ATLANTA (Feb. 22, 2017) – Setting school records in both the 200 Medley and 800 Free Relays, the FIU swimming and diving team completed the first day of the 2017 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships with a 12-point lead, sitting atop the leader board from the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Wednesday.
FIU started by winning the 200 Medley Relay to earn 40 points. The team of
Naomi Ruele,
Carita Luukkanen,
Letizia Bertelli and
Jennifer Deist took first place with a school-record time of 1:38.18. The mark broke the previous school record set by Silvia Scalia, Klara Andersson, Bertelli and Deist during the 2015 C-USA Championships (1:39.28 – Feb. 18, 2015).
In the 800 Free Relay, The team of
Skye Carey,
Megan Bowen,
Berta Triola and
Kyna Pereira took first with a time of 7:09.02; nearly five seconds faster than second-place Rice (7:14.86). The Panthers' time set a new school mark in the event, smashing the previous record of 7:12.70 set by Johanna Gustafsdottir, Sonia Perez, Danielle Albright and Marina Ribi at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships (Feb. 27, 2013).
With the team's second win of the day, FIU enters day two of this year's championships leading Rice 80-68.
Following the championship competition, the team of Bertelli,
Marie Lauridsen, Ruele and Deist took part in a 400 Free Relay time trial and set a new school record in the event, while qualifying for the NCAA Championships with an A cut of 3:15.23. This marks the first relay team in FIU history to qualify for the NCAA Championships (March 15-18). Bertelli registered a time of 48.32 in the lead leg, setting the school record in the 100 Free, while notching an NCAA B standard qualifying mark.
FIU returns to the pool during day two action on Thursday, Feb. 23. The prelims of the 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free and 3-meter dive will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSwimmingAndDiving) for all the latest Swimming and Diving news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
