WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

South Florida Aquatic Club continued its domination of the Comets Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational Saturday at Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines.

SOFLO won 23 of 26 events on the second day of the three-day meet that concludes on Sunday.

Maria Lopez, 16, won the 100-yard butterfly in a career-best time of 58.18, bettering her previous best of 58.76. She was second in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.23, another best time (her previous best was 1:01.75).  She was also second in 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.37, bettering her previous best of 2:18.70.

Lopez earned a trip to the March 29-31 USA Swimming Grand Prix in Indianapolis.

Melissa Marinheiro, 14, won three events. She won the 100-yard backstroke in 59.45, 200-yard breaststroke in 2:40.69 and 500-yard freestyle in 5:03.17

Gustavo Valery, 13, won the 100-yard backstroke in 58.66 after swimming 58.26 in prelims and won the 50-yard freestyle in 24.50.

Two-time Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson won the 100-yard backstroke in a best time of 58.07 and won the 50-yard breaststroke in 28.81, off her best of 28.61.

Alex Monti, 13, won the 50-yard breaststroke in 30.25 and 200-yard breaststroke in 2:23.24.

Matthew Mila, 15, won the 50-yard breaststroke in 31.06 and 200-yard breaststroke in 2:33.61.

Kylie Herman, 14, won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:03.95 and 200-yard individual medley in 2:23.86.

Julien Pinon, 13, won the 100-yard butterfly in 55.39 and 200-yard individual medley in 2:09.03

University of Florida-bound Luke Torres, 17, bettered his best time in the 500-yard freestyle, winning in 4:54.24. His previous best time was 5:06.40.

Xavier Brown 17, won the 100-yard butterfly in 55.28; 50-yard freestyle in 23.42 (23.26 prelims); and 200-yard individual medley in a lifetime best of 2:15.31 (his previous best was 2:21.65).

Jessie Alcaide, 27, won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.92 and 200-yard individual medley in 2:09.03.

The championship finals have been moved up to 4:30 p.m. for Sunday.

SATURDAY SESSION FOUR RESULTS

GIRLS

100-yard backstroke: 13-14, 1. Melissa Marinheiro, SOFLO 59.45; SOFLO: 2. Monica Rodriguez 1:06.77, 3. Kylie Herman 1:08.16, 4. Stephanie Mlujeak 1:08.25, 5. Carly Swanson 1:09.61, 7. Maya Hirian 1:11.82, 8. Clarisa Melendez 1:13.49, 15. Cristina Villegas 1:16.72, 16. Julia Montgomery 1:19.19, 17. Natasha Testa 1:19.28, 18. Melissa Gonzalez 1:20.25, 19. Alisa Huang 1:23.15, 21. Vanessa Garcia 1:27.17; 15-and-over, 1. Alia Atkinson, SOFLO 58.07; SOFLO: 2. Maria Lopez 1:01.23, 3. Evelin Jimenez 1:07.31, 5. Hannah Doyle 1:12.83.

50-yard breaststroke: 13-14, 1. Nicky Burnett, Miami Swimming 37.59; SOFLO: 2. Monica Rodriguez 38.01, 3. Charlene Forti 39.32, 5. Johmi Vargas 42.56, 6. Maya Hirian 42.60, 16. Garryne Badere 52.33; 15-and-over, 1. Alia Atkinson 28.81; SOFLO: 4. Kaitlin Armstrong 36.50, 5. Astrid Rigau 39.28.

100-yard butterfly: 13-14, 1. Kylie Herman, SOFLO 1:03.95; SOFLO: 2. Andrea Melendez 1:05.74, 4. Natasha Testa 1:07.26, 5. Carly Swanson 1:12.83, 11. Veronica Postolski 1:13.45, 13. Stephanie Mlujeak 1:14.47; 15-and-over, 1. Maria Lopez, SOFLO 58.18; SOFLO: 2. Evelin Jimenez 59.20, 3. Haley Wright 1:04.46, 5. Daniela Jimenez 1:11.00. 

50-yard freestyle: 13-14, 1. Adrienne Aponte, Swim Fort Lauderdale 27.81; SOFLO: 2. Charlene Forti, 28.28, 6. Cristina Villegas 28.57, 7. Monica Rodriguez 28.64, 8. Clarisa Melendez 29.65, 10. Vanessa Garcia 30.85, 21. Melissa Gonzalez 32.54, 22. Julia Montgomery 32.65, 23. Alisa Huang 32.74, 25. Garryne Badere 35.66; 15-and-over, 1. Jessie Alcaide, SOFLO 23.92; SOFLO: 2. Alia Atkinson 23.94, 3. Kaitlin Armstrong 27.71, 5. Astrid Rigau 29.02, 6. Hannah Doyle 30.37.

200-yard breaststroke: 13-14, 1. Melissa Marinheiro, SOFLO 2:40.69; SOFLO: 4. Stephanie Mlujeak 3:05.49; 15-and-over, 1. Vanessa Aycart, Devilrays 2:36.78; SOFLO: 4. Astrid Rigau 3:01.82.

200-yard individual medley: 13-14, 1. Kylie Herman, SOFLO 2:23.86; SOFLO: 2. Clarisa Melendez 2:43.61, 3. Natasha Testa 2:48.60, 4. Maya Hirian 2:51.16, 15. Melissa Gonzalez 2:56.46, 16. Alisa Huang 2:58.42; 15-and-over, 1. Jessie Alcaide, SOFLO 2:09.03; SOFLO: 2. Maria Lopez 2:16.37, 3. Haley Wright 2:24.97, 4. Daniela Jimenez 2:27.40, 5. Evelin Jimenez 2:29.36.

500-yard freestyle: 13-and-over, 1. Melissa Marinheiro, SOFLO 5:03.17; SOFLO: 2. Haley Wright 5:26.84, 3. Lindsey Sauer 5:40.99, 4. Daniela Jimenez 5:45.67, 6. Hannah Doyle 5:56.49, 9. Johmi Vargas 6:17.60.

BOYS

100-yard backstroke: 13-14, 1. Gustavo Valery, SOFLO 58.66; SOFLO: 2. Alfredo Mesa 1:01.95, 3. Diego Rodriguez 1:04.50, 4. Cristian Rossi 1:06.16, 6. Alexander Viloria 1:09.75, 7. Jack Davies 1:09.94, 8. Simon Ortiz 1;11.60, 9. Luiz Hosfeld 1:23.52,  10. Matthew Cooper 1:24.79, 13. Marco Crespo 1:22.87, 14. Mathew Delvalle 1:23.00, 16. Bryan Moran 1:44.07; 15-and-over, 1. Mateo Robles, Devilrays 1:01.62; SOFLO: 2. Fernando Quintero 1:02.17, 3. Edward Kon 1:05.20, 5. Juan Saldana 1:07.02, 7. Juan Deiros 1:55.60.  

50-yard breaststroke: 13-14, 1. Alex Monti, SOFLO 30.25; SOFLO: 2. Jonathan Strod 32.34, 4. Matthew Cooper 38.31, 6. Andres Menchaca 40.43, 7. Luiz Hosfeld 43.25; 15-and-over, 1. Matthew Mila, SOFLO 31.06;  SOFLO: 2. William Perry III 31.85, 4. Fernando Quintero 34.41,  11. Daniel Reyna and Juan Deiros, tie, 41.29, 14. Alex Saperstein 45.18.

100-yard butterfly: 13-14, 1. Julien Pinon, SOFLO 55.39; SOFLO: 2. Alex Monti 1:00.81, 3. Jonathan Strod 1:01.96, 5. Alfredo Mesa 1:02.85, 6. Diego Rodriguez 1:04.36, 7. Andres Menchaca 1:04.55, 8. Ryan Capote 1:04.62, 9. Alexander Viloria 1:06.60; 15-and-over, 1. Xavier Brown, SOFLO 55.28; SOFLO: 2. Matthew Gonzalez 56.24, 4. Teddy Sandoval 1:04.63.

50-yard freestyle: 13-14, 1. Gustavo Valery, SOFLO 224.50; SOFLO: 2. Cristian Rossi 24.67, 3. Ryan Capote 25.00, 4. Jonathan Strod 25.29, 5. Jordan Colon 25.48, 7. Simon Ortiz 28.57, 9. Luiz Hosfeld 30.70, 11. Jack Davies 30.80, 12. Marco Crespo 30.99, 14. Mathew Delvalle 32.26, 17. Bryan Moran 37.80, 15-and-over, 1. Xavier Brown, SOFLO 23.42; SOFLO: 2. Matthew Mila 23.65, 3. Matthew Gonzalez 24.34, 6. William Perry III 24.65, 14. Fernando Quintero 25.91, 15. Timur Kriiestorac 25.95, 16. Juan Saldana 26.43, 17. Derek Maguire 26.65, 18. Edward Kon 26.76, 19. Dylan Allen 26.78, 20. Derek Schwab 27.05, 21. Juan Deiros 28.02, 22. Daniel Reyna 28.82, 24. Alex Saperstein 33.7925. Michael Parra 49.77.

200-yard breaststroke: 13-14, 1. Alex Monti, SOFLO 2:23.24; SOFLO: 2. Jordan Colon 2:23.86, 3. Diego Rodriguez 2:42.35, 5. Matthew Cooper 3;13.58; 15-and-over, 1. Matthw Mila, SOFLO 2:33.61; SOFLO: 3. William Perry III 2:44.20.

200-yard individual medley: 13-14, 1. Julien Pinon, SOFLO 2:08.57; SOFLO: 2. Jordan Colon 2:11.36, 4. Alexander Viloria 2:26.31, 5. Andres Menchaca 2:28.75, 6. Simon Ortiz 2:39.83, 12. Cristian Rossi 2:33.60; 15-and-over, 1. Xavier Brown, SOFLO 2:15.31; SOFLO: 3. Juan Saldana 2:18.01, 4. Teddy Sandoval 2:18.05, 6. Daniel Lee 2:25.39, 12. Dylan Allen 2:30.56, 13. Daniel Lee 2:30.91.

500-yard freestyle: 13-and-over, 1. Luke Torres, SOFLO 4:54.24; SOFLO: 2. Julien Pinon 4:57.48, 3. Kyle Desrosiers 5:02.34, 4. Marco Hosfeld 5:02.56, 5. Alfredo Mesa 5:08.69, 6. Gustavo Valery 5:10.51, 7. Ryan Capote 5:25.71, 8. Teddy Sandoval 5:26.15, 9. Edward Kon 5:32.65, 10. Jack Davies 5:57.04.

IF YOU GO

What: Comets Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational

When: Sunday

Schedule timelines: Sunday, 13-and-over prelims, 8:30-10:22 a.m.; 12-and-under timed finals, 11:30 a.m.-1:25 p.m.; 13-and-over, 4:30-5:48 p.m.

Where: Academic Village Pool, 17189 Sheridan Street, Pembroke Pines

Admission and heat sheets: $3 per session. For information call 954-538-3721.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Isabella Pittinger won four events and posted three lifetime best times Saturday at the Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational at Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines.

Pittinger, 12, won the 11-12 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.74, bettering her previous best of 1:06.75; 100-yard butterfly in 1:07.96, bettering her previous best of 1:11.84 and 50-yard freestyle in 27.05, lowering her previous best of 27.07.

Pittinger was also a member of the winning 12-and-under 200-yard medley relay in 2:04.94 with teammates Megan Schimansky, Kelley Heron and Catharine Cooper.

Tristan Celestin led the SOFLO boys with three wins, including a career-best time swim.

Celestin, 12, won the 11-12 50-yard breaststroke in 29.06; 50-yard freestyle in 24.23 and 100-yard butterfly in a best time of 1:03.28, lowering his previous best of 1:05.09.

