) accounted for the team’s other individual victory, as she won the 50 Free for the second time this season. Both Halmai and Czarnecka have already swam NCAA ‘B’ cut times this season in the 100 Breast and 50 Free, respectively.
On the boards, sophomore Reese Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario/Bishop Macdonelle CHS) has picked up where she left off after a 2019-20 rookie season that saw her earn CCSA Diver of the Year accolades. She placed second in Wednesday’s 3m event, with a team-best 276.53. On the 1m board, sophomore Isabeau Keene (Demorest, Ga./Tallulah Falls School) led the Eagles with a third-place finish (259.35).
This will be the first meet of the year for the Ospreys, who are scheduled to make a return trip to Fort Myers Jan. 29-30. Last season, UNF racked up 698 team points at the CCSA Championship en route to earning fifth overall in the team standings, its best finish since 2012. The 698 points were scored without diving, as the team does not sponsor the event.
Seventh-year head coach Ian Coffey added six newcomers to the Ospreys’ 2020-21 roster to balance out a group of 17 upperclassmen. This year’s squad has a four-member senior class that will look to build upon last year’s performance at the conference championship.
Saturday’s meet will be the 14th in the history between the two teams. FGCU’s 13-0 edge in that series includes a 5-0 mark on the road in Jacksonville.
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