Comets’ 8-and-Unders Sweep Events At Broward South Sizzler In Pembroke Pines

August 29, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

The future looks very bright for SOFLO after the Comets Swim Team’s 8-and-unders won all fourteen events at the Broward South Sizzler Friday at the Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines.

The Comets’ program is becoming a prototype for developing young grass roots swimmers and nurturing them up the ladder in USA Swimming age group competition.

Fernando Ziehm, 6, won all four 6-and-under events—25-yard butterfly, 25-yard backstroke, 25-year breaststroke and 25-year freestyle, all in career-best times.

Marcus Franco, 8, won all four of the 7-8 events–the 25-yard butterfly, 25-yard backstroke, 25-yard breaststroke and 25-yard freestyle, all in career-best times.

Michelle Marinheiro, 8, won three 7-8 events—25-yard backstroke, 25-yard breaststroke and 25-yard freestyle and was second in the 25-yard butterfly in all career-best times.

Sara Quintero, 7, won the 7-8 25-yard butterfly in 21.12.

The Comets Swim Team won the girls’ 8-and-under 100-yard freestyle relay in 1:14.00 with Sara Quintero, Katrina Del Vecchio, Michelle Marinheiro and Trinity Hoyos.

The next Broward South Sizzler is Sept. 9. The Comets will host the Area 2 Developmental Meet on Sept. 10-11 and Coral Springs Swim Club will host the FGC Invitational Sept. 24-25.

FRIDAY NIGHT RESULTS

GIRLS

25-yard butterfly: 7-8, 1. Sara Quintero, Comets 21.12, best time; COMETS: 2. Michelle Marinheiro 21.31, best time, 4. Katrina Del Vecchio 22.22, best time, 6. Trinity Hoyos 22.57, 10. Gretchen Montgomery 26.84, best time, 14. Isabella Lizarazo 28.26, best time, 15. Kyle McIntosh 30.28, best time; CORAL SPRINGS: 3. Emma Gomez 21.60, best time, 5. Molly Mason 22.24, best time, 7. Marissa Kopec 22.77, best time, 9. Stephanie Kopec 24.47, best time, 16. Ashley Nagy 30.57, best time; SOFLO: 8. Giulianna Garcia 23.95, best time, 12. Gisele Girones 28.19, best time. 

25-yard backstroke: 7-8, 1. Michelle Marinheiro, Comets 19.51, best time; COMETS: 2. Sara Quintero 21.98, best time, 4. Trinity Hoyos 22.40, best time, 8. Katrina Del Vecchio 24.22, 9. Gretchen Montgomery 24.33, best time, 14. Kylie McIntosh 29.37, best time, 15. Isabella Lizarazo 30.73, best time, 18. Daniela Barreto 32.84; CORAL SPRINGS: 3. Emma Gomez 22.28, best time, 6. Marissa Kopec 23.97, best time, 7. Stephanie Kopec 24.14, 11. Molly Mason 25.14, best time, 13. Ashley Nagy 28.97, best time; SOFLO: 12. Giulianna Garcia 25.97, 16. Gisele Girones 30.90, best time.  

25-yard breaststroke: 7-8, 1. Michelle Marinheiro, Comets 24.71, best time; COMETS: 2. Trinity Hoyos 25.16, best time, 4. Sara Quintero 25.45, best time, 5. Gretchen Montgomery 25.77, best time, 7. Katrina Del Vecchio 26.35, best time, 12. Daniela Barreto 29.28, 16. Isabella Lizarazo 32.09, best time, 17. Kylie McIntosh 32.84, best time; CORAL SPRINGS: 3. Molly Mason 25.39, best time, 6. Marissa Kopec 26.17, best time, 8. Stephanie Kopec 27.14, best time, 14. Emma Gomez 29.95, 18. Ashley Nagy 37.63, best time; SOFLO:  9. Gisele Girones 27.40, best time, 10. Giulianna Garcia 28.00, best time.

25-yard freestyle: 7-8, 1. Michelle Marinheiro, Comets 17.20, best time; COMETS: 2. Sara Quintero 18.00, best time, 3. Trinity Hoyos 18.75, best time, 5. Katrina Del Vecchio 19.39, best time, 10. Gretchen Montgomery 21.41, best time, 14. Isabella Lizarazo 22.77, best time, 15. Kylie McIntosh 23.47, 18. Daniela Barreto 25.29; CORAL SPRINGS: 4. Emma Gomez 18.93, best time, 5. Stephanie Kopec 19.39, best time, 8. Marissa Kopec 20.60, 9. Molly Mason 20.90, best time, 16. Ashley Nagy 23.70, best time; SOFLO: 11. Giulianna Garcia 21.44, best time, 17. Gisele Girones 24.30, best time.

100-yard freestyle relay: 8-and-under, 1. Comets Swim Team 1:14.00 (Sara Quintero, Katrina Del Vecchio, Michelle Marinheiro, Trinity Hoyos), 2. Coral Springs Swim Club 1:17.11.

BOYS

25-yard butterfly: 6-and-under, 1. Fernando Ziehm, Comets Swim Team 24.46, best time; COMETS: 2. Zackary Harris 25.77, 3. Noah Hew 30.28; Coral Springs Swim Team: 4. Edward Huang 37.22; 7-8, 1. Marcus Franco, Comets Swim Team 16.68, best time; COMETS: 2. Nicolas Rossi 20.76, best time, 3. Joseph Lee 21.31, best time, 4. Sebastian Lares 21.78, best time, 6. Christopher Perera 23.62, 7. Akira Huang 24.40, best time, 9. Ryan Heron 28.77, best time, 12. Tanner Gibson 31.13, best time, 15. Andrew Huang 35.76, 17. Miguel Crespo 39.95, best time; CSSC: 5. Daniel Huang 23.00, best time, 13. Marcello Basso 33.24, best time, 16. Jack Fibkins 36.24, 18. Andrew Fibkins 42.21.

25-yard backstroke: 6-and-under, 1. Fernando Ziehm, Comets Swim Team 22.06, best time; COMETS: 2. Zackary Harris 26.54, 3. Noah Hew 32.96, best time, 4. Alejandro Mateus 34.55; CORAL SPRINGS: 5. Edward Huang 36.36; 7-8, 1. Markus Franco, Comets 18.16, best time; COMETS: 2. Joseph Lee 21.01, best time, 4. Nicolas Rossi 22.42, best time, 5. Christopher Perera 22.71, 6. Akira Huang 22.90, best time, 7. Ryan Heron 23.58, best time, 9. Tanner Gibson 25.32, best time, 13. Sebastian Lares 27.73, 15. Andrew Huang 29.67, 17. Miguel Crespo 34.53, best time; CORAL SPRINGS: 3. Daniel Huang 21.27, best time, 11. Marcello Basso 25.90, best time, 12. Andrew Fibkins 27.51, 14. Jack Fibkins 29.25.

25-yard breaststroke: 6-and-under, 1. Fernando Ziehm, Comets 25.31, best time; COMETS: 2. Zackary Harris 29.92, 3. Noah Hew 32.12, best time, 4. Alejandro Mateus 32.62; CORAL SPRINGS: 5. Edward Huang 41.24; 7-8, 1. Marcus Franco, Comets 23.45, best time; COMETS: 2. Sebastian Lares 23.54, best time, 3. Joseph Lee 23.79, best time, 4. Nicolas Rossi 24.84, best time, 5. Christopher Perera 25.71, 6. Akira Huang 25.87, best time, 8. Ryan Herson 27.53, best time, 11. Tanner Gibson 28.41, best time, 15. Miguel Crespo 35.59, best time, 17. Andrew Huang 41.58; CORAL SPRINGS: 7. Daniel Huang 26.12, 13. Jack Fibkins 35.01, 14. Marcello Basso 35.42, best time, 16. Andrew Fibkins 38.57.