Celestin was also a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay in 1:52.68 with teammates Juan Lucas, Carlos Rodriguez and Kevin Porto.

Other SOFLO champions were:

Annita Huang, 10, 100-yard backstroke, 1:14.48, best time

Kelley Heron, 12, 50-yard breaststroke, 34.52

Sophia Bucaro, 12, 500-yard freestyle, 5:23.31, best time

Rafael Rodriguez, 10, 100-yard backstroke, 1:11.97, best time and 50-yard freestyle, 29.00, best time

Juan Lucas, 12, 100-yard backstroke, 1:00.10 and 500-yard freestyle, 5:14.42, best time

Jonathan Skarie, 9, 50-yard breaststroke, 37.52, best time and 100-yard butterfly, 1:12.47, best time.

The three-day meet ends today for the 12-and-under swimmers with timed finals at 11:30 a.m.

GIRLS

100-yard backstroke: 10-and-under, 1. Annita Huang, SOFLO 1:14.48; SOFLO: 2. Vanessa Mesa 1:15.30, 3. Anabel Vazquez 1:19.04, 4. Gabby Beltrano 1:22.15, 5. Elise Larin 1:25.43, 6. Michelle Marinheiro 1:27.83, 7. Kyana Castro 1:28.77, 8. Mikaela De Gracia 1:31.00, 9. Natalie Simm 1:31.49, 10. Sarah Schimansky 1:31.80, 12. Isabella Di Salvo 1:33.45, 13. Trinity Hoyos 1:35.80, 15. Maria Carrillo 1:40.62, 16. Treasure D’Souza 1:42.44, 18. Morgan Cavanagh 1:46.79, 19. Emma Perera 1:48.12, 20. Salma Hegazy 1:48.36, 21. Taylor Lindauer 1:49.26, 22. Nivedha Natarajan 1:54.91, 23. Ivanna Fregoso 1:57.54, 25. Sophia Bedoya 1:58.44; COMETS: 11. Sara Quintero 1:33.38, 17. Katrina Del Vecchio 1:42.45; CORAL SPRINGS: 14. Emma Gomez 1:39.78, 24. Victoria Grimaldi 1:58.12; 11-12, 1. Isabella Pittinger, SOFLO 1:05.74; SOFLO: 2. Kelley Heron 1:06.31, 3. Sophia Bucaro 1:08.03, 4. Alani Carrasco 1:11.55, 5. Megan Schimansky 1:11.87, 6. Anna Montgomery 1:16.07, 9. Valentina Diaz 1:19.46, 11. Ashley Tan 1:20.21, 13. Lauren Simm 1:20.78, 14. Zariya Harris 1:21.35, 15. Isabel Shashaty 1:23.14, 17. Alexandra Crespo 1:23.34, 18. Adrianne Silva 1:23.90, 19. Daniela Gomez 1:26.80, 20. Beliz Aral 1:28.27, 21. Catalin Grant 1:28.35, 23. Catalina Lizarazo 1:31.74, 25. Brittney 1:40.19, 26. Anna Gally 1:41.90.

50-yard breaststroke: 10-and-under, 1. Andrea Santander, Miami Beach 36.83; SOFLO: 2. Elise Larin 40.87, 4. Gabby Beltrano 44.76, 5. Mikaela De Gracia 46.59, 6. Isabella Di Salvo 46.69, 7. Brooke Cordoba 46.73, 8. Natalie Simm 47.21, 9. Sarah Schimansky 47.94, 10. Treasure D’Souza 48.54, 11. Kailey Norusis 49.34, 12. Kyana Castro 50.04, 14. Trinity Hoyos 52.60, 20. Emma Perera 55.70, 21. Salma Hegazy 56.85, 22. Giulianna Garcia 57.28, 25. Nivedha Natarajan 58.07, 26. Tyler Williams 58.08, 28. Ivanna Fregoso 1:00.57, 30. Maria Carrillo 1:00.76, 31. Sophia Bedoya 1:04.89, 32. Morgan Cavanagh 1:05.65, 33. Valerie Kon 1:06.00; COMETS: 17. Katrina Del Vecchio 54.16, 18. Sara Quintero 54.74, 19. Gretchen Montgomery 55.42; CORAL SPRINGS: 29. Victoria Grimaldi 1:00.66; 11-12, 1. Kelley Heron, SOFLO 34.52; SOFLO: 2. Delanie Perez 36.37, 4. Jennifer Rodriguez 38.68, 6. Katherine DeBarros 40.13, 7. Lauren Simm 40.37, 9. Alexandra Crespo 42.59, 10. Carly Brewington 44.03, 11. Valeria Alfageme 44.41, 12. Kellie Wilcox 44.82, 14. Beliz Aral 44.98, 15. Lauren Smith 45.08, 18. Catalin Grant 49.25, 19. Anna Gally 51.47, 21. Brittney Parra 56.16.

100-yard butterfly: 10-and-under, 1. Andrea Santander, Miami Beach 1:14.57; SOFLO: 2. Vanessa Mesa 1:16.35, 4. Anabel Vazquez 1:37.67, 5. Elise Larin 1:44.18, 6. Michelle Marinheiro 1:46.51; 11-12, 1. Isabella Pittinger, SOFLO 1:07.92; SOFLO: 2. Bianca Monti 1:08.40, 3. Sarah Bucaro 1:11.58, 4. Alani Carrasco 1:13.40, 5. Delanie Perez 1:14.00, 6. Andrea Bucaro 1:14.10, 7. Jennifer Rodriguez 1:18.49, 11. Ashley Tan 1:24.85, 12. Isabel Shashaty 1:29.74, 13. Zarriya Harris 1:30.43, 14. Valentina Diaz 1:31.84, 15. Catalina Lizarazo 1:36.83.

50-yard freestyle: 10-and-under, 1. Andrea Santander, Miami Beach 28.30; SOFLO: 2. Annita Huang 30.77, 3. Anabel Vazquez 32.68, 5. Kyana Castro 34.22, 7. Sarah Schimansky 34.59, 8. Michelle Marinheiro 35.71, 9. Isabella DiSalvo 35.77, 10. Savanha Saunders 35.89, 12. Gabby Beltrano 35.97, 13. Natalie Simm 36.06, 17. Treasure D’Souza 37.10, 18. Maria Carrillo 37.66, 19. Trinity Hoyos 38.01, 20. Brooke Cordoba 38.43, 21. Giulianna Garcia 41.30, 22. Taylor Lindauer 41.48, 23. Emma Perera 41.90, 28. Ivanna Fregoso 44.26, 31. Morgan Cavanagh 46.13, 32. Kailey Norusis 46.86, 33. Salma Hegazy 46.87, 34. Tyler Williams 47.09, 37. Nivedha Natarajan 48.96, 40. Valerie Kon 49.59, 41. Sophia Bedoya 52.33; COMETS: 15. Sara Quintero 36.46, 25. Katrina Del Vecchio 43.60, 39. Gretchen Montgomery 49.33; CORAL SPRINGS: 16. Emma Gomez 37.03, 29. Meredith McDade 45.51, 36. Victoria Grimaldi 48.18; 11-12, 1. Isabella Pittinger, SOFLO 27.05; SOFLO: 2. Sophia Bucaro 27.55, 3. Bianca Monti 27.64, 5. Alani Carrasco 28.38, 6. Megan Schimansky 29.74, 7. Sarah Bucaro 29.81, 13. Ashley Tan 31.22, 14. Katherine De Barros 31.33, 15. Valentina Diaz 31.45, 17. Zariya Harris 31.79, 18. Anna Montgomery 32.19, 19. Valeria Alfageme 32.20, 20. Lauren Smith 32.96, 21. Isabel Shashaty 33.09, 22. Catalina Lizarazo 33.40, 23. Adrianne Silva 33.58, 24. Lauren Simm 33.59, 25. Alexandra Crespo 33.76, 26. Carly Brewington 33.83, 27. Beliz Aral 34.03, 31. Kellie Wilcox 34.74, 32. Catalin Grant 35.86, 33. Daniela Gomez 36.54, 37. Anna Gally 38.71, 38. Brittney Parra 40.13.      

200-yard medley relay: 12-and-under, 1. SOFLO A 2:04.94 (Megan Schimansky, Kelley Heron, Isabella Pittinger, Catharine Cooper), 2. SOFLO B 2:09.09, 3. SOFLO C 2:16.89, 4. SOFLO E 2:25.08, 5. SOFLO G 2:37.15, 6. SOFLO I 2:39.88, 7. SOFLO F 2:41.05, 8. SOFLO D 2:47.28, 9. SOFLO H 3:08.04, 10. SOFLO J 3:14.01.

500-yard freestyle: 10-and-under, 1. Vanessa Mesa, SOFLO 6:02.18; SOFLO: 2. Annita Huang 6:16.61; 11-12, 1. Sophia Bucaro, SOFLO 5:23.31; SOFLO: 2. Kelley Heron 5:27.69, 3. Bianca Monti 5:40.02, 4. Catharine Cooper 5:43.72, 5. Andrea Bucaro 5:50.88, 6. Delanie Perez 5:51.02, 7. Jennifer Rodriguez 5:55.80, 8. Megan Schimansky 5:59.58, 9. Katherine DeBarros 6:12.12, 10. Anna Montgomery 6:33.32.

BOYS

100-yard backstroke: 10-and-under, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 1:11.97; SOFLO: 2. Bryant Segui 1:15.02, 3. Leonardo Mateus 1:15.27, 4. Joseph Lee 1:22.11, 5. Derek Tom 1:23.46, 7. Nicolas Drolet 1:24.93, 8. Tomas Pelaez 1:26.92, 10. Joshua Hanks 1:27.39, 11. Gabriel Saavedra 1:28.41, 12. John Paul Handal 1:33.81, 13. Akira Huang 1:36.23, 14. Dylan Face 1:37.12, 15. Roberto Garrido 1:40.66, 16. Gianni Savino 1:42.09, 18. Sebastian Sevilla 1:46.45, 19. Marcos Vazquez 1:55.49, 20. Anthony Gutierrez 2:08.02; COMETS: 9. Nicolas Rossi 1:26.93, 17. Zackary Harris 1:42.16; 11-12, 1. Juan Lucas, SOFLO 1:00.10; SOFLO: 2. Kevin Porto 1:04.95, 4. Andres Lares 1:06.71, 5. Ricardo Roche 1:07.11, 6. Bruno Berti 1:07.74, 7. Rodrigo Rodriguez 1:09.91, 8. Collin Burt 1:09.97, 9. Samuel Quintero 1:10.41, 10. Estaban Diaz-Velasco 1:11.37, 12. Miguel Hernandez 1:17.22, 13. Matthew Liang 1:17.48, 14. Nicolas Raimont 1:19.91, 15. Jonathan Drolet 1:22.14, 16. Andrew Molko 1:23.81, 18. Andres Arias 1:24.73, 20. Noah Molko 1:35.99, 21. Sergio Morizot-Leite 1:37.46, 22. Kyle Oliver 1:38.76, 23. Hernando Lugo 1:44.66, 25. Ethan Hew 1:45.96, 26. Juan Gutierrez 1:46.74.

