FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swimming and diving team (5-4 overall, 2-1 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association) saved its best for the final home meet of the 2022-23 season Saturday, completing a two-day victory over North Florida, 198-116, at the Lee County/FGCU Aquatics Center.
 
The Green & Blue snapped a three-meet losing streak while celebrating its 12 seniors Saturday, and ran its all-time record against the Ospreys to 17-0 dating to 2009-10. North Florida fell to 2-10 after losing its 10^th straight meet.
 
"It was an amazing weekend to celebrate our seniors," said FGCU head swimming and diving coach Dave Rollins. "Seeing them grow, compete and form lifelong friendships has been a true honor.
 
"In the pool, we saw numerous season-best times, a handful of lifetime-best times and some huge improvements from the past couple meets. We have a lot to be excited for headed into the CCSA Championships. This year will be wildly different with the numerous new schools who joined the conference, but I know we are up for the challenge!"
 
FGCU had secured a commanding 128-39 lead after Friday's portion of the meet, and continued those winning ways Saturday. The Eagles won the 400 medley relay gold to get things going, touching first in 3:45.58 and sweeping the top three places in the event.
 
The Eagles won three more golds Saturday. Junior Isabella Zekuciova (Drmoul, Czech Republic/North Texas) won the 200 back ahead of three FGCU teammates in 2:03.54. Junior Emma Bjoernholt (Bagsvaerd, Denmark/Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium/St. Leo) won the 200 breast in 2:18.74. Senior Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Sales Academy/UMBC) touched first in the 100 butterfly in 59.20.
 
FGCU divers finish the 2022-23 regular season Feb. 4 at the South Florida Diving Invite in Coral Springs, Fla. The team returns to action Feb. 15-18 in the CCSA Championships at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
 
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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 40-30-1 (.563) dual-meet record, which includes a 17-3 (.850) 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 93 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 & 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 six 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.
 
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