25-yard freestyle: 6-and-under, 1. Fernando Ziehm, Comets 18.84, best time; COMETS: 2. Zackary Harris 21.40, 3. Alejandro Mateus 26.67, 4. Noah Hew 26.86, best time; CORAL SPRINGS: 5. Edward Huang 27.08; 7-8, 1. Marcus Franco, Comets 15.35, best time; COMETS: 2. Nicolas Rossi 15.83, best time, 3. Joseph Lee 17.37, best time, 4. Sebastian Lares 17.43, best time, 5. Akira Huang 19.25, best time, 6. Christopher Perera 19.47, 7. Ryan Heron 19.65, best time, 11. Tanner Gibson 21.89, best time, 16. Andrew Huang 26.03, 18. Miguel Crespo 28.81, best time; CORAL SPRINGS: 8. Daniel Huang 19.89, 13. Marcello Basso 22.71, best time, 15. Andrew Fibkins 25.71, 17. Jack Fibkins 27.84.

100-yard freestyle relay: 8-and-under, 1. Comets Swim Team 1:07.30 (Nicolas Rossi, Joseph Lee, Sebastian Lares, Marcus Franco), 2. Comets Swim Team 1:20.16 (Marcos Vazquez, Ryan Heron, Tanner Gibson, Akira Huang).    

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

SOFLO Sisters Allison, Amanda Kopas Compete At North Palm Beach Sprint Invitational

August 27, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

SOFLO sisters Allison and Amanda Kopas made the long drive to North Palm Beach worthwhile winning races and swimming best times Saturday at the eighth annual Florida Gold Coast Sprint Invitational at the North Palm Beach Country Club.

Allison Kopas, 12, gearing up for the high school season at University School, won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:14.28 and 50-yard butterfly in 29.53. Both were career-best times.

In the exciting girls’ 50-yard butterfly race, Kopas edged Lake Lytal’s Jena Pisani by 2/100ths of a second. She was also fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in a career-best 59.11.

Amanda Kopas, 9, was the meet’s energizer bunny competing in four events. She was third in the 9-10 50-yard backstroke in 36.90; fifth in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:09.50; tenth in the 50-yard butterfly in 38.72 and 11^th in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:33.67. All were best times.

The meet was also held in honor of Lake Lytal Lightning age group coach Michael Horgan, who died on Aug. 16 of a heart attack. More than $400 was collected at the gate for Horgan’s family, according to meet director Dick Cavanah of North Palm Beach Swim Club.

GIRLS RESULTS

25-yard freestyle: 8-and-under, 1. Mia Martinello, TCSC 17.12.

100-yard freestyle: 8-and-under, 1. Michael Avedisian, Jupiter 1:25.27; 9-10: 1. Urbina Cortes, PST 1:02.86; SOFLO: 5. Amanda Kopas 1:09.50, best time; 11-12, 1. Sydney Cikovic, North Palm Beach 57.96; SOFLO: 4. Allison Kopas 59.11, best time; 13-14, 1. Fabiana Ingram, Lake Lytal Lightning 54.86; 15-and-over, 1. Karen Torres, Davie Nadadores 52.09.

25-yard backstroke: 8-and-under, 1. Lucy Miller, Jupiter 21.10.

50-yard backstroke: 8-and-under, 1. Lucy Miller, Jupiter 45.72; 9-10, 1. Sarah Abril, MACM 34.35; SOFLO: 3. Amanda Kopas 36.90, best time; 11-12, 1. Lindsay Barkett, TCSC 31.87; 13-14, 1. Fabiana Ingram, Lake Lytal Lightning 28.66; 15-and-over, 1. Alana Berrocal, Davie Nadadores 27.72.

25-yard breaststroke: 8-and-under, 1. Heidi Smithwick, Jupiter 22.11.

100-yard breaststroke: 8-and-under, 1. Michael Avedisian, Jupiter 1:43.27; 9-10, 1. Sarah Abril, MACM 1:28.08; SOFLO: 11. Amanda Kopas 1:33.67, best time, FGJO; 11-12, 1. Allison Kopas, SOFLO 1:14.28, best time; 13-14, 1. Kelly Fertel, Rockway 1:10.16; 15-and-over, 1. Patricia Casellas, Davie Nadadores 1:07.81.

25-yard butterfly: 8-and-under, 1. Lucy Miller, Jupiter 20.11.

50-yard butterfly: 8-and-under, 1. Serafini Cincotti, Davie Nadadores 42.58; 9-10, 1. Adriana Cortes Urbina, PST 31.90; SOFLO: 10. Amanda Kopas 38.72, best time; 11-12, 1. Allison Kopas, SOFLO 29.53, best time; 13-14, 1. Fabiana Ingram, Lake Lytal Lightning 27.90; 15-and-over, 1. Alina Schulhofer, Davie Nadadores 26.85.

100-yard freestyle relay: 8-and-under, 1. Jupiter Sea Dragons (Heidi Smithwick, Mackenzie Gale, Julia Lubarsky, Lucy Miller), 1:16.85.

BOYS RESULTS

25-yard freestyle: 8-and-under, 1. Mikey Hill, TCSC 19.01.

100-yard freestyle: 8-and-under, 1. Bryan Castro, MACM 1:15.42; 9-10, 1. Eric Vives, MACM 1:05.67; 11-12, 1. Alejandro Carriazo, MACM 56.95; 13-14, 1. Gabriel Perez, Davie Nadadores 50.13; 15-and-over, 1. Yousef Alaskari, Davie Nadadores 45.88.

25-yard backstroke: 8-and-under, 1. Mikey Hill, TCSC 23.72.

50-yard backstroke: 8-and-under, 1. Bryan Castro, MACM 41.95; 9-10, 1. John Torres, MACM 35.56; 11-12, 1. Nicholas Sharp, Lake Lytal 30.12; 13-14, 1. William Pisani, Lake Lytal 26.97; 15-and-over, 1. Miguel Castro Robles, Davie Nadadores 23.86. 

25-yard breaststroke: 8-and-under, 1. Mikey Hill, TCSC 25.20.

100-yard breaststroke: 8-and-under, 1. Matthew Posso, Rockway 1:39.19; 9-10, 1. Eric Vives, MACM 1:23.35; 11-12, 1. Brandon Vives, MACM 1:14.54; 13-14, 1. Andreas Rintel, Lake Lytal 1:05.29; 15-and-over, 1. Leo Andara, Davie Nadadores 58.92.

25-yard butterfly: 8-and-under, 1. William Coady, Jupiter 26.56.

50-yard butterfly: 8-and-under, 1. Nicolas Gallego, Sea Dragons 41.56; 9-10, 1. John Torres, MACM 32.97; 11-12, 1. Alejandro Carriazo, MACM 28.43; 13-14, 1. Gabriel Perez, Davie Nadadores 25.34; 15-and-over, 1. Yousef Alaskari, Davie Nadadores 22.79.

100-yard freestyle relay: 8-and-under, 1. Y of South Palm Beach County (Nicolas Gallego, Jacob Munley, Nicholas Kjaerulff, Riley Taylor) 1:16.67.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

SOFLO’s Polyakov, Wilkerson, Devanney, Hatic, Ferron Win At Coral Springs Last Chance Meet

August 27, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Masters swimmers got the chance to watch SOFLO’s two-time Olympian Vlad Polyakov in action Saturday.

Polyakov decided at the last minute to sign up for the Coral Springs Last Chance Long Course masters meet at his home training pool.

Polyakov, competing for the first time since the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai, China, won his specialty events, the 50- and 100-meter breaststrokes at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex, his home pool.

Polyakov, 28, won the 25-29 age group 50-meter breaststroke in 29.45 and 100-meter breaststroke in 1:03.62.

Other Coral Springs/SOFLO masters swimmers turned in some stellar performances during the one-day meet.

