LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The FGCU swim team is heading back to Southwest Florida with three wins after sweeping the Bellarmine Duals. The Eagles took down the host Knights, 238-76, while also defeating another CCSA member Gardner-Webb, 204-109, and Southern Indiana, 265-49.

"Very happy to be returning home with a few wins under our belt," said head coach Dave Rollins. "It was great to be able to get on the road and compete. We got to see our newest Eagles competing for the first time and for them to get their first wins as Eagles is huge for our program as we move forward into the season. We did a great job with our race strategies this weekend and will continue to clean up the details. Excited for what's to come!"
 
The Saturday morning session got started the same way most of Friday went – with an Eagle victory. The 400 medley relay team of Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia), Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md.), Cameron Kuriger (Columbus, Ohio), and Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla.) touched first with a time of 3:55.10, the only team under four minutes.
 
Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky.) picked up her second individual win of the weekend in her hometown by winning the 200 back with a time of 2:05.61. With the win, she completed the backstroke sweep after touching first in the 100 back on Friday. Freshman Mia Burke (Owings Mills, Md.) also continued her solid first weekend by finishing second with a time of 2:07.04.
 
Gwinn kept the Eagles in the win column by taking home the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.58. Emma Bjoernholdt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark) finished third at 1:08.53.
 
After Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovakia) touched third in the 500 free, Burke collected FGCU's fourth win of the day by claiming the 100 free with a time of 53.74 while Dani D'Ambrosio (Hillsborough, N.J.) touched third at 53.96.
 
Kuriger followed by winning her fourth event of her debut weekend, taking home the 200 fly with a time of 2:09.34.
 
In the 400 IM, Bjornholdt and Niepelova finished second and third with times of 4:41.66 and 4:45.26, respectively.
 
The Eagles ended the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 free relay as Sulenta, Burke, Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland), and Jerew clocked in with a time of 1:38.82.
 
FGCU will be back in the pool in a couple of weeks when the Eagles travel to Columbia, South Carolina to compete in the Gamecock Invite (Nov. 16-18). That same week, the divers will make their season debut at the Tennessee Diving Invite (Nov. 17-19) in Knoxville.
 
Eagles in 2022-23 CCSA Top-10
200 Back
Emma Hixenbaugh – 2:05.61, 5^th
 
100 Breast
Jenna Gwinn – 1:06.58, 8^th
 
400 IM
Emma Bjornholdt – 4:41.66, 9^th
 
400 Medley Relay
3:55.10, 6^th
 
200 Free Relay
1:38.82, 7th

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HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 38-26-1 (.592) dual meet record, which includes a 16-2 (.889) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), marking the ninth championship in 10 years before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men's swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and was inducted into the University of Arizona's Hall of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.