Petra Halmai Concludes Decorated Career at Ohio State Last Chance Meet

COLUMBUS, Ohio – One of the best swimming careers in FGCU history came to a close on Sunday as redshirt-senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School) competed at the Ohio State Last Chance Meet.

Halmai had already swam NCAA ‘B’ cut times in both the 100 and 200 breast but because of the amount of swimmers with better times ahead of her, her times did not directly qualify.

Sunday at Ohio State, she tried to put up season bests in order to qualify but ultimately came up a little short, posting times of 1:01.29 in the 100 breast and 2:10.60 in the 200 breast.

“While we didn’t achieve the goal we set out for, Petra has had one of the most successful careers of any FGCU athlete,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “Sports provide countless lessons and opportunities, for both athletes and coaches and this past season has taught us plenty. I know that while her collegiate career has come to an end, her professional career will be truly special. It’s been quite the season, but now we reflect, and get our team ready for next year.”

Halmai concludes her FGCU career as one of the most decorated in history. She is a 13x CCSA gold medalist, a 2x CCSA Swimmer of the Year, a 2x CCSA Swimmer of the Championships, a 2x CSCAA All-American, and a CSCAA Scholar All-American.

She also swam at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, competing for Team Hungary where she helped set a national record in the Mixed Medley Relay.

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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 35-26-1 (.573) dual meet record, which includes a 14-2 (.875) mark against CCSA opponents, in his sixth season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), as well as the program’s fourth-straight title in 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.
 
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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women’s basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.