FORT LAUDERDALE – It's championship season for the Nova Southeastern University men's and women's swim teams as both teams have hit the road to compete in the 2017 Sunshine State Conference Swimming Championship meet Feb. 16 through Feb. 19, which will be hosted at the YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando, Fla.
Entering its seventh year, this is the fourth consecutive year that the Sunshine State Conference Men's and Women's Swimming Championships will be held at the
YMCA Aquatic Center. The meet itself is a four-day event consisting of both prelims and finals. Thursday through Saturday, prelims will begin at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 6 p.m. On Sunday, Feb. 19, prelims will remain at 10 a.m., but finals will begin at 5 p.m. preceded by senior student-athlete recognition. Keep up with the latest results, live video, and meet information by visiting the SSC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL.
Last season, the NSU men's team finished second overall behind conference champion Florida Southern. Through the past six championships, the Moccasins have one four consecutive titles, while Nova Southeastern won back-to-back conference titles in 2011 and 2012, which were the first two years of the program's existence. Led by last year's SSC Male Swimmer of the Meet
Thiago Sickert, NSU is hoping to climb back to the top and bring the trophy back to Fort Lauderdale.
Throughout the season, the men's team has remained undefeated in dual meets finishing the regular season with a 7-0 record. The men have also finished second behind University of Florida at the NSU Sharks All-Florida Invitational and third at the Spartan Invitational earlier in the year.
In 2015-16, the NSU women's team also finished second in the final conference standings behind conference champion Florida Southern. Just like the men, the women have won two SSC championship titles (2012, 2015) and are geared up for the opportunity of winning a third.
Behind the strong swimming of
Emma Wahlstrom this year, the Sharks have posted an 8-2 dual meet record falling only to Florida International and University Miami during the regular season. The Sharks also finished fourth at the NSU Sharks All-Florida Invitational and won the Spartan Invitational earlier in the year.
Heading into this year's championship meet, the women's team has already posted the conference's top times in 16 of the championship format events, with the 200 free, 500 free, 400 free relay and 400 medley relay being new league records. On the men's side, the Sharks have 14 of the league's top times amongst its fellow conference members as they head into the meet.
Anton Lobanov,
Franco Lupoli, Wahlstrom, and
Malin Westman have already posted automatic qualifying times in their specialty events. But for some, this meet provides yet another opportunity, in one of the most exciting championship meets of the year, to improve upon existing provisional or earn qualifying times to secure a spot at the NCAA national meet. Six of the NSU men, nine women and each of the men's and women's relays have already secured provisional and automatic qualifying times this season.
Nightly recaps will be available on NSUSharks.com, but be sure to follow @NSUSharks on Twitter for hourly updates during each session of this upcoming SSC Championship meet.