Beth Wilkerson, a top USA Swimming official and mother of two swimmers, won the women’s 50-meter breaststroke in 53.02. The sprinter was also second in the 50-meter freestyle in 39.26.

Debby Hatic, mother of University of Miami senior swimmer Dana Hatic, won the 50-meter freestyle in 41.24.

Lars Ferron, 56, won the 55-59 50-meter butterfly in 33.25 and 100-meter butterfly in 1:18.37. Ferron was also a member of the winning 400-meter medley relay that won in 5:51.36 with Chris Burt, Dick Brewer and Ken Beier.

Celia Devanney won the 50-54 200-meter freestyle in 2:41.33 and 400-meter freestyle in 5:40.90.

Wilkerson, Hatic, Ferron and Devanney, who train as Coral Springs Masters, competed under the GOLD umbrella. GOLD is one of the state’s largest masters swim teams.

Coral Springs’ Barbara Protzman, coming off masters nationals, was second in the 55-59 50-meter freestyle in 36.00.

It was the final long course meters meet of the season before the short course yards and short course meters meets begin in September.

The next local masters meet is the Sept. 24-25 short course yards Deerfield Masters Fall Meet at the Deerfield Beach Aquatic Center.

CORAL SPRINGS LAST CHANCE MASTERS RESULTS

WOMEN

800-meter freestyle relay: 160-199, 1. FLA (Janey Mayville-Armas, Adrienne Chin-Ogilvie, Sarah Bennet, Ann Thomas) 12:18.66; 240-279, 1. GOLD (Andrea Woodburn, Jeannie Mitchell, Cathy Mancino, Rayma Isaacs) 14:40.58.

100-meter backstroke: 25-29, 1. Patricia Cooper, GOLD 1:20.66; 45-49, 1. Sarah Bennet, FLA 1:47.64, 2. Cheryl Keeney, FLA 1:58.25; 60-64, 1. Cathy Mancino, GOLD 1:48.73; 75-79, 1. Ardis Bourland, GOLD 2:25.89.

50-meter breaststroke: 40-44, 1. Yukako Beatty, GOLD 45.74; 45-49, 1. Beth Wilkerson, GOLD 53.02; 55-59, 1. Karen Lewin, GOLD 52.91, 2. Catalina Fazzano, GOLD 1:06.05; 65-69, 1. Jeannie Mitchell, GOLD 53.79, 2. Rayma Isaacs, GOLD 1:08.63; 75-79, 1. Ardis Bourland, GOLD 1:14.23.

100-meter butterfly: 30-34, 1. Heidi Hester, GOLD 59.06; 50-54, 1. Adrien Chin-Ogilvie, FLA 1:53.53.

50-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Patricia Cooper, GOLD 33.54; 40-44, 1. Ann Stewart, GOLD 33.82, 2. Yukako Beatty, GOLD 34.53; 45-49, 1. Sarah Bennet, FLA 37.94, 2. Beth Wilkerson, GOLD 39.26; 50-54, 1. Ann Thomas, FLA 32.60; 55-59, 1. Lydia Seier, GOLD 34.26, 2. Barbara Protzman, GOLD 36.00, 3. Karen Lewin, GOLD 45.93, 4. Catalina Fazzano, GOLD 56.11; 60-64, 1. Debby Hatic, GOLD 41.24; 75-79, 1. Ardis Bourland, GOLD 57.18.

200-meter individual medley: 35-39, 1. Jan Mayville-Armas, FLA 2:41.14; 45-49, 1. Andrea Woodburn, GOLD 3:02.83, 2. Sarah Bennet, FLA 3:44.44; 50-54, 1. Adrien Chin-Ogilvie, FLA 4:22.77; 60-64, 1. Cathy Mancino, GOLD 3:31.00.

200-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Patricia Cooper, GOLD 2:48.79; 45-49, 1. Andrea Woodburn, GOLD 2:39.99, 2. Cheryl Keeney, FLA 3:52.54; 50-54, 1. Celia Devanney, GOLD 2:41.33; 55-59, 1. Lydia Seier, GOLD 2:46.91; 60-64, 1. Cathy Mancino, GOLD 2:56.65; 65-69, 1. Jeannie Mitchell, GOLD 3:17.93, 2. Rayma Isaacs, GOLD 5:42.01.

800-meter freestyle mixed relay: 120-159, 1. GOLD (Todd Cavalcanto, Patricia Cooper, Yukako Beatty, Leighton Allen) 11:44.26; 240-279, 1. GOLD (Andrea Woodburn, Scott Woodburn, Karen Lewin, Carl House) 15:27.84; 280-319, 1. GOLD (Rayma Isaacs, Cathy Mancino, Joaquin Silverio, Dick Brewer) 17:13.91.

200-meter medley relay: 120-159, 1. FLA (Cheryl Keeney, Adrienne Chin-Ogilvie, Ann Thomas, Sarah Bennet) 3:06.86.

50-meter butterfly: 25-29, 1. Patricia Cooper, GOLD 38.64; 55-59, 1. Lydia Seier, GOLD 39.08; 60-64, 1. Cathy Mancino, GOLD 41.55.

100-meter freestyle: 45-49, 1. Sarah Bennet, FLA 1:25.10; 50-54, 1. Ann Thomas, FLA 1:17.26; 55-59, 1. Catalina Fazzano, GOLD 2:11.34; 65-69, 1. Jeannie Mitchell, GOLD 1:29.89.

50-meter backstroke: 25-29, 1. Patricia Cooper, GOLD 36.44; 40-44, 1. Ann Stewart, GOLD 37.34, 2. Yukako Beatty, GOLD 42.39; 45-49, 1. Sarah Bennet, FLA 53.72; 50-54, 1. Ann Thomas, FLA 44.52; 75-79, 1. Ardis Bourland, GOLD 1:06.98.

100-meter breaststroke: 35-39, 1. Jan Mayville-Armas, FLA 1:26.39; 55-59, 1. Karen Lewin, GOLD 1:58.02, 2. Catalina Fazzano, GOLD 2:30.53; 60-64, 1. Cathy Mancino, GOLD 1:58.20; 65-69, 1. Rayma Isaacs, GOLD 2:37.50; 75-79, 1. Ardis Bourland, GOLD 2:49.35.

400-meter freestyle: 45-49, 1. Andrea Woodburn, GOLD 5:41.02; 50-54, 1. Celia Devanney, GOLD 5:40.90; 55-59, 1. Lydia Seier, GOLD 5:58.33; 65-69, 1. Jeannie Mitchell, GOLD 6:58.85.

400-meter medley relay: 160-199, 1. FLA (Janey Mayville-Armas, Sarah Bennet, Adrienne Chin-Ogilvie, Ann Thomas) 6:25.58.  

MEN

800-meter freestyle relay: 120-159, 1. GOLD (Don Tsang, Lee Scharf, Andres Miyares, Leighton Allen) 13:55.37; 200-239, 1. GOLD (James Fetter, Lars Ferron, Charles Nash, Roy Sonenshein) 11:49.38; 240-279, 1. GOLD (Robert Dzama, Chris Burt, David Quiggin, Ray Venture) 13:44.11; 280-319, 1. GOLD (Ken Beier, Carl House, Joaquin Silverio, Philip Cullen) 16:16.10.

100-meter backstroke: 25-29, 1. Tommie Cuticchia, PLAN 1:08.77, 2. Diego Suarez, GOLD 1:21.14; 50-54, 1. Roy Sonenshein, GOLD 2:01.11; 60-64, 1. Ken Beier, GOLD 1:52.17; 65-69, 1. David Quiggin, GOLD 1:27.55.