50-yard breaststroke: 10-and-under, 1. Jonathan Skarie, SOFLO 37.52; SOFLO: 2. Brandon Moran 38.20, 4. Gianni Savino 44.44, 5. Joshua Hanks 47.55, 6. Tomas Pelaez 47.78, 7. Luis Bucaro 48.12, 8. Alexander Meyer 48.58, 9. Gabriel Saavedra 50.02, 10. John Paul Handal 50.66,11. Connor Marks 52.27, 12. Sebastian Sevilla 52.64, 13. Dylan Face 54.60, 15. Akira Huang 55.08, 16. Brooks Brown 55.17, 17. Andrew McDade 55.73, 21. Roberto Garrido 1:00.36, 22. Anthony Gutierrez 1:00.73, 24. Marcos Vazquez 1:02.43; COMETS: 19. Zackary Harris 56.90; CORAL SPRINGS: 25. Bennett Brown 1:07.15; 11-12, 1. Tristan Celestin, SOFLO 29.06; SOFLO: 3. Carlos Rodriguez 35.19, 4. C.J. Kopecki 36.91, 5. Tyler Gibson 36.96, 6. Juan Lucas 37.09, 7. Rodrigo Rodriguez 37.25, 8. Bruno Berti 37.31, 9. Samuel Quintero 38.38, 10. Matthew Menocal 39.60, 12. Jonathan Drolet 41.92, 14. Andres Arias 45.04, 15. Andre Molko 45.74, 18. Sergio Morizot-Leite 48.95, 20. Ethan Hew 51.07, 21. Christopher Perez 51.13, 23. Hernando Lugo 51.71,24. Noah Molko 51.87, 25. Bryce Carro 53.31, 27. Curtis Marcoux 54.73.

100-yard butterfly: 10-and-under, 1. Jonathan Skarie, SOFLO 1:12.47; SOFLO: 2. Bryant Segui 1:15.09, 6. Nicolas Drolet 1:31.18, 7. Joseph Lee 1:33.62, 8. Alexander Meyer 1:34.91, 9. Derek Tom 1:35.26; COMETS: 10. Nicolas Rossi 1:45.67; 11-12, 1. Tristan Celestin, SOFLO 1:03.28; SOFLO: 2. Carlos Rodriguez 1:03.41, 4. Kevin Porto 1:06.98, 5. Andres Lares 1:08.00, 6. C.J. Kopecki 1:12.14, 7. Collin Burt 1:12.76, 8. Ricardo Roche 1:14.26, 9. Estaban Diaz-Velasco 1:20.90, 11. Nicolas Raimont 1:28.47.

50-yard freestyle: 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOLO 29.00; SOFLO: 3. Jonathan Skarie 30.24, 5. Brandon Moran 31.48, 6. Connor Marks 32.38, 9. Luis Bucaro 34.88, 10. Derek Tom 34.95, 11. Andrew McDade 35.07, 12. Nicolas Drolet 35.51, 13. Gianni Savino 35.60, 15. Joseph Lee 36.35, 16. Alexander Meyer 36.55, 17. Joshua Hanks 37.09,18. Tomas Pelaez 37.10, 20. John Paul Handal 37.12, 21. Akira Huang 38.75, 22. Gabriel Saavedra 38.96, 23. Dylan Face 39.11, 24. Sebastian Sevilla 39.58, 28. Brooks Brown 41.74, 36. Marcos Vazquez 45.55, 40. Roberto Garrido 50.39, 41. Joe Turner 53.20, 42. Anthony Gutierrez 56.94; COMETS: 7. Nicolas Rossi 32.64, 33. Zackary Harris 42.28; CORAL SPRINGS: 38. Bennett Brown 46.49; 11-12, 1. Tristan Celestin, SOFLO 24.23; SOFLO: 2. Bruno Berti 27.24, 3. Rodrigo Rodriguez 27.84, 4. Collin Burt 28.36, 5. Matthew Menocal 28.60, 6. Miguel Hernandez 28.68, 8. Estaban Diaz-Velasco 29.79, 9. Matthew Liang 30.48, 10. Tyler Gibson 31.34, 11. Nicolas Raimont 31.42, 12. Andre Molko 31.96, 16. Andres Arias 33.15, 17. Jonathan Drolet 33.21, 19. Sergio Morizot-Leite 35.16, 24. Bryce Carro 37.25, 25. Noah Molko 38.43, 28. Christopher Perez 39.65, 30. Hernando Lugo 40.21, 32. Kyle Oliver 41.32, 33. Juan Gutierrez 42.98, 34. Curtis Marcoux 43.52, 35. Ethan Hew 45.66.

200-yard medley relay: 12-and-under, 1. SOFLO A 1:52.68 (Juan Lucas, Tristan Celestin, Carlos Rodriguez, Kevin Porto), 2. SOFLO C 2:10.61, 3. SOFLO B 2:01.89, 4. SOFLO D 2:16.49, 5. SOFLO E 2:23.15, 6. SOFLO G 2:42.86, 7. SOFLO H 2:45.81, 8. SOFLO I 2:58.02.

500-yard freestyle: 10-and-under, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 5:56.10; SOFLO: 2. Bryant Segui 6:13.35, 3. Brandon Moran 6:17.74, 4. Leonardo Mateus 6:18.42; 11-12, 1. Juan Lucas, SOFLO 5:14.42; SOFLO: 2. Carlos Rodriguez 5:21.55, 3. Kevin Porto 5:23.89, 4. Ricardo Roche 5:29.67, 6. Andres Lares 5:42.95, 8. C.J. Kopecki 5:47.23, 9. Matthew Menocal 5:47.54, 10. Samuel Quintero 5:47.93, 11. Tyler Gibson 6:18.01, 12. Matthew Liang 6:18.77, 13. Miguel Hernandez 6:18.83. 

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Carlos Rodriguez saw his hard work pay off Friday on the opening day of the Comets Florida Gold Coast Invitational.

The 12-year-old South Florida Aquatic Club swimmer won two events in lifetime best times in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley at the Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines.

For the first time in his swimming career, Rodriguez cracked the 2-minute barrier in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.27, bettering his previous best of 2:00.53. He also won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:16.89, another big time drop from his previous best of 2:21.65.

“I was so happy because I broke two minutes,” Rodriguez said. “This is what I was going for. I’ve been dreaming about it for a while. It helped having so many good swimmers push me.”

SOFLO teammates Tristan Celestin, Kevin Porto and Rodrigo Rodriguez pushed Carlos Rodriguez during the 200-yard freestyle race that produced fourteen career-best times from swimmers.

What also helped was the added training Rodriguez put in over the holidays. Rodriguez is competing in seven events during the meet.

“I was nervous before my race,” Rodriguez said. “After all the winter training you want to know what the outcome will be. You want to see how all the practice turns out. This was definitely one of my top wins. I am still hoping for more. Coach Anderson is right about putting in the extra training. It helps you swim fast.”

After taking up the sport three years ago, the Pembroke Pines Charter West seventh grader is beginning to take the sport seriously.

“I like the sport,” he said. “It helps when your teammates and coaches encourage you. It’s a fun atmosphere and it’s great being around your friends. I played soccer and baseball before but I enjoyed swimming a lot more.”

Rodriguez ages-up on February 10 when he turns 13. “I want to swim faster and get a sectional cut,” he said.

SOFLO dominated opening night action winning nine out of ten events and turning in 88 career-best times, 47 by the girls team and 41 by the boys.

On a perfect night for swimming, the most impressive event was the 1,650-yard freestyle where twenty SOFLO swimmers improved their times.

Melissa Marinheiro, 14, won the mile in 17:13.67 bettering her previous best of 18:21.01. Runner-up Leonie Davies also had a huge time drop in 17:43.97 bettering her previous best of 18:15.60. Marc Rojas, 17, won the boys race in 16:14.30, bettering his previous best of 16:29.96.

The three-day meet continues Saturday with prelims and finals for the older swimmers and timed finals for the 12-and-under swimmers.

FRIDAY SESSION ONE RESULTS

GIRLS

1,650-yard freestyle: 1. Melissa Marinheiro, SOFLO 17:13.67; SOFLO: 2. Leonie Davies 17:43.97, 3. Maria Lopez 18:08.08, 4. Jessica Rodriguez 18:15.32, 5. Sophia Bucaro 18:20.77, 6. Haley Wright 18:23.33, 7. Kylie Herman 18:25.53, 8. Kelley Heron 18:43.11, 9. Daniela Jimenez 19:10.29, 10. Evelyn Jimenez 19:23.74, 11. Andrea Melendez 19:33.74, 12. Stephanie Mlujeak 19:40.62, 13. Sarah Bucaro 19:41.24, 14. Alani Carrasco 19:41.93, 17. Megan Schimansky 20:23.86, 20. Astrid Rigau 21:36.45, 21. Anna Montgomery 22:05.14.

200-yard freestyle: 10-and-under, 1. Vanessa Mesa, SOFLO 2:16.85; SOFLO: 2. Annita Huang 2:21.59, 4. Delaney Biro 2:27.05, 5. Anabel Vazquez 2:32.45, 6. Elise Larin 2:36.71, 8. Kyana Castro 2:41.95, 9. Sarah Schimansky 2:44.44, 10. Michelle Marinheiro 2:45.96, 11. Mikaela De Gracia 2:50.47, 13. Trinity Hoyos 3:04.45, 15. Morgan Cavanagh 3:27.03, 17. Valerie Kon 3:48.89, 18. Sophia Bedoya 4:07.44; COMETS: 12. Sara Quintero 2:59.98, 14. Katrina Del Vecchio 3:12.86; CORAL SPRINGS: 16. Victoria Grimaldi 3:34.80; 11-12, 1. Bianca Monti, SOFLO 2:07.19; SOFLO: 2. Isabella Pittinger 2:11.02, 3. Delanie Perez 2:11.98, 4. Andrea Bucaro 2:12.16, 5. Jennifer Rodriguez 2:17.68, 6. Katherine De Barros 2:23.61, 9. Zariya Harris 2:31.21, 10. Valentina Diaz 2:31.41, 11. Adrianne Silva 2:35.49, 12. Catalina Lizarazo 2:39.05, 13. Isabel Shashaty 2:40.54, 14. Kellie Wilcox 2:48.35, 15. Daniela Gomez 2:56.83. 

200-yard individual medley: 1. Andrea Santander, Miami Beach 2:35.58; SOFLO: 2. Vanessa Mesa 2:41.27, 4. Annita Huang 2:48.25, 5. Anabel Vazquez 2:57.92, 6. Elise Larin 2:58.88, 8. Sarah Schimansky 3:13.72, 9. Mikaela De Gracia 3:15.02, 10. Kyana Castro 3:15.53, 11. Julie Mason 3:16.75, 12. Michelle Marinheiro 3:18.79; CORAL SPRINGS: 13. Olivia Mason 3:42.76; 11-12, 1. Bianca Monti, SOFLO 2:25.32; SOFLO: 2. Delanie Perez 2:32.15, 3. Isabella Pittinger 2:34.21, 4. Andrea Bucaro 2:34.56, 5. Jennifer Rodriguez 2:38.48, 6. Katherine De Barros 2:39.30, 10. Valentina Diaz 2:51.46, 11. Alexandra Crespo 2:54.09, 12. Hannah Virgin 2:54.21, 13. Isabel Shashaty 3:01.63, 14. Zariya Harris 3:02.94, 15. Catalina Lizarazo 3:04.24.

BOYS

1,650-yard freestyle: 1. Marc Rojas, SOFLO 16:14.30; SOFLO: 2. Julien Pinon 17:05.73, 3. Roger Capote 17:51.38, 4. Alfredo Mesa 17:52.35, 5. Jordan Colon 18:03.01, 6. Matthew Mila 18:05.88, 7. Matthew Gonzalez 18:10.34, 8. Edward Kon 18:11.09, 9. Jonathan Strod 18:20.88, 10. Teddy Sandoval 18:31.24, 11. Fernando Quintero 18:47.43, 13. Jack Davies 19:20.73, 15. Samuel Quintero 19:40.69, 16. Andres Lares 19:43.34, 17. William Perry III 19:49.32, 18. Xavier Brown 19:57.90, 20. Cristian Rossi 20:16.95, 23. Josh Coote 20:57.23, 24. Matthew Cooper 23:31.64.

