FIU Swimming & Diving Win 7th Consecutive Conference USA Championship

FIU Swimming & Diving at Day Three of the tournament, after claiming first place. Photo by FIU Athletics

Daniela Manzo / Contributing Writer

The FIU Swimming and Diving team has done it again! 

They have earned their seventh straight Conference-USA championship this past weekend, besting opponents such as the Rice Owls, Marshall Thundering Herd, North Texas Mean Green, and Florida Atlantic Owls.

Day 1

On Day 1 of the tournament on Feb. 25th, FIU took second overall. They racked up 248 points falling behind the Rice Owls who scored 272. 

Still, the Panthers took three out of the six events that day. The 200-yard freestyle relay was the first event in which FIU swimmers Jasmine Nocentini, Elinah Philip, Kelsie Campbell and Julia Miranda took first place and claimed gold at the podium with a time of 1:30.56. 

For the Panthers, Stephanie Hussey claimed silver at the 500-yard freestyle. Philip, in an intense race with Marshall, fell just short of first place and claimed silver during the 50-yard freestyle, posting a time of 23.01. 

FIU’s diving team dominated taking both first and second place during the three meter diving event. Maha Gouda claimed gold with a score of 344 and Mandy Song claimed silver posting a score of 341. 

The last event of the night was the 400-yard medley relay where the Panthers’  Miranda, Campbell, Nocentini, and Sara Gyertyanffy took first place and claimed gold with a time of 3:37.51. 

Day 2

The Panthers dominated day two as they claimed gold in six out of the eight events. They held a narrow lead with a total score of 630.5, with Rice trailing behind with a total of 626.5. 

Michaela Trnkova, Gyertyanffy, Campbell and Phillip kicked off the 200-yard medley relay by winning gold with a time of 1:38.81. 

Hussey claimed victory beating out Rice during the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:19.32. 

During the 100-yard butterfly, Miranda had a close race against Rice but fell short as taking silver with a time of 54.54 and made the NCAA B Cut, which is an invitation to the NCAA championships in two weeks.

Nocentini broke her personal best time in the 200-yard freestyle which is also a new record in the Panther’s program history. It was also the best time in the event, and claimed gold with a time of 1:45.93.  She also made the NCAA B Cut. 

Delaine Goll and Gyertyanffy claimed first and second for the 100-yard breaststroke with a posted time of 1:01.77 and 1:02.63 and earned spots in the NCAA B Cut. 

In a close race during the 100-yard backstroke, Lamija Medosevic came in milliseconds behind Rice, and Miranda claimed silver and bronze with times of 54.62 and 54.67. Campbell came just a single millisecond behind and placed fourth with a time of 54.68 and broke her personal best record. 

The FIU Diving team continued to seize control of the podium as they claimed gold and silver during the 1-meter diving event. Gouda claimed gold with a score of 331.20 and Song closely followed taking silver with a score of 324.15. 

The final event of Day two was the 800-yard freestyle relay and the Panthers remained on top to claim the first place title. Hussey, Nocentini, Eriana Temperino and Medosevic took gold with posted times of 7:17.22. 

Day 3

On the final day of the C-USA Championship, the Panthers persevered as they took gold in four out of the seven events and claimed victory overall with a final score of 956.5, once again beating Rice. 

The first event of the night was the 1650-yard freestyle in which Sophie Hampson placed third for FIU In the 200-yard backstroke, Trnkova and Miranda claimed first and second with posted times of 1:56.9 and 1:57.29. Nocentini came out on top as she claimed gold in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.07. 

In a closely contested 200 yard breaststroke, Goll put up a fight for FIU against the Herd as she came just millisecond short of gold and claimed silver with a posted time of 2:13.27.

Throughout the night, FIU continued to fight for the top spots, with Emily Cordovi coming just milliseconds short of first as she fought Rice to the end and claimed silver with a posted time of 1:59.76. Hussey, just milliseconds behind, claimed bronze for the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:59.79. 

The Panthers diving team took control throughout the whole weekend as they continued to claim gold and silver, this time for their platform performance as Gouda posted a score of 322.80, along with a 261.90 score by Rachel Foord.

In the final event of the weekend, Nocentini, Miranda, Medosevic and Campbell fought to the very end in an intense race with Rice and came out on top to claim gold with a final time of 3:19.04. 

At the end of the tournament,  the Panthers final score was 956.5, taking first place overall and winning their seventh consecutive C-USA Championship. They currently hold the record in Conference USA for the most championships won by a single team, and the most consecutive seasons ended with a championship.

However, the Panthers aren’t done yet.

FIU Swimming & Diving will participate in the NCAA Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Diving team will compete from March 7th to the 9th, and Swimming will head out to Greensboro on March 17th to the 20th for their championship meet.

About the Author

Richard Gibson
Former Sports Director of PantherNOW

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