50-meter breaststroke: 25-29, 1. Vlad Polyakov, SOFLO 29.45, 2. Todd Cavalcanto, GOLD 53.90, 3. Andres Miyares 1:01.83; 30-34, 1. Nicholas Perry, GOLD 47.27; 35-39, 1. Don Tsang, GOLD 48.58; 40-44, 1. Glen Hanks, GOLD 41.50, 2. Phillip Glatzer, Unattached 44.48; 45-49, 1. Sergio Faris, GOLD 46.94; 50-54, 1. Bill Brenner, SYSM 34.23, 2. Al Moreno, GOLD 35.59, 3. Brian Coomes, Unattached 43.91, 4. Miguel Dorante, GOLD 47.39; 55-59, 1. Chris Burt, GOLD 44.23, 2. Robert Dzamba, GOLD 47.06; 60-64, 1. Juan Navarro, GOLD 46.69, 2. Philip Cullen, GOLD 53.34; 65-69, 1. Dick Brewer, GOLD 44.87; 70-74, 1. Carl House, GOLD 59.06.

100-meter butterfly: 30-34, 1. Lee Scharf, GOLD 2:05.76; 40-44, 1. Andy Kroupa, YCFM 1:15.83; 45-49, 1. Sergio Faris, GOLD 1:44.51; 50-54, 1. Roy Sonenshein, GOLD 1:59.14; 55-59, 1. Lars Ferron, GOLD 1:18.37, 2. Martin LaBrosse, Unattached 1:38.50; 60-64, 1. Ray Venture, GOLD 2:50.32.

50-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Tommie Cuticchia, PLAN 27.21, 2. Leighton Allen, GOLD 35.38, 3. Todd Cavalcante, GOLD 37.14, 4. Andres Miyares, GOLD 40.04; 30-34, 1. Nicholas Perry, GOLD 36.17; 35-39, 1. Don Tsang, GOLD 34.74; 40-44, 1. Michael Lynn, GOLD 27.64, 2. Phillip Glatzer, Unattached 36.33, 3. Juan Carlos Valerio, GOLD 37.41; 45-49, 1. James Fetter, GOLD 31.46, 2. Fernando Abad, PLAN 32.85, 3. Sergio Faris, GOLD 34.53; 50-54, 1. Bill Brenner, SYSM 28.09, 2. Nick Cronin, Unattached 28.72, 3. Jeff Servicem GOLD 29.15, 4. Al Moreno, GOLD 29.90, 5. Brian Coomes, Unattached 31.66, 6. Karl Kolb, NEM 34.58, 7. Juan Lopez, GOLD 45.76; 55-59, 1. Gary Curson, Unattached 29.64, 2. Chris Burt, GOLD 32.54, 3. Robert Dzamba, GOLD 43.92; 60-64, 1. Juan Navarro, GOLD 38.06, 2. Philip Cullen, GOLD 44.53; 70-74, 1. James Ward, FLA 36.65, 2. Carl House, GOLD 45.68; 85-89, 1. Joaquin Silverio, GOLD 58.12.

200-meter individual medley: 25-29, 1. Diego Suarez, GOLD 2:53.79; 50-54, 1. Brian Coomes, Unattached 3:05.32, 2. Roy Sonenshein, GOLD 3:54.84; 55-59, 1. Chris Burt, GOLD 3:38.09; 60-64, 1. Ken Beier, GOLD 3:38.91; 65-69, 1. David Quiggin, GOLD 3:00.64.

200-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Todd Cavalcante, GOLD 3:06.90; 35-39, 1. Hilario Itriago, GOLD 2:26.90; 40-44, 1. Glen Hanks, GOLD 2:34.10, 2. Andy Kroupa, YCFM 2:36.81; 45-49, 1. Charles Nash, GOLD 2:46.96; 50-54, 1. David Toney, NCMU 2:28.71, 2. Karl Kolb, NEM 2:38.34; 55-59, 1. Gary Curson, Unattached 2:37.63, 2. John Marsarik, GOLD 2:49.52, 3. Martin LaBrosse, Unattached 3:05.17; 65-69, 1. Scott Woodburn, GOLD 3:03.75, 2. Dick Brewer, GOLD 3:05.38; 70-74, 1. James Ward, FLA 3:47.96, 2. Carl House, GOLD 4:51.63; 85-89, 1. Joaquim Silverio, GOLD 5:04.63.

200-meter freestyle relay: 1. GOLD (Miguel Dorante, Juan Lopez, Juan Carlos Valerio, Hilario Itriago) 2:28.03.

50-meter butterfly: 25-29, 1. Leighton Allen, GOLD 38.92; 40-44, 1. Andy Kroupa, YCFM 31.00; 45-49, 1. James Fetter, GOLD 34.82, 2. Sergio Faris, GOLD 38.31; 50-54, 1. Nick Cronin, Unattached 31.63, 2. Al Moreno, GOLD 32.91, 3. Brian Coomes, Unattached 35.20; 55-59, 1. Lars Ferron, GOLD 33.25; 60-64, 1. Ken Beier, GOLD 45.56, 2. Ray Venture, GOLD 1:14.08.

100-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Tommie Cuticchia, PLAN 59.54, 2. Diego Suarez, GOLD 1:13.21, 3. Todd Cavalcanto, GOLD 1:26.87; 40-44, 1. Michael Lyn, GOLD 1:03.39, 2. Glen Hanks, GOLD 1:09.55, 3. Philip Glatzer, Unattached 1:25.07, 4. Juan Carlos Valerio, GOLD 1:25.66; 45-49, 1. Fernando Abad, PLAN 1:15.07; 50-54, 1. Bill Brenner, SYSM 1:01.04, 2. Jeff Service, GOLD 1:07.47, 3. David Toney, NCMJ 1:09.92, 4. Karl Kolb, NEM 1:11.68, 5. Roy Sonenshein, GOLD 1:31.54, 6. Juan Lopez, GOLD 1:46.04; 55-59, 1. Gary Curson, Unattached 1:09.01, 2. Chris Burt, GOLD 1:14.20, 3. Martin LaBrosse, Unattached 1:18.95; 60-64, 1. Juan Navarro, GOLD 1:28.56, 2. Philip Cullen, GOLD 1:38.57; 65-69, 1. Scott Woodburn, GOLD 1:19.02; 85-89, 1. Joaquin Silverio, GOLD 1:47.26.

50-meter backstroke: 45-49, 1. Andrew Cole, GOLD 37.34, 2. Fernando Abad, PLAN 41.98; 55-59, 1. John Masarik, GOLD 38.55, 2. Chris Burt, GOLD 39.60, 3. Robert Dzamba, GOLD 1:00.22; 60-64, 1. Juan Navarro, GOLD 49.56, 2. Ken Beier, GOLD 50.58.

100-meter breaststroke: 25-29, 1. Vlad Polyakov, SOFLO 1:03.62, 2. Andres Miyares, GOLD 2:14.01; 30-34, 1. Nicholas Perry, GOLD 1:49.52; 40-44, 1. Phillip Glatzer, Unattached 1:44.50; 45-49, 1. Sergio Faris, GOLD 1:47.33; 50-54, 1. Al Moreno, GOLD 1:22.41, 2. Brian Coomes, Unattached 1:38.25; 60-64, 1. Philip Cullen, GOLD 1:59.34; 65-69, 1. David Quiggin, GOLD 1:41.67, 2. Dick Brewer, GOLD 1:41.83.

400-meter freestyle: 25-29, 1. Todd Cavalcanto, GOLD 6:43.50; 40-44, 1. Glen Hanks, GOLD 5:40.54; 45-49, 1. Charles Nash, GOLD 5:54.28; 50-54, 1. David Toney, NCMU 5:16.77, 2. Karl Kolb, NEM 5:30.56, 3. Roy Sonenshein, GOLD 6:57.87; 55-59, 1. John Masarik, GOLD 6:15.44; 60-64, 1. Ken Beier, GOLD 6:33.58, 2. Ray Venture, GOLD 9:47.15; 65-69, 1. David Quiggin, GOLD 5:24.66, 2. Scott Woodburn, GOLD 6:32.09; 70-74, 1. James Ward, FLA 10:23.98; 85-89, 1. Joaquin Silverio, GOLD 11:24.24.

