FIU Swimming and Diving Captures Eighth Straight Conference Crown

The FIU Swimming & Diving Team celebrates their historic achievement. Photo by FIU Athletics

Carlton Gillespie / Contributing Writer

For the eighth consecutive year, the FIU Women’s Swimming and Diving team are Conference USA Champions. The Panthers 131.5 points outpaced the second-place Rice Owls by 133 points in the C-USA Championship meet held from Feb. 23-26 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

FIU’s eighth consecutive conference championship is the most in school history, and is also the most consecutive C-USA titles for any sport. The last time the Panther’s weren’t a conference champion was in 2013. 

The winning streak was not the only record broken over the four-day meet, as the Panthers broke two program records and a C-USA meet record on their way to racking up 33 total medals including 13 gold, nine silver, and 11 bronze.

Rounding out the individual accolades, Freshman Christie Chue was named C-USA Swimmer of the Meet, while Senior Maha Gouda was awarded Diver of the Meet for the third time in four seasons.

In addition to the team and Individual awards, the coaching staff was also recognized for their achievements as Head Coach Randy Horner was named Swimming Coach of the Year for the seventh time in eight seasons and Coach Nick Yang claimed his third consecutive award for Diving Coach of the Year. Horner, however, was quick to share the credit.

“I’m honored… but that’s really a staff award and something that we earned because of the ladies performing at the level that they did and making us look good. So that’s a program award and a full staff award, not an individual award.”

On the back of this historic achievement, FIU will look to translate its success in C-USA to the national level as they compete in the upcoming NCAA Championship meets in Atlanta, Georgia. NCAA Dive Zones will take place March 3-5 and NCAA Championships will take place March 16-19.

About the Author

Richard Gibson
Former Sports Director of PantherNOW

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