Florida Atlantic University’s swimming and diving teams will close out the home schedule of the 2010 season on Friday, January 22 with a triangular meet against University of Miami, Indiana River Community College and Florida A&M University, beginning at 3 p.m. at the FAU Aquatic Center, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus.

Senior members of both Owls teams will be recognized before the meet.  The honorees will include Emilienne Allen, Stephanie Goodman and Whitney Roper of the women’s team, and Dan Brancaccio and Andrew Walsh of the men’s squad.

FAU’s teams are looking to be victorious again after losing a dual-meet at nationally-ranked University of Florida on January 16.

Sophomore Csaba Pek has shown improvement throughout the season for the men’s team and posted a victory in the 200-yard individual medley against the Gators.  Freshman Alex Rodriguez earned a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke and a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke on January 16, while sophomore Mikolaj Czarnecki is strong in the butterfly events and swims a leg of the Owls’ competitive 200-yard freestyle relay team.

The women’s team has been led this season by freshman Eszter Bucz and sophomore Jonna Nyback.  Bucz has earned the Sun Belt Conference’s Female Swimmer of the Week Award twice this season, while Nyback tallied 21 team points in the Florida meet.

Source: FAU Media Relations

The Florida Atlantic University women’s swimming team finished its home meet season with a strong performance, posting seven event victories and 13 top three efforts during Senior Recognition Day on Friday afternoon at the FAU Aquatic Center.

The Owls earned victories over Indian River State College, 162-135, and Florida A&M University, 225-35, before losing to the University of Miami, 171-116.  Indian River is the defending junior college national champions.

Freshman standout Eszter Bucz was a perfect three-for-three in the meet, winning the 1,000- and 500-yard freestyle races, and the 200-yard individual medley race – all in dominating fashion.  The Budapest , Hungary native won the 1,000-yard freestyle event by a commanding 15 seconds, posting a time of 10:22.20; she led the 500-yard freestyle event from the time she entered the pool, winning in 5:01.13; and came from behind to place first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:06.47.

“I think I swam really well today,” said Bucz.  “It is really difficult to keep the endurance up after you swim the 1,000-yard freestyle.  I was able to recover and come back to win my other two events.”

Other busy Owls were sophomore Jonna Nyback, who won the 200-yard freestyle event by nearly a second and a half (1:52.95), and also had runner-up finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races; and sophomore Erin Hersey, who picked up a victory in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.20) and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly (58.89).  Both swimmers also swam legs of relay teams.

In diving, freshman Maegan Butler came away with first-place performances on the 1- and 3-meter levels.  She tallied 250.80 points on the 1-meter board to edge out senior teammate Stephanie Goodman, and had scored 248.40 points in the 3-meter competition.

The event marked the last home competition for seniors Emilienne Allen, Whitney Roper and Goodman.

FAU will conclude the regular season on Saturday, January 30 in Daytona Beach , Fla. , with a triangular meet against the University of North Florida and Daytona Beach State College.

Source: FAU Media Relations