400-meter freestyle relay: 120-159, 1. GOLD (Don Tsang, Charles Nash, James Fetter, Todd Cavalcanto) 4:43.97.

400-meter medley relay:  100-119, 1. GOLD (Lee Scharf, Nicholas Perry, Andres Miyares, Leighton Allen) 6:59.96; 240-279, 1. GOLD (Chris Burt, Dick Brewer, Lars Ferron, Ken Beier) 5:51.36.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

 

High School Swimming Season Begins Next Week For SOFLO Swimmers

August 26, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

After a full summer of successful club meets, South Florida Aquatic Club swimmers are preparing for the upcoming high school season.

High school practice for public and private high schools is already underway, either with club or high school coaches.

The season opens Wednesday, Aug. 31 with Deerfield Beach hosting Monarch and Spanish River.

The full schedule kicks in the following week after Labor Day on Wednesday, Sept. 7 in Broward and Dade counties.

SOFLO swimmers are expected to do well at the various twenty-one high schools they are competing for including frontrunners Pine Crest, Douglas and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Some of SOFLO’s top boys returning are Luke Torres of American Heritage, Marc Rojas and Ivan Parada of Pembroke Pines Charter, Brandon Goldman of St. Thomas Aquinas, Keegan Boisson-Yates of Taravella and Marco Hosfeld of Douglas.

Top SOFLO girls returning are Emily and Allison Kopas of University School, Emma Lincoln of Cypress Bay, Anne Kuczynski  and Emily Greenwood of Douglas, Mia Fiorenzi of St. Thomas Aquinas, Steph Campo of Coral Springs Charter, Maria Lopez of Hialeah Gardens and Leonie Davies and newcomer Melissa Marinheiro of West Broward.

Rojas, a three-time state 2A qualifier and state champion his sophomore season, returns for his senior year at Pembroke Pines Charter.

At the Broward County Athletic Association meet, Rojas was the only swimmer to break a meet record in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.61) and defended his title in the event. He went on to win a district title and despite illness made it to the region and state meets.

Rojas picked up big time meet experience when he made two finals in one night for the first time at the Missouri Grand Prix in February.

Charter teammate Ivan Parada returns as a state qualifier. He made his debut as a sophomore and qualified for the consolation final of the 100-yard backstroke in a career-best 55.04.

Emily Kopas, a sophomore at much-improved University School and 2012 U.S. Olympic trials qualifier in two events, is coming off an outstanding summer of meets that included her second senior national appearance where she bettered her career-best in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:11.89) and earned her second Olympic trial cut. She also has the trials cut in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:33.84).

Kopas was ranked No. 1 in the nation in both breaststroke events for 14-year-olds in USA Swimming’s National Age Group Recognition Program, an awards program for the top level age group swimmers.

SOFLO swimmer Tyla Martin will make her high school swimming debut at Pine Crest. Martin competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.

Pembroke Pines Charter and West Broward have the largest contingent of SOFLO swimmers.

One of the biggest losses for Cypress Bay is state qualifier Jenna Moodie, who moved to London with her family during the summer and before her junior season.

While swimming has fallen off the radar in most local newspaper sports pages, interest is at an all-time high in high school swimming and diving in South Florida and definitely on the radar of college coaches across the country looking for talented student-athlete recruits.

High school numbers up

High school participation in all sports increased in 2010-11 according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Based on figures from the 50 high school athletic associations including the Florida High School Activities Association, sports participation reached a record-breaking total of 7,667,955 participants.

Boys and girls participation figures also reached record highs with 4,494,406 boys and 3,173,549 girls, an overall increase of 39,578 participants from 2009-2010.

“While the overall increase was not as much as we have seen in the past few years, we are definitely encouraged with these totals given the financial challenges facing our nation’s high schools,” said Bob Gardner, executive director of the NFHS.

“The benefits of education-based athletics at the high school level are well-documented, and we encourage communities throughout the nation to keep these doors of opportunity open.”

According to the survey, 55.5 percent of students enrolled in high schools participate in athletics.

Swimming remains in the top 10 participatory sports list for both girls (160,881) and boys (133,900). Florida is also among the top list of states in participants. Texas and California are the leading states for high school sports participation.

FINAL 2010 BROWARD COUNTY SWIMMING HONOR ROLL

GIRLS

200-yard Medley Relay:1. American Heritage (Lauren Driscoll, Lindsey McKnight, Chantal Bouthillier, Jessica Randolph) 1:44.24, AA, state record, 2. Pine Crest 1:49.10, 3. Cardinal Gibbons 1:52.75, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:52.85, 5. Douglas 1:53.25, 6. University School 1:54.42. 

200-yard Freestyle: 1. Lauren Driscoll, AH 1:45.37, AA, state record, 2. Damaris Iriondo, STA 1:49.49, AA, 3. Clara Smiddy, HEAT 1:50.77, 4. Alina Schulhofer, PC 1:51.41, 5. Brittany Hammond, PC 1:53.26, 6. Jessica Randolph, AH 1:53.88.

200-yard Individual Medley: 1. Clara Smiddy, SFH 2:01.30, AA, 2. Lauren Driscoll, AH 2:03.97, 3. Lindsey McKnight, AH 2:05.69, 4. Emily Kopas, US 2:06.34, 5. Rebecca Aiello, PC 2:07.11, 6. Mallory McKeon, PC 2:08.45.

50-yard Freestyle: 1. Jessica Nederlanden, WA 23.83, 2. Lindsey McKnight, AH 23.96, 3. Clara Smiddy, SFH 24.25, 4. Becky DeRogatis, CG 24.32, 5. Ainsley Anderton, SFH 24.38, 6. Stephanie Moeller, PC 24.65.

100-yard Butterfly: 1. Lindsey McKnight, AH 58.31, 2. Juana Vargas, STA 58.38, 3. Miriyam Ghali, PC 59.33, 4. Sivan Fraiman, POJW 59.59, 5. Chantal Bouthillier, AH 59.77, 6. Clara Smiddy, HEAT 59.98.

1-meter Springboard Diving: 1. Patti Kranz, WA 527.35, 2. Marina Nazario, STA 483.85, 3. Carly Alexander, STA 463.65, 4. Amanda Habig, STA 415.90, 5. Erinn Wolfe, FL 394.10, 6. Jennifer Aguirre, PC 376.25.

100-yard Freestyle: 1. Lindsey McKnight, AH 49.24, AA; 2. Clara Smiddy, SFH 51.50, 3. Lauren Driscoll, AH 51.76; 4. Jessica Randolph, AH 51.81, 5. Alina Schulhofer, PC 53.50, 6. Jenna Moodie, CB 53.38.

500-yard Freestyle: 1. Lauren Driscoll, AH 4:39.17, AA, 2. Damaris Iriondo, STA 4:55.78, 3. Lindsey McKnight, AH 4:56.00, 4. Rebecca Aiello, PC 4:57.52, 5. Clara Smiddy, SFH 4:59.00, 6. Alina Schulhofer, PC 4:59:20.15.

200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Pine Crest (Alina Schulhofer, Rebecca Aiello, Stephanie Moeller, Brittany Hammond) 1:36.95, AA, 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:40.22, 3. Westminster Academy 1:40.50, 4. Cardinal Gibbons 1:41.62, 5. Coral Springs Charter 1:44.70, 6. South Florida HEAT 1:44.73.

100-yard Backstroke: 1. Clara Smiddy, HEAT 54.76, AA; 2. Lauren Driscoll, AH 57.65, 3. Jessica Nederlanden, WA 57.86, 4. tie, Lindsey McKnight, AH, Nikki Jacobs, DB 58.24, 6. Stephanie Moeller, PC 59.21.

