The College of Staten Island men’s and women’s swimming programs scored their first meet on their training trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, today, participating in the Bob Mowerson Sprint race at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.  The men placed third of six competing schools at the race that features athletes spanning all divisions, while the women fared sixth.

The CSI men scored 38 points at the meet, behind SUNY-Binghamton’s 72 points and Emanuel College’s 52.  Seven events in total were run.  Stephen O’Driscoll and Derek Villa each scored 12th place finishes in the 400-meter Freestyle and the 100-meter Freestyle, respectively, got CSI started before a solid fourth place finish in the 50-meter Butterfly event, in an event where only 1.07 second separated first place from sixth place.  Sweeney came in at 27.78, while Villa came in 22nd in the field there as well.  Nicholas Defonte scored a 15th place finish in the 50-meter Backstroke with a time of 33.72, and in the 50-meter Breaststroke competition, Roberto Hidalgo placed 8th with a time of 35.11.  Sweeney capped it off with a 26.14 run in the 50-meter Freestyle, good for a tie for 6th place.

On the women’s side, CSI scored 23 points in the meet to take sixth.  Ewa Wojciechowska got CSI started with a 10th place faring in the 100-meter Freestyle with a time of 1:07.73.  She then placed 11th in the 50-meter Butterfly with a score of 33.97.  Naomi Gaggi also placed in the event at 33rd, and Kelly Walsh 40th.  Dakota Dawkins powered to a 6th place finish in the 50-meter Breaststroke event, topping out a time of 39.03.  Wojciechowska led all Dolphins in the 50 Freestyle, with a 12th place time of 30.96.

?CSI will continue to train in Florida in the coming and will return home later this week.  They will face York College on Monday, January 11, in their next dual meet at the Sports & Recreation Center at 6pm.