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“Here at FGCU Swimming & Diving, we see young women transformed into the leaders of tomorrow. Their discipline and commitment to their academics and sport, along with their unwavering support and care for one another, are characteristics that put a smile on every coaches’ face. We are extraordinarily blessed to receive the support and guidance from our athletic department. However, we are once again asking for your generosity to help supplement our resources, so we can continue to provide a first-class experience for these young women. 

We were excited to partner with FGCU Give Day (March 15th) to help launch this year’s “Swim, Dive and Thrive.”  Thanks to so much support, we are off to a tremendous start! Some items we traditionally ask for (like our nutritional budget) have already secured the needed resources!

No year is the same regarding the needs of our program. However, one thing has never changed, the generosity and support of you, our Eagle Family. I know that together, we can reach our goals, and continue to support our incredible young women.

The 2022-2023 season began with an incredible high as we welcomed eight new Eagles to the family. Yet shortly into the season, we experienced the devastation of Hurricane Ian. Thanks to the selfless actions and volunteering of our athletes, paired with other students and staff in our department, we were able to contribute hundreds of hours and much needed man (woman)-power to the clean up efforts. The season continued to prove the strength of our team lies in the people. These women maintained their incredibly positive outlook and support in spite of the various challenges that presented themselves. As a coach, it has been an honor to work with and help these women achieve incredible things both in and out of the pool.

In the results book, we saw nearly 100 lifetime best times/scores, 11 new all-time top 10 performances, 5 CCSA podium finishes including first-time champion, freshman, Cameron Kuriger, in the 200 Fly — ending a seven-year drought of FGCU Champions in the event. Senior Reese Wakefield, qualified to compete in the Zone Diving Championships, while earning silver on both boards. This accomplishment solidified her place as the best to ever dive for the Green & Blue.

In the classroom, we continued to see their commitment to what matters most. In the fall of 2022 for the 24nd consecutive semester, we earned Scholar All-American team honors, posting a program record 3.70 GPA. Eleven Eagles earned a perfect 4.0, with 16 earning a 3.5 or better.  

This year’s “Swim, Dive and Thrive” Campaign is no small undertaking. Our needs are great, but your support has always been greater.”

Thank you in advance for your consideration and your support,
Dave Rollins: Head Coach; Two-Time CCSA Coach of the Year

OUR NEEDS…
This year we are asking for your help in the following key areas: scholarships, training equipment and team and travel supplementation …
 

SCHOLARSHIPS – $10,000

    – It is no secret that we have traditionally done more (NCAA All-Americans, Olympians, Conference Champions, Zone Qualifiers, etc.) with less. In terms of scholarships, FGCU Swimming & Diving is not a fully funded program unlike our peers both in conference (Liberty and James Madison) as well as regionally (Miami and FlU). Yet, we continually post strong results and have athletes qualifying to compete at the highest levels.

    – Annually, we are $45,000 shy of having a full allotment of scholarship dollars.  Thankfully, we have been able to be creative, and recruited extremely intelligent young women who benefit from academic scholarships. This maximizes the “more with less” approach. 

    – This gift will help us continue to recruit not only those high achieving academic athletes, but also rebuild our program for the future.

TRAINING EQUIPMENT – $6,500

Replacement parts/Maintenance on current power towers ($2,000)

    – Our equipment requires yearly maintenance. The replacement parts will ensure the proper upkeep for optimal usage and have fully functioning towers. 

New Power Tower ($3,500) 

    – The power towers are essential in the building of strength and speed for swimmers. The purchase of an additional tower will allow us to have six fully operational towers for up to 12 athletes to use at a time. This helps with the effectiveness and efficiency of their training. 

Resistance Stretch Cords ($700)

    – At $70 each, we are looking to replace all of our broken cords with new ones to help our speed and resistance training.

– Each cord serves as a vital teaching as well as training tool. The cords provide much needed feedback and feel in the water to help the athletes excel.

Resistance Parachutes ($400)

    – At $40 each, these are useful in longer swimming sets while a stretch cord is designed for shorter sprints. Providing parachutes for the athletes will help their development and technique in the water, ultimately improving their speed and dropping their times.

TEAM TRAVEL SUPPLEMENTATION – $5,500

    – The CCSA Championships are the highlight event for our program each year. It not only is referred to as the best moment of the season or most memorable moment for some of our athletes, but it is the culmination of a season’s long training and a moment every athlete deserves to get to experience as a member of our program. This gift will help ensure that we will be able to continue to bring our entire roster to the championships.

    – Team travel to our championship costs our program roughly $1,500 per team member. Thankfully, our budget will cover the costs for 24 of our athletes. However, with a roster of 34 for next year, we will be looking to your generosity to help cover the expense for the remaining 10 teammates for a total need of $15,000.

TESTIMONIES…

SCHOLARSHIPS

 “I am grateful for our donors. Their generosity allows not only myself, but my teammates as well, to further our academic and athletic careers without some of the financial burdens of college. Their support helps us recruit at the level we need for our program to excel. Their support continues to create a diverse and successful environment for our program.” 

– Emma Hixenbaugh: Junior, CCSA Finalist in 200 Backstroke, 9th Fastest in FGCU History

TEAM TRAVEL SUPPLEMENTATION

    “We love having the entire team travel to conference. It not only helps with the competition, but also the team culture. When the entire team walks on deck together at conference, we cheer louder, support one another better, and inspire one another to achieve the unimaginable. It is great to see these young women form life-long friendships during these shared experiences.” 

– Aly Tetzloff, Assistant Coach

TRAINING EQUIPMENT

     “Resistance training has made a huge impact for me as it has built a lot of strength and power into my strokes in the water.  This type of training and utilizing these pieces of equipment, has helped with injury prevention as well. I believe that it is a critical aspect in my day-to-day training.” 

– Cameron Kuriger: Freshman, 2023 CCSA Champion in 200 Butterfly
 

HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 40-30-1 (.563) dual-meet record, which includes a 17-3 (.850) mark against CCSA opponents, in his seventh season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), marking the ninth championship in 10 years before winning the 10th championship in program history in 2021. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men’s swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Hall of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women’s basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
—FGCUATHLETICS.COM—

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