100-yard Breaststroke: 1. Lindsey McKnight, AH 1:02.03, AA, 2. Emily Kopas, US 1:03.38, AA, 3. Lindsey Swartz, PC 1:06.10, 4. Clara Smiddy, HEAT 1:07.94; 5. Kaelah Chaney, PC 1:08.43, 6. Anne Kuczynski, DOUG 1:08.98.

400-yard Freestyle Relay: 1. American Heritage (Lauren Driscoll, Jessica Randolph, Chantal Bouthillier, Lindsey McKnight) 3:25.61, AA, 2. Pine Crest 3:32.37, 3. St. Thomas Aquinas 3:36.77, 4. Westminster Academy 3:41.24, 5. Cardinal Gibbons 3:43.21, 6. Coral Springs Charter 3:44.05.

FINAL 2010 GIRLS TEAM RANKINGS

1.Pine Crest, 2. American Heritage, 3. St. Thomas Aquinas, 4. Westminster Academy, 5. University School.

BOYS

200-yard Medley Relay: 1. American Heritage (Yousef Alaskari, Jose Serra, Luke Torres, Daniel Spas) 1:36.26, 2. Pine Crest 1:36.69, 3. Cardinal Gibbons 1:37.95, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:38.70, 5. Westminster Academy 1:38.85, 6. Pompano Beach 1:44.00.

200-yard Freestyle: 1. Thomas Veale, PC 1:39.45, AA, 2. Yousef Alaskari, AH 1:39.51, AA, 3. Michael Zislin, CG 1:41.22, 4. Dylan Marsolek, STA 1:42.41, 5. Franco Lupoli, CB 1:43.28, 6. Armand Aguirre, PC 1:43.34.

200-yard Individual Medley: 1. Ryan Rosenbaum, CG 1:55.06, 2. Luke Torres, AH 1:56.07, 3. Adam Dear, PC 1:56.42, 4. Yousef Alaskari, AH 1:57.33, 5. Ryan Walter, PC 1:57.98, 6. Michael Rokita, PC 1:57.99.

50-yard Freestyle: 1. Daniel Spas, AH 21.10, 2. Marcel Betschart, PC 21.11, 3. Gotti Eisenberger, PC 21.21, 4. Anthony Barbar, WA 21.67, 5. Austin Saunders, WA 21.74, 6. Descartes Holland, PC 21.87.

1-meter Springboard Diving: 1. Diego Arostegui, CGL 455.80, 2.  Seth Jacobson, CSC 496.60, 3. Zach Laurence, US 446.80, 4. Chris Doolittle, ZL 398.80, 5. David Sager, US 468.95, 6. John Toomey, NE 444.05. 

100-yard Butterfly: 1. Yousef Alaskari, AH 49.58, AA, 2. tie, Luke Torres, AH and Austin Sanders, WA 50.50, 4. Kyle Swackhammer, MCA 50.85, 5. Charles Williams, DILL 51.20, 6. Kristo Kertesz, SB 52.22.

100-yard Freestyle: 1. Daniel Spas, AH 46.14, 2. Gotti Eisenberger, PC 46.85, 3. Keegan Boisson-Yates, TAR 47.00,  4. Michael Zislin, CG 47.18, 5. Armand Aguirre, PC 47.84, 6. Austin Saunders, WA 48.26.

500-yard Freestyle: 1. Thomas Veale, PC 4:25.55, AA, 2. Ryan Rosenbaum, CG 4:27.61, 3. Dylan Marsolek, STA 4:35.07, 4. Austin Evenson, PC 4:38.71, 5. Lance Rutkin, FTL 4:39.56, 6. Ryan Walter, PC 4:41.01. 

200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Pine Crest (Marcel Betschart, Gotti Eisenberger, Descartes Holland, Thomas Veale) 1:24.20, AA, 2. Westminster Academy 1:27.49, 3. Cardinal Gibbons 1:28.31, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:28.81, 5. Cypress Bay 1:31.58, 6. Pompano Beach 1:31.11.

100-yard Backstroke: 1. Marcel Betschart, PC 51.74, 2. Victor Vassallo, CG 53.98, 3. Adam Dear, PC 54.15, 4. Carlo Morante, WB 54.77, 5. Brandon Goldman, STA 54.83, 6. Ivan Parada, PPC 55.04.

100-yard Breaststroke: 1. Michal Rokita, PC 58.48, 2. Kristo Kertesz, SB 1:00.27, 3. Marc Rojas, PPC 1:00.33, 4. Ryan Rosenbaum, CG 1:00.40, 5. Yousef Alaskari, AH 1:00.90, 6. Matt Zielinski, CG 1:00.94.

400-yard Freestyle Relay: 1. American Heritage (Yousef Alaskari, Luke Torres, Jose Serra, Daniel Spas) 3:09.93, AA, 2. Pine Crest 3:10.24, 3. Cardinal Gibbons 3:13.58, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas 3:14.21, 5. Westminster Academy 3:18.38, 6. Archbishop McCarthy 3:18.50.

FINAL 2010 BOYS TEAM RANKINGS

1.Pine Crest, 2. American Heritage, 3. Cardinal Gibbons, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas, 5. Westminster Academy.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 67: SOFLO Hosts Two Meets, Cullen Jones, Make A Splash Coming To Town

August 25, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

South Florida Aquatic Club will host two meets for the young and old Friday and Saturday.

On Friday at 5 p.m., SOFLO’s Academic Village Pool in Pembroke Pines will be host site for the Florida Gold Coast Broward South Sizzler, featuring Weston, Coral Springs, Comets and SOFLO age group swimmers at the grass roots level.

Coral Springs Aquatic Complex and Coral Springs Swim Club/SOFLO will host the Coral Springs Last Chance Long Course Meters Masters meet Saturday at 10 a.m. Warm-up for swimmers is 9 a.m.

The meet is open to all registered U.S. masters swimmers ages 18 and over trying to get in one last long course meters meet and improve career-bests before the short course season.

Cullen Jones, Make A Splash Series Coming To ISHOF

The sixth and final stop of the 2011 Make A Splash with Cullen Jones Event Series will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale at 8 a.m.

In its third year, the Make A Splash Tour promotes the importance of learning to swim and reinforces the importance of water safety throughout the nation.

2008 Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones will talk about the USA Swimming Foundation and Conoco Phillips’ Make A Splash program along with host and three-time Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines.

The program is centered around minority children ages 5-14 who are most at risk for drowning which is the second leading cause of accidental death for children under age 14.

Texas A&M Headed To SEC

Texas A&M is expected to become the thirteenth member of the Southeastern Conference.

The Aggies have asked Big 12 Conference officials to outline the exit process to be followed and penalty fees that will be assessed for leaving the conference.

The SEC is expected to formally invite Texas A&M next week for the 2012-2013 season.

While most are talking about the implications for college football and major television coverage, swimmers are more interested in how it will increase the competition and depth in swimming and diving in the SEC.

If approved, the Big 12 would have only Texas and Missouri in men’s swimming and Texas, Iowa State, Kansas and Missouri in women’s swimming. With the number of swim programs dwindling in the Big 12 Conference, the conference could drop swimming.

Miscellaneous

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Greensboro Aquatic Center Thursday night, USA Synchronized Swimming announced that the new venue will host the 2012 Olympic Trials on Nov. 11-14. The four-day event will attract the country’s top synchro athletes competing for a spot on the U.S. synchronized swimming team for the 2012 London Olympics. Susan Braman, the aquatic center manager, her staff and the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau came up with the perfect bid to host the event, officials said. The state-of-the-art facility is 78,000 square feet with three pools and 2,500-seating capacity…Olympian Ryan Lochte is among nominees for Pro Athlete of the Year at the inaugural PNC Bank Sportys Awards presented by the Central Florida Sports Commission. The award winners and induction ceremony for the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame will be held Sept. 24 at Full Sail University…Rachel Bootsma has signed with the University of California-Berkeley.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 66: Ryan Lochte To Appear At Miami Sports Authority On Saturday

August 24, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Olympian Ryan Lochte, fresh off a training camp in Colorado and brief vacation at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, will make an appearance in Miami on Saturday.

