Swimming & Diving Heads To Florida for the Eagles Holiday Splash This Week

Thursday, December 19

Fort Myers, FL

9 a.m.

Tulane University

Florida Gulf Coast University

Swimming & Diving Heads To Florida for the Eagles Holiday Splash This Week

Dec 18, 2024 | Women's Swimming and Diving

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane swimming & diving team will be in competition again this week as the program sends 19 to Fort Myers, Fla. to participate in the Eagles Holiday Splash on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast at the FGCU Aquatics Complex starting at 9 a.m. CT on Dec. 19. The event will be scored as an invitational with a top-four leaderboard instead of as four dual meets.

The live stats for the meet can be followed on Meet Mobile, which is a subscription phone-only live stat app. The others team invited, besides Tulane and the host school, includes UNC Asheville and Indiana State.

Tulane is sending Layla Allen, Anna Behrman, Emma Brady, Rachel Casebolt, Taylor Cekay, Lise Coetzee, Charley Floyd, Paula Gaya Bisquerra, Olcaytu Hatipoglu, Phoebe Johnson, Paige McKenzie, Sydney Mullin, Varvara Gkiouzepa Petropoulou, Catherine Russo, Gwen Shahboz, Eva Shawver, Kelsey Weddington, Maya Wilson and Andrea Zeebe.

The meet will consist of 21 events starting with the 200 medley relay. The other events will be the 500 free, 200 IM, 75 back, 75 breast. 75 fly, 75 free, 200 back, 50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 fly, 25 free, 200 breast, 4x25 free relay, 3-meter dive and 1-meter dive.

In the team's last meet, the CSCAA College National Open Water Championships in the Biscayne Bay in Miami, the team finished fifth overall of the 19 competing schools with a combined time of 3:26.22. Individually, Lise Coetzee had the highest finish among the Tulane group in taking 18th (1:07.31). Sydney Mullin took 22nd with a 1:09.04. Varvara Gkiouzepa Petropoulou earned 36th with a 1:09.47. Phoebe Johnson was 44th with a 1:10.20, while Layla Allen was 49th with a 1:11.03.

Head Coach Amanda Caldwell is in her third year leading the program. The team is coming off an outstanding 2023-24 season that resulted in 64 lifetime bests, 31 all-time top-10 school marks, four school records, an AAC individual title, an AAC Freshman of the Year Award, 11 National Invite Championship Qualifiers, a Zone Diver Qualifier and an NCAA qualifier.

The program returns 12 swimmers & divers from last season in Anna Behrman, Emma Brady, Rachel Casebolt, Taylor Cekay, Reese Dunkenberger, Paula Gaya Bisquerra, Olcaytu Hatipoglu, Paige McKenzie Sydney Mullin, Gwen Shahboz, Ece Tanriverdi and Andrea Zeebe. The squad also is welcoming in 11 newcomers in Layla Allen, Lise Coetzee, Charley Floyd, Phoebe Johnson, Varvara Gkiouzepa Petropoulou, Catherine Russo, Eva Shawver, Rafaela Sumida, Lily Von Herbulis, Kelsey Weddington and Maya Wilson.

Following this week's competition in Fort Myers, Florida, Tulane will next compete in the FIU Sprint Relay on Jan. 4 in Miami, Florida. Tulane will next be at home on Jan. 25, 2025 for a dual meet against Little Rock. The team wraps up the home schedule and regular season by hosting West Florida on Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. The 2025 AAC Swimming Championship will be held from Feb. 19-22 in Dallas, Texas at SMU.

TICKETS
Tickets for the men's and women's basketball seasons along with the upcoming baseball campaign can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.

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