Will Duval | Sports Director
The FIU swimming and diving team is opening up their season in a dual-meet against the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday, Sep. 27, 2023 in Miami, Florida.
Coming off a very successful season, the Panthers reached the American Athletic Conference championship last year.
Competing for a championship, both senior Christie Chue and graduate student Maha Gouda showed their prowess and took home all-american honorable mention honors to end their 2022 campaign.
With Gouda now graduated and ten incoming young players entering the mix, FIU is primed to continue their dominance from last season.
Despite having key swimmers graduate or leave, the Panthers were picked as the preseason favorite for the AAC championship by a poll of the conference’s head coaches.
Earning 35 total points in the poll, they received five first-place votes after placing second in the AAC tournament last year.
Building upon her 2023 AAC Freshman of the Year campaign, sophomore Nicole Frank is set to be a focal point for the team this year.
After taking home first place in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys, Frank is one of 20 returning letter winners for FIU this year.
Following a strong freshman campaign, sophomore Ana Luiza Daisson had the opportunity to help lead Brazil a seventh placing in the 4×100 freestyle.
Last season, she had a breakout performance against FAU where she took first place in the 200-free and also helped the relay team claim first in the same category.
Breaking out last season, Chue is another swimmer who looks to continue to build upon her body of work from last season.
Setting a new school record in the 100-meter breastroke, she clocked a 59.10 second race and placed sixteenth in the NCAA tournament.
Having multiple standout performances, Chue totaled 348 points at the AAC Championships after collecting six first place victories in February of 2023.
Looking to lead this new group of Panthers, seven of the ten new players are freshman and are largely inexperienced at the collegiate level.
Due to FIU’s level of dominance last season and the talent of their new-look roster, their inexperience was outweighed by their talent, as shown by the results of the preseason poll.
Making a splash into the new season, the FIU swimming and diving team is opening up their season against the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday, Sep. 27, 2023 in Miami, Florida.
The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
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