Lochte, 27, who lives and trains in Gainesville, will appear at the new Sports Authority in midtown Miami at 4 p.m.

The sporting goods giant officially opened on Aug. 5. The 35,000-square foot store is located in the Shops at Midtown at NE 34^th St. and North Miami Ave.

Lochte’s last meet was the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai, China where he won five gold medals, broke a world record and established himself as the swimmer to beat at the 2012 London Olympics.

While Phelps is still the biggest brand in swimming with his endorsements, Lochte is running ahead of Phelps in popularity in and out of the pool including the way he relates to teenagers because of his penchant for fashion, music, teeth grills and funky shoes. While he has a serious side when it comes to training, diet and competing, he also is a free spirit.

Trinidad’s Bovell Recovering After Car Accident

Olympian George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago is recovering at home from a horrific car accident last Friday.

Bovell, who graduated from Jacksonville Bolles and was a bronze medalist in the 200-meter individual medley in the 2004 Olympics, was coming back from practice in Mayaro when his BMW was hit by a truck on the driver’s side of the car. 

Bovell was knocked unconscious and suffered several lacerations that required stitches. He was treated and released from the local hospital. Only quick thinking on his part when he leaned over to the passenger’s side saved him from serious harm.

Bovell, 28, a medal favorite in the 50-meter freestyle for the Pan American Games in October, is now questionable for the Mexico meet. The five-time NCAA champion at Auburn is expected to be out of the water for at least two to three weeks.

Bovell was coming off the FINA World Championships in China where he finished seventh in the 50-meter freestyle in a textile-best 22.04.

Venezuela’s Subirats Reinstated

Venezuelan swimmer Albert Subirats’ one-year ban was lifted by FINA after he won his appeal with the international governing body.

Subirats, a three-time NCAA champion at Arizona, won the gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly at the short course world championships in 2010 but was banned in June for failing to notify anti-doping authorities of his whereabouts during an 18-month period.

Subirats told FINA that he submitted his paperwork to the Venezuelan Federation detailing where he would be in 2010 and 2011 but the federation lost the information.

Lourdes De Goncalves, president of the Venezuelan Aquatic Sports Federation, confirmed to reporters that Subirats can now compete in the upcoming Pan American Games in Mexico and 2012 London Olympics. His name is already on the Pan Am roster.

Had the ban not been lifted, Subirats would have had only two months to swim the Olympic time standard to be able to compete at the 2012 Games. Subirats is currently training with Tucson Ford.

NCAA Woman Of The Year Candidates

Swimmers dominate NCAA’s list of thirty candidates for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award which is presented annually to one female student-athlete based on academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership throughout their college career.

To be eligible for the 2011 award, an athlete must have graduated by the end of the summer of 2011, have completed their NCAA eligibility by the spring and have at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA.

Seven of the 30 candidates are swimmers. They are Division I: Annie Chandler of Arizona and Audra Egenolf of SMU; Division II: Nicole Horn, Henderson State and Kelsey Ward, Drury; Division III: Laura Barito, Stevens Institute of Technology, Haley Emerick of Trinity and Molly Evans of Carnegie Mellon.

Swimmers have won this award nine times in the 20-year history of the award.

The candidates list will be pared to nine and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 16^th.

Miscellaneous

According to British Gas Swimming, more than 3 million people swim at least once a week compared to only 2 million people who play football and 1.8 million who cycle once a week.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 65: SOFLO Breaks Twenty One FGC Records Over Two Months

August 23, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

It was a nice way for South Florida Aquatic Club swimmers to end the summer and long course season in the Florida Gold Coast.

Buoyed by its strength in the 11-12 boys age group, SOFLO broke twenty one Florida Gold Coast records in both individual and relay events—twelve individual and nine relay.

SOFLO two-time Olympian Alia Atkinson broke the open and senior records in the 50-meter breaststroke in 31.51.

Julien Pinon, 12, broke nine individual Florida Gold Coast records and was a member of nine record-breaking relay performances in July.

Pinon broke the LSC 50-meter freestyle record in 26.17 and LSC Open record in the 50-meter freestyle in 26.20; the LSC and LSC Open record in the 100-meter freestyle in 56.65; LSC record in the 200-meter freestyle in 2:03.07; LSC record in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:26.36;  the LSC record twice in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:03.78 and 1:02.58; and LSC Open record in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:03.78. 

Tristan Celestin broke the LSC Open record in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:13.70.

Celestin and Pinon joined Alfredo Mesa Jr. and Cristian Rossi on three 200-meter freestyle relays that broke two LSC records in 1:50.83 and 1:48.80 and LSC Open record in 1:50.83.

Celestin, Pinon and Mesa Jr. along with Juan Lucas were members of the 400-meter freestyle relay that broke the LSC and LSC Open records in 4:01.66.

Lucas, Celestin, Pinion and Rossi broke the LSC and LSC Open records in the 200-meter medley relay in 2:01.10.

Lucas, Celestin, Pinon and Mesa Jr. broke the LSC and LSC Open records in the 400-meter medley relay in 4:29.66.

Masters Meet At Coral Springs

Coral Springs Swim Club/SOFLO will host the Coral Springs Last Chance Long Course Meters Masters meet Saturday at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex on Saturday at 10 a.m. Entry deadline is Tuesday. Meet director is Chris Jackson and can be reached at 954-345-2121. Warm-up is 9 a.m. The meet is open to all registered U.S. masters swimmers ages 18 and over trying to get in one last long course meters meet and improve career-bests before the short course season.

Diving

Bianca Alvarez, who lives in Miami and attends Ohio State, and University of Miami’s Carrie Dragland finished the World University Games in Shenzhen, China on Monday with a bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard synchronized diving competition. The U.S. women finished with the silver medal in the overall team competition. China took the gold. Alvarez and Dragland finished with 292.50 points behind China (334.20) and the Ukraine (301.50).

Water polo

China, with ten senior international players off the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai in July, routed the U.S., 14-4, to defend its gold medal. “We were the champions in the last World University Games and this is what we expected,” said Ma Huanhuan, China’s leading scorer with four goals. Russia won the women’s bronze medal with an 18-9 win over Italy. Serbia won the men’s gold medal with an 11-8 victory over Russia. Macedonia topped the U.S., 10-7, to take the bronze. Janson Wigo of Fort Lauderdale had two goals for the U.S.…In the diving competition, China won four gold medals in a row. China leads the overall medal count with 145 including 75 gold medals, well ahead of Russia and South Korea. The World University Games ended on Tuesday with 7,000 student-athletes including SOFLO’s Caroline Kuczynski of Canada, competing in 24 sports over 11 days. Kuczysnki and her little dog Winnie, returned to Tempe, Arizona on Tuesday where she will be a junior at Arizona State.

Miscellaneous

FINA, aquatic sports’ international governing body, released this week that all 362 doping tests conducted at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai, China were negative. There were 311 urine samples including 43 EPO screenings and 51 blood samples taken. No anti-doping rule violations were reported….At the third FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru, 42 meet records were broken and 19 different countries medaled among the 58 nations that participated with 528 swimmers (246 women and 282 men).

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 64: FINA Junior World Championships End With More Meet Records

August 21, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

U.S. swimmers ended on a good note Sunday on the final day of competition at the third FINA World Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru.

American Jacob Pebley broke the meet record in the 200-meter backstroke to win the gold medal in 1:58.73. The previous record was 1:59.67 set in 2008 by Kurt Basset.

