On Feb. 21, the Florida Atlantic men’s swim and dive team won its first-ever conference title at the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Championships in Orlando at the Rosen Aquatic and Fitness Center. The Owls are co-champions with Queens University of Charlotte after both programs scored 782.5 points.

This achievement has been a long time coming for the men’s team, as they have been on the cusp of a conference title for years. Head coach Lara Preacco stated that the men’s team were runners-up in the ASUN Championships “last year, the year before that, the year before that, the year before that, and the year before that.”

After accomplishing this feat, the team felt a mix of emotions. Especially after being so close for so long, Preacco explained that she felt extremely happy but also some relief. “We always knew…we would win it. It was just a matter of when.”

Although the teams in the past weren’t able to get over the hump, Preacco felt that there wasn’t anything different in this year’s team.

“Continued determination,” Preacco said. “There was nothing different. We just worked hard and were determined to do it. And you just keep at it, and you keep at it, and you keep at it.”

However, senior swimmer Daniel Laureyssens thought that the team held each other to a higher standard. Laureyssens said the title proved that the “last two years of hard work are actually working.”

Laureyssens remembers how close the team was to winning a title in the past. “Last year, we were really close, but Queens had a strong last day,” Laureyssens said. This year, Queens was close to beating FAU outright once again, but was disqualified in the last relay, making them co-champions.

Even though FAU did not win the championship outright, Laureyssens claimed the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Championship title. He described the experience as “surreal, incredible” and said he is still processing the conference title.

Laureyssens won the gold medal in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter freestyle races. He also won gold in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle relays. The only event Laureyssens did not win gold in was the 400 medley relay; he won bronze.

With a time of 19.43 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle and a time of one minute 32.42 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle, Laureyssens set two new records for the Rosen Aquatic and Fitness Center.

Laureyssens is used to breaking records during his time at FAU. He holds the school record for 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay races.

Even with the individual accomplishments, Laureyssens thinks about the team first when it comes to success. “I want to be there for my team and bring home medals and titles for them,” Laureyssens said.

Another Florida Atlantic athlete did just this. Senior diver Rocco Simonelli won the Most Outstanding Diver of the Championship title, claiming silver in the one-meter dive and bronze in the three-meter dive.

While swimming and diving aren’t as popular as the other sports on campus, Simonelli jokes that diving is “way cooler” compared to swimming because “you’re doing flips in the air.”

Simonelli spent his first two years in college at Indian River before joining FAU. When he transferred to FAU, he explained that “sometimes you have to put yourself at the next level.”

Simonelli always thought of diving as an individual sport and never considered team points, which makes sense since there are no relay events in diving. For the most part, the entire performance comes from a singular diver.

However, throughout the championship, he figured that he had to get some points for the team. “I had to increase [my] work ethic,” Simonelli said.

The FAU women’s swim and dive team made strides as well. FAU senior swimmer Megan Drover-Smith won the 200 backstroke gold medal at the American Conference Championships the same weekend. Her time of one minute and 55.24 seconds was enough to beat her own personal best, which was also the program record.

Drover-Smith explained that the first thing she did after finishing the race was look at the scoreboard. “I didn’t care about my position or anything, I just wanted the personal best because that means more to me,” Drover-Smith said.

Seeing the men’s team win the conference championship inspires Drover-Smith and the women’s team. “I’m really happy for them,” Drover-Smith said. “I think it’s a great motivation for the women’s team too because the men have been chasing it for so long.”

Drover-Smith continues to explain that the women’s team finished last place last year and improved significantly this year. She compared that improvement to the men’s team doing this repeatedly over the last few years.

Drover-Smith ended by claiming that the men’s championship “shows that everything you work towards is possible.”

Morgan Larkins is a Staff Writer for the University Press. For more information on this and other stories, email him at [email protected].