200-yard freestyle: 10-and-under, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 2:15.87; SOFLO: 2. Bryant Segui 2:24.77, 3. Brandon Mora 2:25.29, 4. Leonardo Mateus 2:26.63, 5. Derek Tom 2:42.79, 6. Luis Bucaro 2:43.69, 8. Gianni savino 2:44.86, 9. Nicolas Drolet 2:46.52, 10. Tomas Pelaez 2:51.45; COMETS: 7. Nicolas Rossi 2:43.73; 11-12, 1. Carlos Rodriguez, SOFLO 1:57.27; SOFLO: 2. Tristan Celestin 2:02.76, 3. Kevin Porto 2:03.55, 4. Rodrigo Rodriguez 2:06.47, 5. Ricardo Roche 2:07.21, 6. CJ Kopecki 2:10.26, 7. Matthew Menocal 2:11.70, 8. Tyler Gibson 2:15.53, 9. Collin Burt 2:17.42, 10. Miguel Hernandez 2:19.35, 11. Estaban Diaz-Velasco 2:19.55, 13. Matthew Liang 2:25.27, 14. Nicolas Raimont 2:37.79, 15. Andres Arias 2:38.59, 16. Jonathan Drolet 2:39.97, 17. Lorenzo Lanaro 2:40.45, 18. Sergio Morizot-Leite 2:56.10.

200-yard individual medley: 10-and-under, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 2:36.61; SOFLO: 2. Bryant Segui 2:43.53, 4. Leonardo Mateus 2:48.72, 5. Derek Tom 3:05.16, 6. Joshua Hanks 3:05.20, 7. Joseph Lee 3:06.35, 8. Nicolas Drolet 3:10.85, 9. Tomas Pelaez 3:11.36; COMETS: 10. Nicolas Rossi 3:11.37; 11-12, 1. Carlos Rodriguez, SOFLO 2:16.89; SOFLO: 2. Kevin Porto 2:23.38, 3. Ricardo Roche 2:27.11, 4. Rodrigo Rodriguez 2:28.05, 5. CJ Kopecki 2:30.77, 6. Matthew Menocal 2:36.39, 7. Tyler Gibson 2:36.41, 8. Miguel Hernandez 2:43.39, 9. Matthew Liang 2:44.58, 11. Estaban Diaz-Velasco 2:52.35, 12. Jonathan Drolet 2:58.56, 13. Lorenzo Lanaro 3:05.86.

IF YOU GO

What: Comets Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational

When: Saturday-Sunday

Schedule timelines: Saturday, 13-and-over prelims, 8:30-10:30 a.m., 12-and-under timed finals, 11:30 a.m.-1:39 p.m.; 13-and-over finals, 5:30-6:32 p.m.; Sunday, 13-and-over prelims, 8:30-10:22 a.m.; 12-and-under timed finals, 11:30 a.m.-1:25 p.m.; 13-and-over, 5:30-6:48 p.m.

Where: Academic Village Pool, 17189 Sheridan Street, Pembroke Pines

Admission: $3 per session. For information call 954-538-3721.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

In the recently released College Swimming Coaches Association of America Top 25 women’s poll, University of Florida and Florida State are ranked among the best in the nation.

The Gators are ranked second in the nation, while Florida State, with several South Florida Aquatic Club swimmers, is ranked 25^th.

Sophomore Tiffany Oliver leads the SOFLO contingent that also includes Ashley Hicks and Melissa Cooper.

California was the unanimous choice for No. 1 in the January poll. The PAC-12 Conference has four teams in the Top 10 and five teams in the Top 25.

Arizona State, with SOFLO’s Caroline Kuczynski, enjoying her best college season, is ranked No. 21 after a tough road trip at Cal-Berkeley and Stanford.

Former No. 1-ranked Georgia fell to No. 5 while the Gators moved up seven spots.

Indiana, with SOFLO’s Brittney Phelan, dominates the Big Ten and is ranked No. 12. The Big Ten has the most teams ranked with six in the Top 25.

In the men’s poll, University of Florida is the only state college moving up several spots ranked at No. 7. Arizona is No. 1 after their big wins over Pac-12 rivals.

Indiana, with SOFLO’s Olympic hopeful Nick Schwab is ranked No. 11 followed by No. 12 Louisville with former Coral Springs Swim Club swimmer Kevin Bandy.

Women’s poll: 1. Cal-Berkeley, 2. Florida, 3. Auburn, 4. Texas, 5. Georgia, 6. Texas A&M, 7. Southern California, 8. Stanford, 9. Arizona, 10. Tennessee, 11. Virginia, 12. Indiana, 13. SMU, 14. Ohio State, 15. Minnesota, 16. North Carolina, 17. Michigan, 18. Missouri, 19. Wisconsin, 20. Penn State, 21. Arizona State, 22. Maryland, 23. Louisiana State, 24. Louisville, 25. Florida State.

Men’s poll: 1. Arizona, 2. Texas, 3. Stanford, 4. Michigan, 5. Southern California, 6. Cal-Berkeley, 7. Florida, 8. Auburn, 9. Ohio State, 10. Georgia, 11. Indiana, 12. Louisville, 13. North Carolina, 14. Iowa, 15. Virginia, 16. Minnesota, 17. Purdue, 18. Texas A&M, 19. LSU, 20. Tennessee, 21. Virginia Tech, 22. Southern Methodist, 23. North Carolina State, 24. Princeton, 25. Missouri.

Euro Meet Begins Friday

Luxembourg’s Euro Meet, one of the best international meets particularly in the Olympic year, has attracted a talented field that begins competing in the three-day meet on Friday. The meet, that features prelims and finals, has attracted some of the best talent from Central and Eastern Europe including Germany, Czech Republic, Greece and Ukraine in addition to a few top swimmers from France, Israel, Great Britain and Aussie Ian Thorpe, still trying to work his way back onto the scene after a long layoff.

Miscellaneous

Seven Canadian swimmers will compete at the FINA World Cup Sunday in Brazil, an Olympic open water qualifier for the Canadian federation. Pan American Games gold medalist Richard Weinberger leads the Canadian contingent. Swimming Canada will select a team of four (two men, two women) to compete in the Olympic marathon qualifier in Portugal next June…Most of the top Australian swimmers will be competing in the South Australia Open State Championships Friday through Sunday, less than two months before Australia’s Olympic trials. James Magnussen, Eamon Sullivan, Matthew Abood and Emily Seebohm head the Aussie lineup…

Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman left Miami after training for a week and headed back to North Baltimore Aquatic Club on Thursday….Olympian Natalie Coughlin, also part of the Miami training camp, headed to New York City for the day on Thursday to promote her latest sponsor, Pantene. A video of her Pantene commercial can be found on her website at nataliecoughlin.com…Arena has signed 40-year-old Janet Evans, who came out of retirement and qualified for two events for the U.S. Olympic trials…Maryville University in St. Louis has added women’s swimming and diving to its athletic program for 2013. Maryville will compete at the NCAA Division II level.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

South Florida Aquatic Club heads the field for the Comets Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational that gets under way Friday at the Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines.

The field features a star-studded lineup of 12-and-unders and 13-and-overs from swimmers who train at SOFLO’s Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines and Mullins Park facilities.

With the high school season ended and holidays over, swimmers are now focused on club meets, racing and gauging their training.

The meet is a great opportunity for older athletes looking to race twice in their events in prelims and finals.

It’s also the last major short course meet before Feb. 17-19 Senior Championships in Plantation.

SOFLO swimmers dominate the top seeds. Among the No. 1 seeds are:

Delanie Perez, 11, 200-yard freestyle, 2:12.76.

Juan Lucas, 12, 200-yard freestyle, 1:57.28; 100-yard backstroke, 59.89; 50-yard backstroke, 28.24. 

Carlos Rodriguez, 12, 200-yard individual medley, 2:21.65; 100-yard butterfly 1:02.89; 500-yard freestyle, 5:16.41; 50-yard butterfly, 28.59.  

Leonie Davies, 15, 1,650-yard freestyle, 18:15.60.

Marc Rojas, 17, 1,650-yard freestyle, 16:29.96; 100-yard breaststroke 58.96; 200-yard freestyle, 1:43.25; 400-yard individual medley, 4:18.76.

Melissa Marinheiro, 14, 100-yard backstroke, 59.07; 500-yard freestyle, 4:57.53; 500-yard freestyle, 4:57.53; 100-yard freestyle 55.14; 200-yard backstroke, 2:07.99; 200-yard freestyle, 1:52.23.

Gustavo Valery, 13, 100-yard backstroke, 59.99; 200-yard backstroke 2:10.83.

Marcella Marinheiro, 17, 100-yard backstroke, 58.22; 100-yard freestyle, 53.66; 200-yard backstroke, 2:06.73; 400-yard individual medley, 4:42.87.

Alex Monti, 13, 50-yard breaststroke, 30.23.

Alia Atkinson, 23, 50-yard breaststroke, 28.61; 50-yard freestyle, 23.01.

Brandon Goldman, 16, 100-yard backstroke, 52.92; 200-yard individual medley, 1:54.40.

Xavier Brown, 17, 100-yard butterfly, 55.09; 50-yard freestyle, 22.53; 50-yard butterfly, 24.62.

Julien Pinon, 13, 100-yard butterfly 56.17; 100-yard freestyle, 49.69; 200-yard freestyle, 1:48.34.

Steph Campo, 14, 50-yard freestyle, 26.38.

Maria Lopez, 16, 100-yard butterfly, 58.76; 200-yard butterfly, 2:09.72.

Joao Silveira, 14, 50-yard freestyle, 23.50; 200-yard individual medley, 2:08.00.

Luke Torres, 17, 200-yard breaststroke, 2:07.47.

Marco Hosfeld, 15, 500-yard freestyle, 4:42.27.

Jessie Alcaide, 27, 200-yard individual medley, 2:12.03.

Isabella Pittinger, 12, 100-yard backstroke, 1:06.75; 50-yard freestyle, 27.07; 50-yard backstroke, 30.36; 50-yard butterfly, 28.62. 

Kelley Heron, 12, 50-yard breaststroke, 33.91; 100-yard breaststroke 1:13.25.

Tristan Celestin, 12, 50-yard breaststroke, 28.72; 100-yard breaststroke, 1:03.62; 100-yard freestyle, 53.21; 100-yard individual medley, 59.49.

Bianca Monti, 12, 100-yard butterfly 1:10.39.

Sophia Bucaro, 12, 500-yard freestyle, 5:25.46; 100-yard freestyle, 58.00.

Ivan Parada, 17, 100-yard freestyle, 49.13; 50-yard backstroke, 26.57.

Diego Rodriguez, 14, 50-yard backstroke, 31.11.

Kaitlin Armstrong, 15, 50-yard backstroke, 32.45.

Andres Menchaca, 14, 200-yard butterfly, 2:20.62.

Matthew Gonzalez, 17, 200-yard butterfly, 2:12.90.

Andrea Melendez, 14, 100-yard breaststroke, 1:17.57.

Jordan Colon, 14, 100-yard breaststroke, 1:08.60.

Fernando Quintero, 15, 200-yard backstroke, 2:22.27.

Amber Hunter, 16, 200-yard freestyle, 1:59.76.

The 12-and-under events are timed finals. The 13-and-over events have prelims and finals.

