Houston Swimming and Diving Sweeps FIU and Indian River CC

MIAMI, Fla. (November 3, 2007) The University of Houston swimming and diving team wrapped up its road trip through Florida in impressive fashion Saturday with a sweep of host Florida International and Indian River Community College at the Miami Shores Pool.

The Cougars claimed a 151-90 win over Florida International and enjoyed a 136-107 victory over Indian River CC. It was the Cougars’ second win over the Golden Panthers during an eight-day stretch.

UH won five of the 10 individual swimming events, one relay event and swept the Top Three places in both diving events to improve to 5-3 this season.

The Cougars’ 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Jessica Shamburger, junior Doreen Polotzek, freshman Andrea Kells and junior Sasha Schwendenwein started the day in impressive fashion with a first-place finish after a clocking of 1:53.46.

Freshman diver Courtney Forcucci helped lead the Cougars to a sweep of the Top Three places in both events. The Fort Mill, S.C., native won the 1-meter competition with 267.90 points and recorded 301.20 points to win the 3-meter event.

She was the only diver in either event to crack 300 points. It was the second straight meet that Forcucci reached that milestone after leading the Cougars in a dual-meet loss at Miami (Fla.) on Friday afternoon.

Junior Andrea Pa’lmai won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.10 and added a similar finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:13.72.

Schwendenwein finished first in the 200-yard individual medley after posting a time of 2:09.16. The Randburg, South Africa, native also claimed first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.41.

It was the second straight meet that Pa’lmai and Schwendenwein won multiple events during a dual meet.

Shamburger, the 2007 C-USA Freshman Swimmer of the Year, won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.51.

Senior captain Ginni van Katwijk, the 2007 Conference USA Co-Newcomer of the Year, and freshman Lacey Truelove finished 2-3 in both events to help lead the divers.

The Cougars will take a couple of weeks off before the divers return to play host to the Houston Diving Invitational Nov. 15-17 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium. The swimmers compete again on Nov. 29-Dec. 1 when they travel to Ohio for the Miami (Ohio) Invitational.