CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Women's Swimming team took home the Sunshine State Conference Championship, dominating the SSC Championship meet throughout the weekend. Combined with their 2020 title, this marks the second consecutive SSC title for the women, with the 2021 championship meet canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sharks have now won four of the last five SSC Championship titles and six in the program's 12-year history.
The Sharks' Men's side placed second in the SSC Championships, following five hard-fought days. The Nova Southeastern Men scored 848.5 points and narrowly lost to Florida Southern (865).
Championship Sunday started with Estelle Bauer earning the gold in the 1650-free, winning by six seconds with a time of 16:58.95, as she scored 20-points for Nova Southeastern. Luca Alessandrini followed with a dominant victory, outracing the field by 16-seconds, to earn his third gold medal of the Sunshine State Conference Championship.
Anton Mueller (43.56) edged out Florida Southern's Kyle Micallef (43.64) and Matteo Zampeses (43.69) in the 100-free. Although Mueller earned the victory, FSC added 33 points from their top finishers. Celina Marquez and Cassandra Wright placed first and third, respectively, in the 200-back, with May Lowy just missing the podium in fourth.
Jarryd Baxter took the gold in the 200-back with a time of 1:44.21, beating Florida Southern's Brandon Dyck by six-tenths of a second. Savanna Best continued her dominant run at the Sunshine State Conference Championships meet, winning another gold in the 200-breast, finishing six-seconds ahead of Florida Southern's Emily Peck.
The final medal on the women's side came in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as Amilia Nusbaum, Lowy, Solana Capalbo and Wright earned a silver with a combined time of 3:24.63. On the men's side, Mueller, Thomas Flower, Martin Hemminghyth, and Alessandrini placed second with a final time of 2:56.73.
Up next for the Sharks Swim teams is the ultimate prize, as NSU prepares for a trip to Greensboro, NC., to compete in the NCAA Division II National Championship Meet from March 9-12.