IF YOU GO

What: Comets Florida Gold Coast Open Invitational

When: Friday-Sunday

Schedule timelines: Friday, 5:30-8:22 p.m. timed finals; Saturday, 13-and-over prelims, 8:30-10:30 a.m., 12-and-under timed finals, 11:30 a.m.-1:39 p.m.; 13-and-over finals, 5:30-6:32 p.m.; Sunday, 13-and-over prelims, 8:30-10:22 a.m.; 12-and-under timed finals, 11:30 a.m.-1:25 p.m.; 13-and-over, 5:30-6:48 p.m.

Where: Academic Village Pool, 17189 Sheridan Street, Pembroke Pines

Admission: $3 per session. For information call 954-538-3721

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

The high school state water polo tournament is returning to South Florida.

The Florida High School Activities Association announced on Monday that the state tournament will be hosted at the multi-million aquatic facility at Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove.

The two-day tournament will be held April 27-28 this year and April 26-27 in 2013.

Ransom Everglades recently completed its renovations on its on-campus aquatic facility including a new Olympic-sized 50-meter pool.

Ransom Everglades has won the state girls water polo title the past three years.

The last time the tournament was held in South Florida was at St. Andrew’s in Boca Raton and Plantation in previous years. The past three years it was held at the Orlando YMCA.

Around South Florida

Swimming superstar Michael Phelps, his coach Bob Bowman, Natalie Coughlin and other top national team swimmers are training in Miami through Thursday. “Slept like a rock last night, training in the Miami sun has given me a nice tan, bonus,” Coughlin tweeted to her followers…SOFLO two-time Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson was among several elite swimmers shooting an Omega watch commercial ad in Miami on Tuesday…

Two-time Olympian Katie Hoff arrived in South Florida on Monday to train with her former North Baltimore coach Paul Yetter of T2 Aquatics in Naples. “Welcome to the East Coast,” tweeted Olympian Ryan Lochte, training in Gainesville with Gregg Troy. Hoff is among a handful of elite swimmers to leave the post-grad group at Fullerton (Calif.) Aquatics (FAST) recently. World record holder Kate Ziegler is returning to work with coach Ray Benecki and FISH Swim Club in McLean, Va. The two had worked together for nine years before Ziegler left for the west coast. Breaststroker Ed Moses and Whitney Myers left to train with the post-grad group at Unievrsity of Arizona. This is Moses third training group since he came out of retirement to train for the 2012 Olympic trials…

University of Florida freshman Carlos Omana, a Florida Gold Coast swimmer for Metro Aquatics, was named this week’s Southeastern Conference Male Freshman Swimmer of the Week based on his performance against No. 7-ranked Auburn. Omana won the 400- and 800-yard freestyle events and led the No. 13 Gators to an upset win. It was Omana’s first SEC honor.

Around The Country

Seven-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, 40, also a triathlete during his early years, competed in his first 500-yard freestyle race at an age group meet in Austin, Tex. this past weekend. “Ouch, five minutes and 8 seconds of torture,” Armstrong tweeted from the Longhorn Aquatics New Year’s Classic. That time ranks him third this year in the U.S. Masters 40-44 age group…

Six-time Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte is featured in this month’s Men’s Health Magazine talking about his swimming, goals and dryland training…Breaststroker Rebecca Soni is among nine U.S. Olympic athletes that BP America will sponsor and help fans get to know  through virtual trading cards available in Bloomberg BusinessWeek Magazine…

Olympic hopeful and world record holder Missy Franklin, a junior, competed in the first of three high school meets for her high school team Regis Jesuit in Aurora, Colo. The 16-year-old’s team won, 163-152. She broke two pool records in the 100-yard backstroke (54.54) and 200-yard freestyle (1:51). She was also a member of the winning 200 medley relay team. “This is just great fun, great racing being with my friends and just enjoying ourselves,” Franklin said…

Kansas age group phenom Michael Andrew, 12, broke the 200-yard breaststroke national age group record at a meet in Independence, Mo. two weeks ago. Andrew swam a 2:13.33 at the Polar Bear Meet breaking the previous record if 2:13.52. It was Andrew’s 12^th national age group record overall (11 short course, 1 long course) and first longer than 100.

Around The World

Frenchman Julien Sauvage and Argentine Cecilia Biagoli, both 27, won the first leg of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in Rosario, Argentina. Twenty-five swimmers from eight countries competed. Sauvage won in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds. Biagoli won the race for the third year in a row in 2:24:28. The second event of the eight-leg series is January 29 in Santa Fe-Coronda, Argentina. 

SOFLO Tweet of the Week

“Only real athletes start their Saturday swimming 7,000-plus yards.”—Keegan Boisson-Yates

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

SOFLO’s Caroline Kuczynski and her No. 24-ranked Arizona State teammates survived a tough weekend of racing on the road against Stanford and California.

Kuczynski, a junior, was a member of the winning 400-yard medley relay that opened the Stanford meet in 3:42.30. Her splits were 25.12 and 54.74. She also led off the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team that won in 1:36.97. Her opening split was 24.42.

Kuczynski was third in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:03.10. Her 100 split was 59.52.

Stanford won the women’s meet, 132.5-97.5.

In the meet against No. 1 ranked California Bears, Kuczynski was second in the 100-yard butterfly in 55.95. Her 50 split was 26.49. She was also second in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:05.90.

She was fourth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:03.87. Her 100 split was 59.08.

Kuczynski was a member of ASU’s second place 200-yard medley relay team (1:41.85). Her split was 24.98.

California topped Arizona State, 169-114.

The Sun Devils return to training until their Feb. 11 State Farm Territorial Cup meet against rival Arizona.

Schwab, Phelan Part Of History

SOFLO’s Nick Schwab and Brittney Phelan, members of the Indiana University men’s and women’s swim teams, were part of the first ever live dual meet between Indiana and Purdue televised on the Big Ten Network this past weekend. The broadcast went well according to meet organizers and had positive feedback from viewers. Rowdy Gaines added to the quality of the telecast.

The Hoosiers swept the team titles. The men won 166-134 and the women won, 169-130.

Phelan, 19, was sixth in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke in 1:06.70.

Schwab, 21, was fourth in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke in a best time of 58.25; fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:04.93; fifth in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:54.59; and anchored the fourth place 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:11.83).

Grigull Wins Two Events For Iona

Iona College sophomore Justin Grigull won a pair of individual events in the Gaels’ 135-96 loss to Fordham University in New Rochelle, N.Y. Grigull won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:43.94 and 500-yard freestyle in 4:47.89. The Gaels compete against St. Peter’s on Tuesday.

O’Shaughnessy Wins For Seton Hall

Junior Ryan O’Shaughnessy won the 200-yard individual medley in 1:58.59 in the Pirates’ 187-111 loss to Connecticut in South Orange, N.J. The Pirates dropped to 8-2. O’Shaughnessy was also a member of the runner-up 200-yard medley relay team that finished in 1:37.70. Seton Hall closes out its regular season against Marist College on Saturday.

WVU’s Bandy Places Third

Former Coral Springs Swim Club swimmer Kyle Bandy, 20, of West Virginia was third in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:52.95 in the Mountaineers’ 180-120 loss to Maryland in Morgantown, Va.  He was also fifth in the 100-yard butterfly in 51.67.

Gautieri, Bucknell Upset Lehigh

Bucknell knocked off Lehigh for the second consecutive season, 189-111, in a Patriot League meet and final dual meet of the season. Gina Gautieri, 18, was fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.40. She was also a member of the sixth-place 200-yard medley relay (1:58.47). Her relay split was 33.69. Bucknell ends its regular season on Saturday at the Navy Invitational.

Western Kentucky Wins

Western Kentucky, after a successful winter training trip to SOFLO’s Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines, returned to its home pool to sweep the University of the Cumberlands at Bill Powell Natatorium. Western Kentucky senior Stephanie Martin set a school and pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:16.65 to highlight the win. Martin broke her own record of 2:17 set at the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Championships. The women’s team won, 167-69, to improve to 9-1 and the men’s team won, 173-79, to improve to 7-1. WKU won a total of 22 events including seven swimmers who each won two events.

Florida Defeats Auburn On Senior Day

No. 9-ranked University of Florida sent off its seniors on a winning note Saturday with a 162-136 win over No. 7-ranked Auburn in a Southeastern Conference women’s matchup at the O’Connell Center. The No. 13-ranked men’s team also won, 153-147. “It was a good intense competition,” said senior Teresa Crippen. “It was our last home event, and I was very excited about it.” Crippen is the most decorated senior with 11 All-American and eight All-SEC team selections. Freshman Carlos Omana of Miami won the 400- and 800-meter freestyle events in 4:03.68 and 8:22.22 respectively. Florida combined to win 17 events and swept four races. The Gators return to competition this weekend against Tennessee in Knoxville. 

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Tristan Celestin of the South Florida Aquatic Club added a few more records to his impressive age group swimming resume at this past weekend’s fifth annual Scotty Invite at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.

Celestin, 12, broke three Florida Gold Coast 11-12 age group records, including two five-year-old records held by Daniel Spas of Heritage Aquatics, won six individual 11-12 events and finished second in a ‘boys open’ event.

“With two weeks before his 13^th birthday, Tristan wanted to try and grab a few more records before he ages up,” said SOFLO/Coral Springs coach David Cowmeadow.

Celestin trains with Cowmeadow at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.

On Saturday, Celestin broke the age group records in the 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard individual medley.

Celestin broke his own record of 29.35 in the 50-yard breaststroke set on Nov. 17, 2011 in a best time of 28.72. The time also earned him a spot on USA Swimming’s All-Time Top 10 list.

Celestin broke the five-year-old 11-12 100-yard individual medley record of 59.68 set Nov. 15, 2007 in 59.49, another lifetime best.

Celestin also won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.99.

On Sunday, Celestin broke the five-year-old 11-12 100-yard breaststroke record in 1:03.62. The previous record of 1:04.10 was set by Spas on Nov. 15, 2007.

Celestin won the 100-yard freestyle in 53.21 just off his best time of 53.20 and 50-yard butterfly in 27.40.

Celestin was second in the boys open 200-yard breaststroke in 2:23.27 behind Quinn Cassidy, 16, of St. Andrew’s. He was the youngest in the boys’ field.

“The neat thing about this race is that he chose to race the ‘big boys’ in the open category and still placed second,” Cowmeadow said.

The only other SOFLO swimmer to compete was Hannah Virgin. Virgin, 11, finished the 11-12 50-yard breaststroke in 40.81 and 200-yard freestyle in 2:26.79.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Jessie Alcaide and Alia Atkinson will get in a little extra racing Friday and Saturday at the Nike Swim Team Challenge at the Orlando YMCA Aquatic Center.

Alcaide, 27, and Atkinson, 23, head the field of 701 swimmers and 23 teams.

Nike-sponsored SOFLO is one of two Florida Gold Coast teams competing. The other is Boca Raton-based Performance Aquatics. The remaining teams are from Florida Swimming.

Alcaide is entered in three events. She is the No. 1 seed in the 100-yard butterfly (54.61) and 100-yard freestyle (49.86) and No. 2 seed in the 50-yard freestyle (23.08).

Atkinson, a two-time Jamaican Olympian, will compete in five events. She is the top seed in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.44), 200-yard individual medley (2:04.29) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:11.90).

Atkinson is seeded second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.07) and third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.85).

Atkinson Award Finalist

SOFLO’s Alia Atkinson, a runner-up last year, is among finalists for the RJR Sports Foundation National Sportswoman of the Year Award Friday night.

The 51^st annual event will honor the top male and female athletes from

Jamaica at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

Track and field stars Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake are the favorites for the men’s honor.

