MIAMI (Oct. 4, 2014) – The FIU swimming and diving team picked up a 205-95 victory to open the 2014 season over the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday. In the win, freshman
Silvia Scalia picked up three event wins while freshman
Rebecca Quesnel won both diving titles as well.
"It was a great first opening dual meet," said head coach
Randy Horner. "We had a lot of freshmen show their stuff, which you never know you are going to get this early in the season. We had a lot of them step up and do some great things. (Silvia) Scalia I think did a lot today with three wins and also led off a medley relay for a win, so she did really well. I hate to isolate anybody, because there were a lot of contributors. Senior
Jean Madison had an outstanding meet, as she was the fastest she has ever been in a dual meet. Across the board it was a great team effort. The team attitude and spirit of the team was what we we are looking for. I didn't get to see the diving, but it looks like they performed pretty well too. I couldn't be any happier how today went. We have a long way to go, but a very good start to the season."
Scalia stepped up in her first career meet as an FIU swimmer. The Italy native's three wins came in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 IM. Scalia's 200 and 100 backstroke times have already found way into the school record books. Her 200 backstroke time of 2:01.69 is now third in school history while her time of 56.41 in the 100 backstroke already is the fifth fastest time in school history. The 2:06.97 time in the 200 IM is also a top 10 time in the FIU record books.
Quensel dominated the diving on the day. Over in the one meter diving, she earned a score of 276.83, the fourth best time for a diver in school history in that event. She followed that up with a mark of 275.78 in the three-meter diving to earn the title.
Senior
Johanna Gustafsdottir won two events on the day as well. In the 200 freestyle, she posted a time of 1:53.24. Over in the 200 breaststroke, she bested her top career time, as she earned a mark of 2:18.53, moving her into fifth place in school history in that event.
Also earning a win on the day was senior
Jean Madison, who won the 100 breaststroke by a full second, earning a mark of 1:05.64. In addition, sophomore
Jennifer Alfani earned the win in the 50 freestyle posting a time of 23.91.
FIU also won both relay events. In the 200 medley relay, junior
Karin Tomeckova, senior
Klara Andersson, sophomore
Jennifer Deist and Alfani posted a time of 1:45.96 to earn in the title. That time was also the seventh fastest time in school history. The 400 freestyle relay team consisting of Alfani, Andersson, Mayhew and Gustafsdottir earned a mark of 3:31 in the 400 freestyle relay, earning first place and a top 10 time in the school record books.
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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/.
