Following their performances at the season-opening All Florida Invitational, sophomore swimmer Christina Kaas Elmgreen and senior diver Ashley Wright have been named the CCSA Swimmer and Diver of the Week, league officials announced Tuesday afternoon.
For Kaas Elmgreen, it marks the first weekly award of her career, while Wright earns her seventh weekly honor in the past two seasons. With the awards, the Green and Blue start the 2016-17 season right where they left off the 2015-16 season as they swept the CCSA honors on six occasions last year.
Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) qualified for the ‘A’ final and finished inside the top-five in all four of her individual events at the All Florida Invitational. In the 200 IM and 400 IM, she significantly improved her times from prelims to finals and touched the pads in 2:05.97 and 4:28.92, respectively, to finish fifth in both events. The Denmark native shined in her signature butterfly events as she finished second in the 100 fly in a time of 56.39 seconds – only 0.13 seconds behind Florida’s Alyssa Yambor-Maul – and finished in 2:03.35 in Sunday’s 200 fly prelim, which was good for the top qualifying mark.
Additionally, Kaas Elmgreen swam the third leg on the Eagles 400 medley relay team that touched the pads in 3:54.16 and finished just behind Florida’s ‘A’ relay. Her 100-yard butterfly split of 55.66 seconds was the second fastest in the meet.
Wright (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Indian River/Lincoln Park Academy), who missed the 2016 CCSA Championships with an injury, got her season off to a fast start as she finished runner-up in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Her totals of 254.85 off the low dive and 247.80 off the high dive trailed only Florida’s Teya Syskakis by five points in both events. Additionally, both totals were better than her season-opening performance a year ago when she finished sixth and ninth at the All Florida Invitational and also earned the conference’s weekly distinction.
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date coverage of FGCU women’s swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.
HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
First-year head coach Dave Rollins became the program’s second head coach in program history on Sept. 1, replacing former head coach Neal Studd, who accepted the same position at FSU in July. Most recently the associate head men’s swimming coach at The Ohio State University, Rollins brings 10 years of coaching experience at the club, high school and collegiate levels. A standout collegiate athlete in his own right, Rollins was a nine-time NCAA All-American and national champion as a member of the University of Arizona swimming & diving team from 2002-06.
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year 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.