Track star Veronica Campbell-Brown, boxer Alicia Ashley and Atkinson, silver medalist at the Pan American Games, are the leading favorites for the women’s award.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

In the midst of heavy training, Florida State women’s team, led by South Florida Aquatic Club’s Tiffany Oliver picked up three wins this past weekend over Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Florida Atlantic University.

Oliver, a sophomore, won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.39 in the Seminoles’ 185-106 win over Georgia Tech and 160-135 over North Carolina State in Atlanta. Both are Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.

Oliver was fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in 51.76.

Oliver anchored and SOFLO’s Melissa Cooper swam third leg of FSU’s runner-up 200-yard medley relay team (1:45.53).

In the backstroke, sophomore Ashley Hicks came up with her first victory of the season in the 100-yard backstroke in 55.86. She was second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:01.61.

Cooper, also a sophomore, was sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.22 and 11^th in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:31.84.

In the men’s competition, FSU defeated Georgia Tech, 162.5-137.5, and lost to N.C. State, 176-122.

Alex Rodriguez was ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.69.

Against Florida Atlantic Friday in the Seminoles final home meet of the season, Oliver won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.65 as FSU’s women’s team won 127-96 and the men’s team won 131-96. Oliver’s splits were 25.89, 28.45, 28.53 and 27.78.

Oliver also anchored the winning 200-yard medley relay that won in 1:45.11. Ashley Hicks was second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:01.70.

Alex Rodriguez was a member of FSU’s winning 200-yard medley relay that won in 1:32.96. Anthony Fermin was sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.83.

“With our dual meet season coming to a close, we’ve put in a lot of hard work and we’re going to continue on and get ready for our conference meet,” FSU coach Neil Harper said.

“I’m proud of the team. It’s difficult and challenging to swim Friday night at home against Florida Atlantic and then get on a bus and head to Atlanta to take on two ACC opponents.”

Kuczynski Wins Big For Arizona State

Junior Caroline Kuczynski of SOFLO was a double winner in the Sun Devils’ 122-117 victory over Brigham Young after the holiday break.

Kuczynski, a Canadian Olympic hopeful, won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:05.95 and 200-yard butterfly in 2:03.69. She was also a member of the runner-up 200-yard medley relay that finished in 1:44.07.

The meet came down to the last event for the No. 24-ranked Sun Devils.

Against Utah in a 178-100 victory, Kuczynski won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:04.76, was second in the 100-yard butterfly in 56.03 and was a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:42.72).

ASU will be on a California swing on Friday against Stanford and Saturday against defending national champion California.

Gautieri, Bucknell Survive Busy Schedule

Bucknell freshman Gina Gautieri, after more than a month’s break with her teammates, finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:12.12 and fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:33.35 in Bucknell’s 198-97 win over Army. In Bucknell’s 165-133 win over Colgate, Gautieri was sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:12.20 and ninth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.82. Gautieri was second in the 200-yard breaststroke in a season-best 2:29.98 in a loss against Rutgers.

Grigull Takes Third During Training Trip

Last Tuesday former Coral Springs Swim Club swimmer Justin Grigull, a sophomore at Iona College, was third in the 100-yard freestyle against Loyola and Butler during Iona College’s seven-day, 14 workout training trip in Puerto Rico in what was called a 15-event friendly invitational format.

Western Kentucky Tops NSU, FAU, IUPUI

Western Kentucky University, training at SOFLO’s Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines during the holiday break, swept Florida Atlantic, IUPUI and host Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale last Tuesday.

The Lady Toppers defeated FAU, 127-75; IUPUI, 148-53; and NSU, 136-65. The Hilltopper men’s team downed FAU, 110-88; IUPUI, 148-53 and NSU, 121-90.

WKU women improved to 8-1 and men are now 6-1.

“I thought they got up and raced really well,” WKU coach Bruce Marchionda said. “We did a very hard work out before the meet started to challenge them to step up. I thought they did a great job of racing even though they were a little tired. They competed very well.”

Gators Elliott SEC Freshman of the Week

University of Florida’s Matt Elliott earned his fourth Southeastern Conference Male Freshman of the Year honor for his performance at the SMU Classic last weekend in Dallas.

The freshman led the Gators to a third place finish. He was the only freshman to win an individual event at the meet. Elliott won the 200-yard breaststroke in a lifetime best and NCAA “B” provisional time of 1:57.79. His time is the fastest in the SEC this season and ranks 20^th in the nation.

The Gators will host their final home meet of the season on Saturday against SEC opponent Auburn at 10 a.m.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Ageless Janet Evans made her second U.S. Olympic trials cut on the third and final day of the Austin Grand Prix Sunday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Evans, a 40-year-old married mother of two, qualified in the 800-meter freestyle, her second qualifying time in three days since coming out of retirement.

Evans finished in 8:49.05. Evans still owns the American record in the event that she set in 1989.

“This is my first big event with fast kids since 1996,” Evans said. “I felt really good starting off, especially in the first 400 meters.”

Evans also qualified for the Trials in the 400-meter freestyle on Friday.

At 17, Evans set the world record in the 400, one of three gold medals she won at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She later set work marks in the 800 and 1,500 freestyles and retired after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“It was always my best event,” Evans said of the 800. “I remember what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve done, but it doesn’t affect me now. It was so long ago.”

Evans will now return to her training with veteran coach Mark Schubert in California for the trials in June.

Allison Schmitt, 21, of North Baltimore controlled the 800 race from start to finish to win in 8:31.94. “I am just trying to race,” Schmitt said. Chloe Sutton, 19, of Mission Viejo was second in 8:36.93 and Ashley Twichell, 22, of Mission Viejo was third in 8:37.29.

Two-time Kazakhstan Olympian Vlad Polyakov, 28, of South Florida Aquatic Club swimming in Lane 7, was seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:02.60 after a 32.58 opening split. Polyakov was sixth fastest qualifier in 1:02.90, off his seed time of 1:01.03.

In other championship finals:

Women’s 200-meter butterfly: Texas A&M’s Cammile Adams, 20, overtook former Florida swimmer Jemma Lowe, 21, of Great Britain to win her second event of the meet in 2:06.76. Adams took the lead after the first 100 in 1:01 but Lowe came back in the third 50 meters. The two were stroke-for-stroke in the last 20 meters until Adams surged ahead for another lifetime best by nearly four seconds. Her last split was 32.3. It was the ninth fastest time in the world for Adams who was not in the Top 150 last year. Lowe was second in 2:07.39 and Mackenzie Downing, 25, of Canada was third in 2:10.04. “This is the most training I have done in my entire life,” Adams said. “I am really happy and motivated. It’s nice to know all the training is working out for me.”

Men’s 200-meter butterfly: Without Michael Phelps in the field, the men’s race was wide open. David Russell, 25, of California Aquatics opened up nearly a body-length lead after the first 100 meters and was out-touched at the wall by South African Sebastien Rousseau, 21, of Gator Swim Club by 83/100ths in 2:00.83, nine seconds off Phelps’ world record. Russell finished second in 2:00.98 and Stefan Hirniak, 26, of Canada was third in 2:01.09. 

Women’s 100-meter breaststroke: Two-time world champion Rebecca Soni, 24, the fastest morning qualifier and Olympic favorite, led from wire-to-wire to win in 1:06.88. Breeja Larson, 19, of Texas A&M was second in 1:08.29 and Jillian Tyler, 23, of Canada was third in 1:08.33. “I was happy with the race,” Soni said. “I felt good coming home. I tried to pick up my tempo in the last 50. I am in a good place after all my training over the holiday and glad 2012 is here.”

Men’s 100-meter breaststroke: Against a strong men’s field, Mark Gangloff, 29, of Auburn Aquatics went out fast to take the lead and held on for the win in 1:08.08. Valerii Dymo, 26, of the Ukraine was second in 1:01.25 and Eric Shanteau, 28, of Trojan Aquatics was third in 1:01.54. Phelps, 26, swam the “B’ final in his worst stroke and finished first in 1:02.67. He shaved his full beard into a Fu Manchu for the race in honor of his Baltimore Ravens victory and. “It’s been a stroke change for me for length and speed,” Gangloff said. “I just kept telling myself to stay long, don’t go short on the stroke.”

Women’s 100-meter backstroke: Teenager Missy Franklin, 16, of Colorado Stars, reeled in early leader Rachel Bootsma, 18, of Aquajets in the final 20 meters to win in 59.92. Bootsma was second in 1:00.03 and Georgia Davies, 21, of Bolles was third in 1:00.67. “I would love to double in the backstroke but there is so much tough competition out there,” Franklin said. “I will swim whatever Team USA wants me to swim.”

Men’s 100-meter backstroke: Top morning qualifier Matt Grevers, 26, of Ford Aquatics, after the best start among the stacked men’s field, took the early lead and held off David Plummer (54.02) and Michael Phelps (54.09) to win in 53.55. He swept the meet’s backstroke events. “This time of the season that time is really exciting for me,” Grevers said. “Aaron Piersol has retired and I got silver in 2008 so that’s one more spot to improve.”

Women’s 200-meter individual medley: Olympian Natalie Coughlin, 29, of California Aquatics, led from wire-to-wire to win in 2:12.44. Katie Hoff was second in 2:12.95 and Kate Dwelley was third in 2:13.84. “I still feel there are so many things I can improve upon,” Coughlin said. “I was excited to swim that 200 IM tonight.”

Men’s 200-meter individual medley: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, racing side-by-side, were fun to watch but Phelps had the advantage. Phelps turned first in the butterfly, continued to lead in the backstroke and moved a half-body length ahead in the breaststroke and went on to win in 1:58.52. Lochte was second in 2:00.30 and Connor Dwyer was third in 2:01.59.  “I’m happy to get under 2 minutes with the 200s I had before, I am perfectly happy with that time,” Phelps said. “I tried to race as hard as I could. Being able to race three events in 50 minutes I am happy with.”

Men’s 1500-meter freestyle: Michael Klueh, 24, of Fast Swim Team swam away from a talented field to win in 15:25.33. Peter Vanderkaay, 27, was second in 15:39.43 and Thomas Allen 19, was third in 15:42.33. Joey Pedraza, 24, of Davie Nadadores was 15^th in 16:08.08.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

The second night of championship finals at the Austin Grand Prix gave a sneak preview of what’s to come at the U.S. Olympic trials in five months.

Sixteen-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, who has said he will not swim the 400-meter individual medley at the trials, turned in such an impressive swim that had swim great Rowdy Gaines second-guessing  his decision during a post-race interview.

Phelps, 26, of North Baltimore led from wire-to-wire and had more than a body length lead after the first 300 meters to win in 4:16.95. Conor Dwyer, 23, of Florida Gators was second in 4:21.16 and Andrew Ford, 22, of Swim Ontario was third in 4:21.99.

“It’s nice to be in 2012 and we move another step closer,” Phelps said. “I have said I am not going to race the 400 IM at the Olympics because I don’t want to hurt like that again but 4:16, I am encouraged by the time.”

Sixteen-year-old phenom Missy Franklin got a chance to see the quick turnaround she will have to make if she decides to swim the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke at the Olympics. Franklin, who has a shot at seven medals at the Olympics must pick-and-choose the events based on an unwaivering London Olympic swimming schedule.

In the 200-meter freestyle, experience won out with Allison Schmitt of North Baltimore knocking off Franklin. Both swimmers battled it out  for the first 100 meters but Schmitt had a great turn headed into the final 50 meters and pulled away by nearly a full body length to win in a pool record 1:55.83. She knocked more than two seconds off the record. Franklin was second in 1:57.86 and Katie Hoff was third in 1:59.34.

