FIU's swim/dive team wins 5th conference title

Florida International University’s swimming and diving team captured its fifth-straight conference title after picking up 935.5 points for the championship trophy.
History was made as the team became the first in FIU athletics history to win five-straight conference titles.
Senior Oceane Peretti welcomed the evening with a historic performance in the 1650 Freestyle that resulted in the Panthers first gold medal of the night. She went on to break the school record and qualify for the NCAA B Standard when she tapped in at 16:22.73. The previous record holder belonged to FIU's very own Kyna Pereira (2016) who set and held the 16:24.36 mark for three years.
Freshman Holly Shepherd followed with silver in the 200 Backstroke. The newcomer impressed in her first ever conference championship. Shepherd battled wire to wire to fight off the competition when she touched at 1:56.93, just .18 seconds short of the gold.
Senior Naomi Ruele made it three-for-four when she won the 100 Freestyle. The seasoned vet was hot off the block and never slowed down. She finished with a time of 48.45 which qualifies her for the NCAA B Standard. Freshman Helga Fodor made a presence in the finals race with a ninth-place finish (50.46).
Junior Carita Luukkanen landed the number two spot on the podium when she touched at 2:12.75 in the 200 breaststroke. Junior Taylor Grabenhorst followed in fourth-place with a time of 2:16.36.
In the 200 butterfly event, sophomore Stephanie Hussey landed a sliver medal with her time of 2:00.44. Camile Wishaupt landed in ninth-place with her time of 2:04.73.
To complete the weekend on a perfect note, the divers swept the Platform diving event. Freshman Maha Gouda recorded her third gold medal of the competition when she scored 303.20 points from the board. In the final dive on the final round the rookie received a perfect 10 and was later named Diver Of The Meet. Freshman Kaitlyn Federicks won the silver with her score of 265.95 and sophomore Rahcel Foord completed the diving sweep when she won the bronze with her score of 257.90 points.
The championship ended with nothing short of an exciting win. The come from behind finish led the Panthers to the gold. The team of sophomore Sara Gytertyanffy, freshman Helga Fodor, junior Megan Bowen and Ruele battled from end to end and chased off the competition when they touched at 3:18.66.
The fifth consecutive conference victory for the Panthers (2015-2019) now ties SMU who held conference wins from 2006-2010.