Swim / Dive Tops Eagles in First Dual Meet of Spring
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes swimming & diving team opened its spring schedule in strong fashion Wednesday afternoon, topping host FGCU in a dual meet, 198-100, at the FGCU Aquatics Complex.
“It was a good win today,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said. “One of the things this team has done better than any other team I’ve been with is really being intentional about bringing the energy to competitions. They did that again today, and it was crucial.”
Miami’s winning 200 medley relay team, who finished the day’s opening event in a time of 1:44.17, set the tone for the afternoon. After the medley relay win, four different Hurricanes won consecutive individual events, with Adrianna Cera winning the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:20.96), Carmen San Nicolas capturing the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.91), Danika Huizinga taking top honors in the 100-yard backstroke (58.37) and Giulia Carvalho cruising to victory in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.91).
Freshman Jacey Hinton posted a time of 23.86 to win the 50-yard freestyle and then won the 100-yard freestyle (51.73) in her next event. Huizinga (2:05.58) added a win in the 200-yard backstroke, as did Cera (5:06.68) in the 500-yard freestyle.
“At this time of year, all teams across the country are coming out of a heavy training phase,” Kershaw said. “Everyone is tired. Maybe don’t see the times that we would hope to see or like to see, or are used to seeing, but that’s a result of keeping our eyes on the future. The one thing you can still do, but it’s hard to do, is bring the energy in those moments.”
The Hurricanes diving contingent swept top honors in both springboard events, with Emma Gullstrand, Mia Vallée and Millie Haffety finishing first, second and third, respectively, on both the 1-meter and 3-meter. Gullstrand was the top finisher in both 3-meter (367.35) and 1-meter (350.78).
Carvalho added a second win, this one in the 100-yard butterfly (57.13), before Miami’s 200-yard freestyle relay team finished first in a time of 1:35.45 to end the meet on a high note.
The Hurricanes return to the Norman Whitten Pool on Jan. 21 for a showdown with Florida State.
“There was lots of good winning going on, and I’m very proud of the team and the way they rallied together,” Kershaw said. “We’re definitely going to have to get better. We’ve got the Seminoles coming down next week and we’re going to have to be faster to compete with them.”