“I was working on that last wall and just going for it,” Schmitt said. “I am training faster than I ever have and it’s showing in my races. The time surprised me and makes me really confident headed into the summer.” 

Twenty-five minutes after the 200 freestyle, Franklin came back to win her best event, the 200-meter backstroke. Racing against Laure Manaudou, Franklin took the lead at the 100 (1:02.81) and pulled away to win by a body length in 2:08.18. Georgia Davies, 21, of Bolles was second in 2:11.10 and Kendyl Stewart, 17, of North Coast Aquatics was third in 2:11.60. Manaudou was fifth in 2:12.52.

“I love the Grand Prix meets, they are so good for fast turnarounds,” Franklin said. “My heart rate always stays up with these turnarounds. It will definitely help me. 2012 has come so fast, it’s unbelievable. Hopefully, it’s going to be a great year.”

In other finals:

Women’s 400-meter individual medley: Cammile Adams, 20, of Texas A&M led from wire-to-wire and held off American record holder Katie Hoff on the final two legs to win by nearly a body length in 4:38.80. It was a personal-best by nearly four seconds for Adams. Hoff, 22, of Fast Swim Team was second in 4:39.74 and Alexa Komarnycky, 22, of Canada was third in 4:46.06.

Men’s 200-meter freestyle: Ricky Berens, 23, of Trojan Aquatics, buoyed by a great underwater turn headed into the final 50, won in 1:47.92. Matt McLean, 23, of Fast Swim Team was second in 1:48.02 and Michael Klueh, 24, of Fast Swim Team was third in 1:49.79. Ryan Lochte, wearing a t-shirt that read “Google Me,” was fifth in 1:50.45.

“It was a tough fight for me because my right goggle filled up with water off the start,” Berens said. “I could see Matt coming on that last 50, but my goggle was a huge distraction. It’s the worse thing that could happen to a swimmer. I was trying to see more than I could but the goggle was really annoying. I’m happy with my progress. It’s the Olympic year, the biggest year for us. We have been training for this for four years.”

Men’s 200-meter backstroke: Six-foot-8 Matt Gevers, 26, of Ford Aquatics won in 1:57.76. Sixteen-year-old Ryan Murphy of Jacksonville Bolles opened some eyes by finishing second in 1:58.96 and Ryan Lochte was third in 1:59.53. Grevers had a half body lead down the stretch.

“I am really happy with the time,” Grevers said. “I think everyone is going through hard training, this is hardest time of the year for all of us. These times for me are really incredible for me right now. It helped that Ryan was in a brief and just had raced the 200 freestyle but I am going to take my victory and be happy with it.”

Women’s 50-meter freestyle: Amanda Weir pulled ahead in the final 10 meters to win in 25.23 ahead of top qualifier Madison Kennedy, who finished second in 25.43 and Jane Trepp of Estonia, third in 25.52. Olympian Natalie Coughlin won the “B” final in 25.76.

Men’s 50-meter freestyle: Top qualifier Anthony Ervin of California Aquatics at 30 years old and in the midst of a comeback, was third in 22.27 becoming a legitimate favorite for the Trials. Training mate Nathan Adrian topped the stacked field to win in 21.94 in Lane 7. Fred Bousquet, 30, of Auburn Aquatics was second in 22.05.

“We came down here to race, so I am excited these guys are swimming so fast,’ Adrian said. “I am really honored being in a field like that. Anthony is a serious contender, it’s exciting to see.”

On Sunday, the third and final day of the meet, three-time Olympian Janet Evans, at age 40, will try and make her second U.S. Olympic Trials cut in the 800-meter freestyle. On Friday, she qualified in the 400-meter freestyle. “The 800 free isn’t as easy as it was when I was 15,” Evans said.

SOFLO’s two-time Olympian Vlad Polyakov will compete in the 100-meter breaststroke. Polyakov, 28, is seeded sixth in 1:01.03. Brendan Hansen is the top seed in 1:00.08.

The meet will be webcast on both Universal Sports (finals only at 7 p.m.) and USASwimming.org (prelims at 9:30 a.m. and finals).

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Xavier Brown of the South Florida Aquatic Club is following in the footsteps of teammate Alia Atkinson as a role model for black athletes in swimming.

The well-spoken Everglades High School senior chose swimming over track and field to help break the stereotype that has plagued black athletes  for years in swimming.

Brown is leading by example in the pool. On Saturday at the Jaked Senior Long Course Meters Invitational at Nova Southeastern University Aquatic Complex, the 17-year-old turned in two impressive lifetime bests with two breakthrough swims after a five-month break last year.

Brown bettered his 50-meter butterfly from 28.66 to 27.73 for a fifth-place finish and 100-meter freestyle time from 58.53 to 56.18, good for 13^th place. His strongest events are the 50- and 100 freestyles and 50- and 100 butterfly

“I’m excited, I think those are all the words I can find right now,” Brown said after climbing out of the pool. “This is by far the biggest meet I have been in.”

With no benefit of swimming high school, Brown has built his swimming career solely through club swimming. He attended Miramar High School for two seasons but the swim team disbanded. He transferred to Everglades that also dropped its swim program.

“I missed swimming in high school a lot but I made up for it in club swimming,” Brown said. “While everyone else was swimming high school, I was swimming club every day.”

Brown took a five-month break last year when he got a job. He found it difficult juggling swim workouts.

“I think my biggest accomplishment was just getting back in the pool,” Brown said. “Coming back and being able to drop over 20 seconds I think by far is the biggest achievement I’ve had.”

Brown, a former sprinter and miler in track, was 13 when he started swimming at Miramar Regional Park and then moved over to the Comets program and now SOFLO.

“In the beginning there was a lot of crying and muscle cramps but after the pain there is just love for the sport,” Brown said. “That’s where I am right now, just love.

“I am just a water kid, everything about water is me,” Brown said. “I was running track and field for a while. My parents told me it was either swimming or track. I chose the thing I love the most. I am very happy I went with swimming.”

Brown is on a mission to break the “black athletes” stereotype.

“I am one of the swimmers who wants to break away from the stereotype that people of color run track, play basketball and play football,” Brown said. “I think people stick to the mold that they know and swimming is not the mold many colored people understand.

“I want to break away from that so people can look up to black athletes in other sports,” Brown said. “I like to think of myself as a role model. I am happy when I come to these meets and I see the little black kid and he says, ‘wow, great swim.’ It makes me feel happy and gets me more empowered to swim harder just from that one little kid that looked up at me.” 

The Miami-born Brown, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, hopes to swim in college this fall. He is looking at out-of-state colleges including Augustine College in Illinois. “They have shown a lot of interest in me, so I am happy right now,” Brown said.

Atkinson met Brown last year. “His demeanor is so happy-go-lucky all the time, he is great to be around,” she said. “We know he can go far.”

Atkinson, 23, a two-time Jamaican Olympian, broke the pool and meet records in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:10.46. The previous record was 1:17.60 by Patricia Casellas of Davie Nadadores. Atkinson also won the Top Female Performance Award based on the highest FINA point score in a single event.

It was her first meet since the Dec. 1-3 AT&T Winter National Championships in Atlanta.

“This was more of a get-up-on-the-blocks, get some sprint in it and see how I do,” Atkinson said.

With 194 days to go until the London Olympics, Atkinson knows it’s crunch time.

“Basically, every meet I go to and every time I get up and swim I have to attack it every single time,” Atkinson said. “The swims are limited now.”

Melissa Marinheiro, 14, turned in three lifetime bests in the 100-meter butterfly, winning her heat and placing seventh overall in 1:07.76, bettering her previous best of 1:09.01; 200-meter freestyle, third in 2:08.01 bettering her previous best of 2:10.55 and third in the 50-meter backstroke in a best time of 32.60, dropping from 34.49.

“I just wanted to have fun, be with my friends and try to go for best times,” said Marinheiro, who is preparing for the FGC Junior Olympics. “I’ve been training so hard. I was happiest with my 200 free. The cold weather didn’t bother me, I just had to warm myself up more. I like competing against older swimmers to see what I need to do to get myself better.”

The first 2012 FINA-sanctioned Olympic qualifying meet on the east coast, featured 223 swimmers, 18 teams, seven countries and three states.

After an early-morning training workout, SOFLO’s 20-swimmer contingent braved the cold to turn in some solid performances against U.S. and international competition. In addition to Atkinson, Brown and Marinheiro, several other SOFLO swimmers posted lifetime best times. They were:

Alfredo Mesa, 13, 200-meter individual medley, 2:34.94 (2:38.50 previous best); 100-meter freestyle, 1:00.81 (1:01.39 previous best) and 50-meter butterfly, 31.10 (33.27).

Jordan Colon, 14, 200-meter individual medley, 2:35.18 (2:36.62).

Leonie Davies, 15, 200-meter freestyle, 2:14.92 (2:15.43) and 50-meter backstroke, 34.68 (35.74).

Maria Lopez, 16, 200-meter freestyle, 2:17.92 (2:19.82).

Gustavo Valery, 13, 100-meter backstroke, 1:09.45 (1:10.38) and 50-meter breaststroke, 39.99 (49.30).

Matthew Gonzalez, 17, 100-meter backstroke, 1:14.15 (1:14.75) and 100-meter freestyle, 1:00.70 (1:01.48).

Alex Monti, 13, 200-meter breaststroke, 2:53.86 (3:08.47) and 50-meter breaststroke, 36.85 (41.18).

Jessie Alcaide, 27, 100-meter butterfly, 1:03.91 (1:04.11).

Luana Cabral, 20, 50-meter backstroke, 35.47 (39.01).

Cristian Rossi, 13, 50-meter butterfly, 32.39 (32.44).

Also during the meet, Cuba’s Rafael Castillo, coming off the 2011 Parapan American Games in Mexico, broke a pending para-swimming American record in the 200-meter individual medley in 3:19.17. Castillo, 25, of the Devilrays Swim Club of Homstead, competes with one arm and one leg.

SESSION TWO RESULTS

MEN

200-meter individual medley: 1. Yousef Alaskari, DANA 2:11.16, 2. Jordy Groters, DANA 2:12.76, 3. Daniel Roa, DANA 2:15.46; SOFLO: 5. Marc Rojas 2:22.48, 11. Julien Pinon 2:25.16, 26. Matthew Gonzalez 2:32.92, 30. Jacob Walters 2:34.85, 32. Alfredo Mesa 2:34.94, 33. Jordan Colon 2:35.18.

100-meter backstroke: 1. Yousef Alaskari, DANA 1:00.43, 2. Lucas Brito, DANA 1:03.47, 3. Luiz Pedro Ribeiro Pereira, DANA 1:03.93; SOFLO: 13. Gustavo Valery 1:09.45, 25. Matthew Gonzalez 1:14.15.

200-meter breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima, DANA 2:26.02, 2. Marc Rojas, SOFLO 2:39.46, 3. Michal Rokita, Pine Crest 2:40.42; SOFLO: 8. Alex Monti 2:53.86, 13. Jordan Colon 2:57.94, 14. Roger Capote 2:59.15.

200-meter butterfly: 1. Daniel Roa, DANA 2:11.54, 2. Lucas Brito, DANA 2:11.66, 3. Ronald Santos, Rockway 2:15.24; SOFLO: 12. Jacob Walters 2:32.17.

100-meter freestyle: 1. Daniele Tirabassi, DANA 53.55, 2. Marcos Antonio Macedo, DANA 53.76, 3. Raul Martinez, DANA 53.90; SOFLO: 13. Xavier Brown 56.18, 16. Julien Pinon 56.84, 33. Matthew Gonzalez 1:00.70, 37. Alfredo Mesa 1:00.81, 50. Cristian Rossi 1:02.48, 52. Gustavo Valery 1:03.03, 54. Alex Monti 1:03.62, 63. Roger Capote 1:05.61.

