Southern Zone South Sectionals swimmers were back in the water this evening for night three of the championships. The top-32 swimmers in each event swam for the second time, after qualifying in this morning’s preliminaries.
The women’s 100-meter backstroke was dominated by Gator Swim Club’s Caitlin Brooks, who overtook the field by two seconds by turning in a time of 1:02.21. FSU swimmer Shelly Drodza was able to hold of Patriot Aquatic’s Abigail Marshall by swimming a 1:04.47, to Marshall’s 1:04.78.
The Main brothers tried their hand at backstroke again this evening, after successfully securing two podium spots in the 50-meter backstroke last night. Corey Main took the gold with a time of 55.39, while his younger brother, Bayley Main, was able to get the silver in 57.52. Keanan Dols, a Jamaican national teamer out of Sarasota YMCA, swam a 58.37, good enough for bronze.
Alia Atkinson has been lighting up the pool each time she dives in this weekend. She swam away with another victory this evening, this time in the 50-meter breaststroke. Atkinson finished almost three full seconds ahead of the silver medal swimmer, in a 30.98, which is astonishing, considering how short the race is. That silver medal swimmer was Swim Florida’s Vanessa Rivas who came in as a 33.62 and The Bolles School’s Katherine Baker snuck in for the bronze with a 33.87.
Jared Pike is also attempting the breaststroke sweep this weekend and so far he is two for two, after his 28.66 gold medal performance in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke. Former FSU teammate Juan Sequera touched second in 28.78 while Westminster Swimming’s David Lambert touched third in 29.41.
The sprinting continued in Orlando this evening with the women’s 50-meter butterfly. Alia Atkinson pulled off yet another double victory, which marks her as undefeated thus far at this competition. Talia Bates snuck onto the silver medal spot on the podium with her 27.31, that’s her second podium appearance so far this meet. Leila Johnston from FSU swam a 27.55, good enough for bronze.
Photo Courtesy: Donna Nelson
The men entered the tank next with their version of the 50-meter butterfly. Jan Switkowski from Gator Swim Club took his second gold of the meet in a time of 24.21. He was followed closely by William Pisani out of FSU and Austin Katz from the Sarasota YMCA who turned in times of 24.44 and 24.99, respectively.
It was again the night of the young stars this evening as 15-year old Emma Weyant swam away with her first gold of the meet in the women’s 200-meter IM. She did so in a time of 2:20.17. Highlander’s Carley Lowe, was able to sneak in for the silver with her time of 2:21.20, while 14-year old Junseo Kim earned the bronze with a 2:22.28.
Grant Sanders, coming off a solid performance at U.S. World Championship Trials last week, is continuing his success in Orlando. Sanders touch in 2:01.74, almost three full seconds ahead of FSU’s Juan Sequera who turned in a time of 2:04.08. Keanan Dols earned his second podium appearance this weekend with a 2:05.87 third place finish.
FSU continues to duke it out with the other universities in the state, this time they became victorious in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. FSU’s Nicole Blank won the event in 25.76. She was followed by Isabella Garofolo, out of Saint Andrew’s Swim Team, who turned in a time of 25.94. Westminster’s Victoria Fonville earned a bronze with her 25.99.
FSU remained on top of the podium yet again this evening, this time with Chad Mylin taking the men’s 50-meter freestyle in 22.83, the only swimmer to break 23-seconds. Gator Swim Club’s Enzo Martinez Scarpe swam a 23.08 for the silver and Clearwater Aquatic Team’s Alberto Mestre was right behind in 23.10.
Miami Metro’s Andreina Pinto earned her second podium appearance of the meet with her gold medal time of 4:16.91 in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. Gulliver’s Marcella Rupert-Gomez touched second in 4:20.69. Noa Heron out of West Florida Lightning swam a 4:21.94, good enough for bronze.
In the men’s 400-meter freestyle Scarlet Aquatics’ Johannes Calloni obliterated the field in a 3:57.83, making him the only man to break 4:00 in the A-final. Brendan Driscoll out of TBAY finished second in 4:00.98 while Highlander’s Hayden Curley earned his bronze medal by turning in a time of 4:01.10. Interestingly enough, GSC’s Khader Baqlah swam a 3:56.29 in the B-final, a swim that would have earned him the gold medal, had he qualified in the top eight in the preliminaries.
It was relay time yet again in Orlando. The 400 meter medley relay was the only relay event contested this evening and both the men and women took their turn in the pool. Gator Swim Club put together another gold medal relay performance with the time of 4:16.08. Four seconds behind was South Florida Aquatic Club at 4:20.14 and East Coast Aquatics earned a bronze in 4:23.68.
The men’s relay squads dove in the pool for the final time this evening with Gulliver Swim Club winning in a time of 3:56.32. Scarlet Aquatics gave them a battle though, with their final time of 3:58.14 while Metro Aquatic Club of Miami swam a 3:59.37 for the bronze.
Tomorrow’s events include the 800-meter freestyle for the women, the 1500-meter freestyle for the men, the men’s and women’s 200-meter butterfly, 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter breaststroke, 200-meter backstroke and the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Full Results are available on Meet Mobile as Southern Zone South Sectional Championship.
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An amazing experience to swim at Southern Zone South Sectionals.