FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Ave Maria University swim program officially opened the 2024-25 season Saturday morning, competing in a dual meet with Thomas University. It was a superb morning for the Gyrene women, who set five new school records and emerged with a victory in the dual, logging 167 points to Thomas' 106. The men, who were led by a pair of NAIA provisional marks, fell 158-121 to the Nighthawks.

Ave Maria's top swimmer was freshman Emma Heasty, who won three races and hit an NAIA provisional time in one. Heasty touched first in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle, and was part of AMU's winning 400 yard freestyle relay team. In the 100 yard freestyle, Heasty set an NAIA provisional mark with a time of 55.25, more than seven tenths of a second faster than the needed time and also an AMU school record.

Anna Szucs, Maddie Lasnoski, and Delaney Weisbruch also won multiple gold medals for the Gyrenes. Szucs set a pair of school records with her times in the 100 yard individual medley and the 500 yard freestyle, both wins, and joined Heasty on the 400 free relay team. 

Lasnoski's wins were in the 100 and 200 yard breaststrokes, while Weisbruch won in the 200 yard individual medley and the relay, which was rounded out by Maryanna Matista. Weisbruch also hit an NAIA provisional time with a school record 2:19.31 in the 200 yard butterfly. The last of the school records to fall on the day was the 1000 yard freestyle, where Hannah Nelson won the event with a time of 11:40.86.

Ave Maria's performance on the men's side was led by a pair of swimmers hitting the NAIA provisional times. Sam Pilkington touched the wall in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 59.06, beating the qualifying standard by more than three quarters of a second. In the 100 yard backstroke, Eduardo Martiniano clocked in at 54.16, beating the qualification standard by .14 seconds.

Pete Anderson was Ave Maria's most decorated swimmer, winning two gold medals and two silvers. Anderson was the winner in the 200 yard freestyle, and was joined on the 400 yard freestyle relay team by Pilkington, Martiniano, and Eli Pelzer. He also won silver medals in the 500 yard freestyle and 200 yard medley relay. Other gold medals were won by Lucas Thomaz in the 100 yard freestyle and Michael Blawas in the 100 yard butterfly.

The Ave Maria swim teams will compete in four dual meets this fall before their annual trip to the Georgia Small College Championships in November. The Gyrenes will then compete three more times after the turn of the calendar before  The Sun Conference Championships in Ocala in February. The next time out for the Gyrenes will be on November 2, when the Gyrenes head across the Alley for a meeting with a national championship program in St. Thomas University.