FGCU Sweeps Georgia Southern, Liberty, North Dakota

FORT MYERS, Florida, January 6. THE FGCU Swimming and Diving team claimed victories over Georgia Southern, Liberty and North Dakota in a quad meet at the FGCU Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon. The Green and Blue had 10 first-place victories, including two new pool records in the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay.

“The girls raced tough today after a lot of work between semesters, so I am happy with their performance level,” said three-time CCSA Coach of the Year Neal Studd. “It was good to see some fast conference opponents today. We are looking to finish the season strong.”

The Eagles built momentum in the first event, setting a new pool record and winning the 200-yard medley relay. The team of sophomore Emma Svensson (Upsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan), and seniors Danielle Beaubrun (Vieux Fort, St. Lucia/Bolles School), Shannon Blizzard (Jacksonville, Fla./Stanton College Prep), Megan Wolfe (Sebring, Fla./Sebring HS/Daytona State College) finished with a time of 1:43.77.

The Green and Blue continued the trend when they took first and second place in the 1000-yard freestyle. Junior Lindsey Meeder (Boynton Beach, Fla./Park Vista) took first with a time of 10:28.63, while classmate Jessie Porter (Chorleywood, Hertforshire, United Kingdom/Royal Masonic) placed second with a time of 10:34.87. Meeder also won the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 5:07.33

In the 200-yard freestyle, FGCU took first, second and third place. Senior Eva Lehtonen (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS/Florida) finished first with a time of 1:54.68, followed by freshman Samantha Rahael (Trinidad & Tobago/The Bolles School) (1:57.55) and sophomore Cassie Niles (Helotes, Texas/Sandra Day O'Connor) (1:57.60) in second and third place, respectively.

Lehtonen came back and won both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events with times of 56.81 and 2:08.08, respectively. Svensson also competed in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events and won both with times of 23:39 and 51.19, respectively.

Freshman Jennifer Morgan (Edmonton, Alberta/Harry Ainlay) picked up a victory in the 200-yard backstroke event with a time of 2:04.57. Classmate Julie Leth-Espensen (Vanloese, Copenhagen, Denmark/Falkonergaardens Gymnasium) finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:22.65. Beaubrun also competed in the 200-yard breaststroke and took second with a time of 2:22.93.

Leth-Espensen followed up her first-place finish with a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:09.07.

In the final event of the day, the team of Svennson, seniors Megan Wolfe (Sebring, Fla./Sebring HS/Daytona State College) and Lehtonen and freshman Jennifer Morgan (Edmonton, Alberta/Harry Ainlay) set a pool record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.85.

In diving, senior Maegan Butler (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee/FAU) collected first-place finishes on the one-meter and three-meter board events with scores of 252.05 and 257.10.

The Eagles will be back in action at the FGCU Aquatics Center on Monday, when they take on CCSA opponent, Radford. The dual meet is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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