MIAMI (Oct. 2, 2021) - The FIU women's swimming and diving team swam hard in its opening meet against the Miami Hurricanes, but the Panthers came up just short by a tally of 162.5 to 137.5 against their crosstown rival.
 
"It's awesome just to get out and compete and get the first meet underway on a timeline that's normal," said Head Coach Randy Horner. "We knew coming in against the University of Miami that it was going to be a tough battle. It always is with them. They got the best of us today, but it wasn't because our ladies didn't perform. Both teams had a great performance. We learned a lot and we'll go back to work. We've got a lot of things to work on but also a lot of things to feed off of that were very positive today."
 
FIU won seven of 16 events in the dual meet and saw seven second-place finishes.
 
Julia Miranda won all four events that the Panther captain swam in, helping take the 200 medley relay, while winning individual races in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and the 200-yard individual medley.
 
"Julia has really stepped up," said Horner. "She showed leadership, she was gutty, and she won all her events today. That's hard to do especially when you're in four different events and she came back strong every single time. One of the positive things today is we saw a lot of leadership. Kelsie Campbell I felt like also stepped up with some great leadership today and really did a lot of good things that will be positive for the team in the future."
 
The Panther relay team of Miranda, Sara Gyertyanffy, Kelsie Campbell, and Elinah Phillip began the contest with a time of 1:42.76 to take first place in the 200 medley relay.
 
In the 100 backstroke, Miranda notched a leading time of 56.51, while Campbell raced a 57.11 for second place. Freshman Jordan Browning posted a respectable 59.42 mark for fourth place.
 
"It was the first dual-meet ever for our freshman," said Horner. "They came out and fought hard. It didn't all go their way, but that's part of the experience as well and we have a lot we can learn from this meet."
 
Freshman swimmer Christie Chue won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.58, while sophomore Delaine Goll placed second with a time of 2:21.97. Senior Victoria Cantu placed fourth with a time of 2:25.33.
 
Chue, who is expected to be one of FIU's most impactful freshmen, also secured second place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.48. Eriana Temperino and Lamija Medosevic placed fourth and fifth, with times of 1:56.26 and 1:56.39, respectively.
 
Stephanie Hussey won the 200 butterfly (2:03.71) and placed second in both the 1000 freestyle (10:22.52) and the 500 freestyle (5:03.03).
 
Elinah Phillip won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.97 and placed third in the 100 freestyle with a mark of 52.92. Helga Fodor tied for third in the 50 free with a mark of 24.71.
 
In the 200 backstroke, Miranda posted a 2:03.73 for the top spot, while Michaela Trnkova logged a 2:08.42 for fourth place.

Sara Gyertyanffy notched second place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.13, while Kelsie Campbell grabbed third with 56.68.
 
Miranda led the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:06.09, while Chue secured another top-three finish for FIU with a mark of 2:06.23. Temperino and newcomer Mia Zahab tied for fifth with marks of 2:10.31.
 
In the 100 breaststroke, Gyertyanffy and Goll placed third and fourth with times of 1:04.10 and 1:05.51, respectively.
 
FIU closed out the swimming portion of the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, as the group of Hussey, Phillip, Chue, and Medosevic recorded a collective time of 3:26.30.
 
On the diving side, Maha Gouda placed second in the 3-meter with a tally of 320.10, while taking third in the 1-meter dive with a score of 311.10.
 
UP NEXT
FIU now turns its attention to the annual TYR Fall Classic next weekend, with the Panthers scheduled to host a two-day event at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center beginning Friday, Oct. 8, and ending on Saturday, Oct. 9. Events are scheduled to get underway beginning at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, and 10 a.m. ET on Saturday.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive), Facebook (@FIUSwimmingandDiving) and on Instagram (@FIU_Swim_Dive). General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.