Florida State Swims To Vicories Over Miami and Florida A&M

TALLAHASSEE, Fla, October 10. THE Florida State women’s swimming and diving team produced a 141-94 victory over the Hurricanes while also beating Florida A&M 157-67. On the men’s side, the Seminoles picked up a 143-82 triumph against the Florida A&M Rattlers.

Florida State was in control of both meets from the outset and didn’t let up as the hosts won 24 of the 26 events in both meets. The Seminoles had five athletes win two events, including a pair of freshmen in their first collegiate meet.

“We were excited to get our season started and the chance to compete against other teams,” FSU head man Neil Harper said. “It’s a big weekend for Florida State and we feel like we’ve kicked it off to a good start. After two intrasquad meets and this one, I’ve very happy about where the team is. They’re executing the things we go over in practice and I would say that compared to last year, we are ahead of schedule.”

While it was only the first meet of their Seminole careers, rookies Tom Bishop (Houston, Texas/Cy-Creek) and Brittany Lerew (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland) made a big splash in their debut. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Bishop missed breaking the school record by 0.13 as he swam to a first-place time of 9:15.56. He came back to post a winning 4:33.38 in the 500-yard free.

It was actually very little splash that got Lerew’s career started as the freshman diver won both boards in her FSU debut. She started out by posting a top score of 291.55 in the one-meter event, before taking the three-meter board with a mark of 279.20.

“It’s exciting to see two great performances like that out of freshmen who have only been with us for a month and a half,” Harper added. “To compete and achieve as well as they did in their first meet shows that they have a bright future. All of our freshmen did well this afternoon.”

Two seniors who have been down and back then lanes a few times were up to their old tricks again. Emma Dutton (Bradford, England/Betton Park) posted a pair of victories and broke into the top-ten of one event. After winning the 50-free (24.08) she came back to post a 1:03.04 — the fifth-fastest time in school history — in the 100 breaststroke.

Andree-Anne Leroy (Nanaimo, British Columbia / Nanaimo District Secondary) notched the eighth-fast time in Florida State lore with her winning mark of 2:05.40 in the 200 individual medley.”

“Those two are off to a good start. Their focus shows that they had a good spring and summer,” Harper noted. “Last year they were trying to figure out how good they really were, but now they know and the two have their sights set. They are ahead of the game.”

Junior Lisa How (Preston, England / Hutton Grammer) joined Lerew and Dutton as multiple winners during the women’s meet. She beat everyone to the wall in the 100 butterfly in a time of 56.54 before taking the 500-yard free with a winning mark of 5:00.08.

Joining Bishop as a double winner on the men’s side was Michael Paulus (Somerset West, South Africa/Paul Roos Gym). The senior grabbed his first blue ribbon with a time of 20.79 to win the 50 freestyle, before taking the 100-yard free in a time of 46.59.

Florida State is back in the water next Saturday (October 18) when it goes up against Florida A&M for the second time, while adding Florida International to the mix. The meet begins at 11 a.m. at the Bim Stults Aquatic Center.

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