MIAMI (Oct. 3, 2014) – The FIU swimming and diving team, led by fifth year Head Coach
Randy Horner, opens the 2014 season at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center on Saturday at noon hosting Florida Atlantic. This will be the first of many home meets season, as the Panthers will be swimming in their home pool eight times this season. Admission to all swimming and diving meets at FIU is free.
During the 2013-14 campaign, FIU as a team capped off a fantastic and historical season by earning its first team finish ever at the NCAA Championships. FIU earned points at last year's championships to earn a 47th place finish, marking the best finish an FIU swimming and diving team has ever had. Led by
Sonia Perez,
Sabrina Beaupre and
Johanna Gustafsdottir, the Panthers also earned a second place finish at their first ever Conference USA Championships. With the departure of arguably one of the best swimmers in Perez and best divers in Beaupre that the school has ever had, Horner is confident with a strong recruiting class and plenty of key returners that the Panthers are destined to compete for a C-USA title in 2014-15.
"Last year was a good finish as a team for the first time since I've been here," said Horner. It definitely set the ground work for where we are at for this season. Our returning members are key to us doing what we have our goals set to do, which is winning a championship this year in C-USA. Our recruiting class is the best I've had in my career as a coach with 17 newcomers coming in to join our team. They are not just good by the number, but the quality is strong. We have additions in every area that are going to increase our strengths and make us better as a team."
During the offseason, Horner welcomed the 17 fresh faces to the FIU swimming and diving program. On the diving side of things, FIU has sophomore
Lily Kaufman, who had a strong freshman campaign, returning, but more depth was needed with the loss of Beaupre. In turn, the staff reeled in five divers to up the diving roster size to six bodies. As for swimmers, a total of 12 talented athletes will be making their FIU debut on Saturday. Of the 12, two are transfers, including junior
Valerie Inghels, a transfer from Auburn, and junior
Karin Tomeckova, a transfer from Oakland University in Michigan.
"We have high expectations but we also know with the freshmen class it will take time," said Horner. "Even though they are talented and their times plug into where we want them to be for our system, we understand that it's going to take a freshman some time to emerge. Two of our new additions, (Karin) Tomeckova and (Valerie) Inghels, being transfers and already swimming and the Division I level, I think they will make more of an immediate impact because of their experience level. A lot of the other freshmen are going to be trying to find their own. This Saturday is going to be a first step to see how they step up and handle the mental side of top collegiate talent."
FIU's schedule for the 2014-15 season will be a challenge. The Mizzou Invite in November has become a tradition for the Panthers, as FIU over the last few years has earned great results there. Each season as the Mizzou Invite, FIU goes up against some top teams across the country that it doesn't get to see any other time of year. The Panthers' schedule is shaped up so that the first semester is a challenge but not too much, according to Horner. The highest level of competition will be in the second semester, which will allow the FIU freshmen to get adjusted to Division I swimming and diving. Highlighting that second semester will be a tri-meet with CCSU, TCU and FAU and a meet over at the University of Miami at the end of January, the first meet between the crosstown rivals in four years.
Horner expects the conference to be very strong again in 2014-15, but expects to compete with the very best. Last year, Rice claimed the 2014 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship, repeating as league-winner with 1,000 points and earning the school's third title in four years. FIU came in second with 740 points, while Western Kentucky, who finished with 686 points was right behind the Panthers. Horner expects these three teams to be in the thick of things again this year.
"We know Rice is very good and they will continue to be very good. They are the champions and will be until someone challenges them and knocks them off. They deserve all the respect until we do something about it. Western Kentucky was head-to-head with us last year, they've always been really good and have a great tradition. I expect one of us three to step up this year. North Texas had a new coach last year and I would expect them to be much better this year as well. You never know until you see who has who and the meet results pop up."
Horner's goal for this year's squad is simple, to win a C-USA title.
"Our expectation is to win. We are not really focused on that on a daily basis. We are more focused on the principles of our team, what we want to establish, how we are going to work together, how to do all the little things in practice and support each other. With that, the results and the winning will come. Last year I feel we did more emphasizing on winning and didn't really pay enough attention to those things that were necessary for that to happen."
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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/.