50-meter breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima, DANA 29.57, 2. Jordy Groters, DANA 32.00, 3. Vaughn Forsythe, DANA 32.22; SOFLO: 13. Alex Monti 36.85, 17. Jordan Colon 37.80, 20. Cristian Rossi 38.58,28. Gustavo Valery 39.99.

50-meter butterfly: 1. Marcos Antonio Macedo, DANA 26.30, 2. Emman Crescimbeni, Unattached 26.42, 3. Thales Antunes, Unattached 27.24; SOFLO: 5. Xavier Brown 27.73, 26. Alfredo Mesa 31.10, 32. Cristian Rossi 32.39.

400-meter freestyle: 1. Daniele Tirabassi, DANA 4:08.35, 2. Yousef Alaskari, DANA 4:14.08, 3. Raul Martinez, DANA 4:14.10.

WOMEN

200-meter freestyle: 1. Chiara Ruiu, DANA 2:05.11, 2. Jennifer Marquez, DANA 2:05.90, 3. Melissa Marinheiro, SOFLO 2:08.01; SOFLO: 6. Marcella Marinheiro 2:12.21, 13. Leonie Davies 2:14.92, 18. Maria Lopez 2:17.92, 25. Jessica Rodriguez 2:22.17, 27. Haley Wright 2:22.58, 40. Luana Cabral 2:34.40.

200-meter backstroke: 1. Emily Kopas, DANA 2:28.82, 2. Alana Berrocal, Pine Crest 2:29.97, 3. Marcella Marinheiro, SOFLO 2:30.15.

100-meter breaststroke: 1. Alia Atkinson, SOFLO 1:10.46, 2. Julie Stupp, Performance Aquatics 1:13.82, 3. Daniela Victoria, DANA 1:15.49; SOFLO: 17. Jessica Rodriguez 1:25.08.

100-meter butterfly: 1. Julie Stupp, Performance Aquatics 1:03.56, 2. Jessie Alcaide, SOFLO 1:03.91, 3. Alia Atkinson, SOFLO 1:04.17; 7. Melissa Marinheiro 1:07.76, 9. Maria Lopez 1:08.08.

50-meter freestyle: 1. Julie Stupp, Performance Aquatics 27.23, 2. Ally Ponson, Stingray 27.25, 3. Jessie Alcaide, SOFLO 28.11; SOFLO: 34. Haley Wright 32.25.

50-meter backstroke: 1. Jyotsna Pansare, DANA 32.17, 2. Marcella Marinheiro 32.34, 3. Melissa Marinheiro 32.60; SOFLO: 11. Leonie Davies 34.68, 12. Maria Lopez 35.04, 14. Luana Cabral 35.47.

400-meter individual medley: 1. Daniela Victoria, DANA 5:09.90, 2. Alina Schulhofer, DANA 5:15.07, 3. Lani Cabrera, DANA 5:17.10.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com.

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Lani Cabrera and Sebastian Jahnsen of Davie Nadadores won the distance events on the opening night of the Jaked Senior Long Course Meters Invitational Friday at Nova Southeastern University Aquatic Complex.

Cabrera, 18, won the 800-meter freestyle in a career-best 9:05.32 and broke the Barbados national record.

Jahnsen, 21, won the 1,500-meter freestyle in 16:26.67, just off his personal best.

South Florida Aquatic Club’s 20-swimmer contingent will brave the cold and compete on Saturday in the morning session.

The meet, the first 2012 FINA-sanctioned Olympic qualifying meet on the east coast, has 223 swimmers, 18 teams, seven countries and three states.

The meet concludes on Saturday with the remaining events split into two sessions at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. All events are timed finals. There is no team scoring.

SOFLO’s top-seeded swimmers are two-time Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson and Jessie Alcaide. Atkinson, 23, is seeded first in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:08.86 and 100-meter butterfly in 1:02.40. Alcaide, 27, is seeded first in the 50-meter freestyle in 26.71 and second in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:04.11.

Atkinson and Alcaide will be joined by SOFLO teammates Luana Cabral, 20; Leonie Davies, 15; Maria Lopez, 16; Marcella Marinheiro, 17; Melissa Marinheiro, 14; Jessica Rodriguez, 13; and Haley Wright, 15.

SOFLO 2011 Athlete of the Year Julien Pinon, 13, heads SOFLO’s boys 11-swimmer contingent. He will be joined by Xavier Brown, 17; Roger Capote, 16; Jordan Colon, 14; Matthew Gonzalez, 17; Alfredo Mesa, 13; Alexander Monti, 13; Marc Rojas, 17; Cristian Rossi, 13; Gustavo Valery, 13; and Jacob Walters, 16.

Rojas is the highest seed among SOFLO boys, third in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:27.75.

Meet title sponsor Jaked will award the top male and female performance with a Jaked racing suit. All meet record breakers will receive a Jaked product.

FRIDAY RESULTS

Women’s 800-meter freestyle: 1. Lani Cabrera, Davie 9:05.32, 2. Alina Schulhofer, Davie 9:13.68, 3. Nilza Costa, Davie 9:31.46, 4. Daniella Vandenberg, Davie 9:32.17, 5. Lorena Guercio, Davie 9:36.66, 6. Mallory McKeon, Pine Crest 9:41.59, 7. Allison Kopas Davie 9:46.08, sectional cut, 8. Daniela Veloza, Davie 9:50.17.

Men’s 1500-meter freestyle: 1. Sebastian Jahnsen, Davie 16:26.67, 2. Yousef Alaskari, Davie 16:34.05, 3. Daniel Roa 16:34.54, 4. Ronald Santos, Rockway 16:38.55, 5. Kent Haeffner, Pine Crest 16:57.85, 6. Lucas Brito, Davie 17:19.50, 7. Geoffrey Butler, Cayman Islands 17:22.45, 8. Franklin Aguilar, Unattached Davie 17:49.11.

IF YOU GO

What: Jaked Senior Invitational Long Course Meters

When:  Saturday

Schedule: Saturday—Session 2, 9 a.m.; Session 3, 4 p.m.

Where: Nova Southeastern University Aquatic Complex, 36^th St. and 75^th Ave., off University Drive, Davie.

Admission: $3 per session, $2 heat sheets.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

After a fifteen-year absence from competitive swimming, three-time Olympian Janet Evans is back.

The 40-year-old married mother of two qualified for the June 25-July 2 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska with a 4:17.27 in morning preliminaries of the 400-meter freestyle Friday, the opening day of the Austin Grand Prix.

The qualifying cut for the Olympic Trials is 4:19.39.

In her signature style, Evans pulled away from the field. Her split for the first 100 meters was 1:02.06. She bettered her best time coming into the meet by five seconds. She was seeded 51^st in 4:22.87.

“My only disappointment was that once again I took my race out and I looked around and there was no one there,” Evans said. “We came here for some competition.”

Evans and her coach Mark Schubert admitted the four-time Olympic gold medalist was nervous before her race.

“I was really nervous,” Evans told reporters after prelims. “It just feels a little bit out of my element. I’m usually that spectator in the stands these days and now I’m down here with all the young kids, all the kids I’ve been watching swim over the years.

“I just kept remembering I’ve been here, I’ve done this before. I can’t forget what I’ve done. It all kind of comes back.”

In Friday night’s “B” final, Evans, swimming in Lane 7, got the competition she was seeking, placing eighth in 4:18.15. 

Evans is scheduled to race the 800-meter freestyle on Sunday, where she still holds the American record of 8:16.22.

The 400 was Evans first serious meet since getting back in the pool. She competed in Masters meets but had to be in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency testing program for a year before she could swim in USA Swimming Grand Prix meets.

“This (the 400) was just preparation for the 800,” Schubert said. “She hasn’t swum in a race. In a Masters race, she’s winning by 100 meters. It’s like a workout. This is the first time she’s been in a competition. The hardest part is probably behind her now.”

Evans had the 14^th best time of the 400-meter freestyle prelims.

“I’m super excited to make my trials cut, that was my goal, to go 4:19, so to go 4:17 is a bonus,” Evans said. “I’m really excited, too, because the 400 isn’t as much of my focus as the 800, so I am looking forward to that in a couple of days.”

Two-time Olympian Vlad Polyakov, 28, of South Florida Aquatic Club, swimming in Lane 1, came on strong in the final 50 meters of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke to finish fifth in 2:15.90. His prelim time was 2:18.19.

Most swimmers, unshaved and not tapered, are in their final phase of training leading up to the Trials. Many of the male swimmers had beards including Ricky Berens, Davis Tarwater, Michael Phelps and Matt Grevers.

In other Grand Prix races Friday night:

Women’s 100-meter freestyle: Early leader Dana Vollmer, 24, of California Aquatics, went out in 26.39 just ahead of American record holder Amanda Weir, 25, of SwimAtlanta and Missy Franklin. Weir came on in the back half to win in 54.14. Franklin, 16, of Colorado Stars was second in 54.46 and Allison Schmitt, 21, of North Baltimore was third in 54.55.

Men’s 100-meter freestyle: Nathan Adrian, 23, of California Aquatics came on strong in the last 50 meters to win in 48.97, ahead of Ricky Berens, 23, of Trojan Aquatics second in 49.13 and Gideon Louw, 24, of Auburn Aquatics. Anthony Ervin, 30, making a comeback since his last race in 2003, was fourth in 49.90. Louw was the early leader in 23.24 after the first 50. Michael Phelps won the consolation final in 49.14 and was ninth overall and Ryan Lochte was seventh in 50.58 and 15^th overall.

Women’s 200-meter breaststroke: American record holder Rebecca Soni, 24, of Trojan Swim Club took it out fast and was well ahead of the field at the 100-meter mark in 1:09.16. She went on to win by more than a body length in 2:22.73. Micah Lawrence, 21, of SwimMac Carolina was second in 2:27.66 and Katlin Freeman, 24, of Santa Barbara was third in 2:27.94.

Men’s 200-meter breaststroke: Olympian Eric Shanteau, 28, of Trojan Aquatics, was the early leader at 1:03.97 and pulled away for a body length lead to win in 2:10.72. Valerii Dymo, 26, of Redlands was second in 2:12.53 and Richard Webb, 24, of Bolles was third in 2:13.51. 

Women’s 400-meter freestyle: Allison Schmitt, 21, of North Baltimore led from wire-to-wire to win in 4:05.90. Jazmin Carlin, 21, of Bolles was second in 4:07.89 and Chloe Sutton, 19, of Mission Viejo was third in 4:10.66.

Men’s 400-meter freestyle: Canadian Ryan Cochrane, 23, led from start-to-finish to win in 3:50.66. Michael Klueh, 24, of Fast Swim Team was second in 3:51.23 and Charles Huchin, 24, of Bolles was third in 3:51.77.

Women’s 100-meter butterfly: World champion and American record holder Dana Vollmer, 24, of California Aquatics led after the first 50 meters and just out-touched Brit Jemma Lowe to win in 58.02. Lowe was second in 58.16 and Natalie Coughlin was third in 59.22.

Men’s 100-meter butterfly: Michael Phelps, 26, of North Baltimore was out first in 24.96 after the first 50 meters and held off top qualifier Tyler McGill, 24, of Auburn Aquatics, to win in 52.41. McGill was second in 52.96 and Davis Tarwaterm 27, of SwimMac was third in 53.30.

The meet continues on Saturday and is being webcast live (prelims and finals) at usaswimming.org. The finals will be televised by Universal Sports.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com