Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Swimming and Diving Readies for Rockwell
2/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 21, 2012
BOCA RATON, FL - In preparation for the Sun Belt Conference Championships beginning Wednesday in Rockwell, Texas, the Florida Atlantic swimmers currently have eight top times in the SBC, five of which rank in the NCAA's top 50.
Junior Eszter Bucz has three such times and is the defending conference champion in the 400-yard individual medley. Last season, she was named FAU Female Athlete of the Year, and her time of 4:15.20 in the 400-meter IM, set as a sophomore, still stands as the FAU school record. This season, she broke her own record in the 200-yard IM, and that time of 2:00.03 is first overall in the SBC and 35th overall in all of the NCAA. She also is atop the SBC list in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Her time 16:27.09 is more than 30 seconds faster than anyone else in the conference. A native of Budapest, Hungary, Bucz won SBC Swimmer of the Week awards for February 7, 2012 and for December 6, 2011.
Two senior male swimmers lead the squad. Mikolaj Czarnecki, from Lublin, Poland, has the conference's best time in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:47.54. That ranks him 34th in the nation. He also has top-five conference times in the 200-yard, 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle, as well as in the 100-yard butterfly. His times of 48.61 in the 100-yard butterfly and 1:45.90 in the 200-yard butterfly, both set as a junior, are FAU school records. Czarnecki was named SBC Swimmer of the Week on February 7.
Csaba Pek, who like Bucz is from Budapest, Hungary, has six top-five conference times this season, including the best in both the 200-yard breaststroke and in the 400-yard IM. The latter event, he swam in 3:53.73, which is 42nd best in the nation this year. He holds the Owls' school record in the 200-yard IM as well, with a time of 1:50.28 set as a freshman.
The Owls' best male sprint swimmer is junior Eric Williams, who holds the Sun Belt's best time this year in the 50-yard freestyle. He swam a 20.44 on November 18, 2011. Williams, from Satellite Beach, Florida, also has the sixth-best time in the conference in the 100-yard freestyle, a 45.76 achieved at that same meet.
The women's team has been improved by the performances of two true freshmen. Anett Kovacs, yet another team member from Budapest, set the conference's best time in the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.08, an FAU record) and in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:10.50). She also ranks second in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle.
Fellow freshman, Lublin, Poland's Iwona Lefanowicz, not only has two top-10 performances in the conference, but two FAU school records as well. She swam a 56.22 in the 100-yard backstroke (seventh-best in the conference) and 1:59.99 in the 200-yard backstroke (fourth-best).
On the boards, Ronald Cortina, a senior native of Miami, won two Diver of the Week awards this season. The first was for the week of November 8, 2011. Then, on the final week of the season, Cortina's Senior Day saw him finish first on the 1-meter board with a score of 306.10, nearly 30 points higher than any other meet this season. Later, on the 3-meter board, he exceeded his season high by 11 points, finishing at 343.55.
The SBC Championships begins February 23 and continues through Friday, February 25. Check back for daily recaps here on FAUSports.com.