Kosuke Hagino of Japan (1:58.94) and American Ryan Murphy (1:59.63) also dipped under the meet record to take the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Pebley was also a member of the winning 400-meter medley relay that broke the meet record in 3:39.65. Other relay members were Nicolas Fink, Maclin Davis and Seth Stubblefield. The previous meet record was 3:41.69. Brazil was disqualified for early takeoff.

American Evan Pinion broke the meet record in the 1500-meter freestyle in 15:11.03. The previous record was 15:25.01 set in 2008.

Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri also dipped under the old record in 15:15.02 and took the silver. Italian teammate Gabriele Detti took the bronze in 15:18.46, also breaking the meet record.

Tjasa Oder of Slovenia broke the meet record in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle in 16:18.63. American Rachel Zilinskas was second in 16:18.85 and Spain’s Claudia Dasca was third in 16:24.30.

Rachel Kelly of Great Britain won the 100-meter butterfly in 59.37 just out-touching Rino Hosoda of Japan who finished in 59.39. Both times were meet records. Alexandra Wenk of Germany took the bronze in 59.64.

Bronte Campbell of Australia broke her own meet record in the 50-meter freestyle in 25.22. American Lia Neal, a U.S. Olympic hopeful, took the silver in 25.30 and Canadian Chantal Van Landeghem took the bronze in 25.35.

Kenta Kirai of Japan broke his meet record in the men’s 200-meter butterfly to win the gold medal in 1:57.16. His previous record was 1:58.81. Andreas Vazaios of Greece was second in 1:59.27 and Canadian Mackenzie Darragh was third in 1:59.31.

Japan won its second gold of the night when Kanako Watanabe won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2:25.52. Italy’s Lisa Fissneider was second in 2:26.01 and Irina Novikova of Russia was third in 2:26.04.

The top three finishers in the women’s 200-meter freestyle broke Dagny Knutson’s meet record of 1:59.78 set in 2008. Brittany MacLean took the gold in 1:58.93, American Chelsea Chenault the silver in 1:59.69 and Fu Yuanhui of China the bronze in 1:50.70.

Aussie Cameron McEvoy won the men’s 100-meter freestyle in 50.16. Russian Dmitry Ermakov and Pawel Werner of Poland tied for the silver in 50.46.

Panagiotis Samilidis of Greece won the men’s 50-meter breaststroke in 28.27. Akihiro Yamaguchi of Japan and Craig Benson of Great Britain tied for second in 28.44.

Japan won its third and final gold medal of the night in the women’s 400-meter medley relay in a meet record 4:05.65. The U.S. team with Neal swimming anchor leg was second in 4:07.79 and Russia was third in 4:07.99.

Open water swimming

Forty-year-old Jamie Patrick successfully emerged from the Sacramento River Saturday night after completing a 31-hour, 111-mile open water swim for charity.

“All in all, I feel pretty good, I’m very excited to be done,” Patrick told the Sacramento Bee. “I had a difficult night (stomach problems) and didn’t think I’d get through it but here I am. It was a pretty magical swim.”

The San Francisco businessman made the swim as a fundraiser for Buena Vista Auxiliary, which promotes literacy for school children. Patrick has a five-year-old daughter.

His second motivation was to bring awareness to clean water. “If people take advantage of the Sacramento River hopefully they’ll take care of it,” Patrick said.

Patrick started swimming at age 7 and hasn’t stopped yet!

Triathlon

Chrissie Wellington and Rasmus Henning won the overall titles Sunday in the 70.3 Timberman in New Hampshire.

Wellington, a three-time Ironman World Champion from Great Britain, won in 4:16:33. American Caitlin Snow was second in 4:26:36.

Henning of Denmark won the men’s race in 3:53:41 ahead of American Mike Caiazzoin 4:01:30…

Great Britain took the team title on Sunday in the Team Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. Jodie Stimpson, Jonathan Brownlee, Helen Jenkins and Alistair Brownlee were members of the winning team in 1 hour, 9 minutes and 29 seconds. The Brits won by 15 seconds over Switzerland. A record 35 teams from 28 countries competed. The ITU is bidding to get Team Triathlon into the Olympic Games program.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

Swimming Community Pays Final Tribute To Lake Lytal Coach, Dwyer Teacher Mike Horgan

August 21, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

The tributes to Lake Lytal Lightning swim coach Michael Horgan have been emotional and full of love since his untimely death last Tuesday.

Professional, passionate, knowledgeable and amazing are just a few of the superlatives used in the same sentence when describing Horgan and the legacy he leaves behind.

Horgan died of a heart attack at age 50. He was a double lung transplant recipient in 2000. He had cystic fibrosis his entire life but never let it damper his enthusiasm for coaching, teaching and living life to its fullest. He was called “a walking miracle and inspiration to many” by one of his students.

“He left his mark in each one of us he taught and that will go on forever,” said another student.

“Coach Mike, We will miss you so much! You were the best coach, father, husband, friend, son and brother. If you saw the hospital the night you died, you would be so proud of the people that love you. You were very loved and it’s going to be rough without someone as great as you. If only love could save you, you would be the healthiest guy around. We will miss you so very much.”—Swimmers of Palm Beach County.

“Mike, a piece of me is gone now that you are gone. Thanks for your friendship and professionalism, I am truly hollow inside. Real friends are hard to come by, you were a real and true friend. Real friends tell you those things others are afraid to tell, you never did, real friends aren’t judgemental but accept you for your strengths and weaknesses. I truly miss you Mike.”—Gordon Andrews

“Coach Mike was a gift to everyone he came into contact with. Whether as a swim coach or as a teacher, Mike taught kids discipline and the need to strive to be their best, not THE best. He understood the gift of life. With all of that “on his plate” his greatest pride was his family. To them, we wish only the greatest of pride and memories.”—Stephen Cohen

Horgan, who also coached with the Flying Fish and Stingray Swim Team in Miami, was Lake Lytal’s key coach in helping swimmers transition from developmental swimmer to senior level swimmer. He was known for his expertise in correct bio-mechanical skills. He was named 2010 ASCA Age Group of the Year after Lake Lytal won the 2010 Junior Olympics at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.

Horgan was a competitive swimmer for fourteen years with the Sheeler-Winton Swim Team and member of a nationally-ranked age group relay team.

As a science teacher, Horgan was at the head of the class named both Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year (2000-2001) and Palm Beach County Teacher of the Year (2008).

During a well-attended “Celebration of Life” ceremony at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens on Friday, the well-liked Horgan was remembered fondly. More than 300 family and friends including SOFLO’s Chris Anderson and Bruno Darzi attended the celebration of life.

Even more heart-warming was the large turnout of swimmers, coaches and friends for Saturday’s ocean swim and paddle out at Kreusler Park Beach near Lake Worth Pier. 

“The swim team and swim community at-large had an awesome and cathartic surfboard paddle out and swim out into the ocean in honor of a great man,” Andrews said. “The whole beach was moved by the number of competitive swimmers and surfers honoring Mike Horgan’s continuing legacy in the ocean.”

Horgan is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and son Stephen, a freshman at the University of Florida this fall.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com

AQUATIC NOTEBOOK, Issue 63: Egypt Wins First Gold Medal At FINA World Junior Championships

August 20, 2011

WRITTEN BY SHARON ROBB

Egypt, not exactly a swimming power, made history Saturday at the third FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru.

On the fourth day of competition, Egypt won its first gold medal in meet history when Farida Hisham Osman won the women’s 50-meter butterfly in a meet record 26.69.

American Kendyl Stewart took the silver in 26.78. South African Vanessa Mohr (26.85) and Canadian Chantal Van Landeghem (26.85) tied for the bronze medal.

Japan’s Akihito Yamaguchi won the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:11.70, breaking the previous meet record of 2:14.78.

Ukraine swimmers Oleroksiy Rozhkov (2:13.94) and Maksym Shemberev (2:14.08) took the silver and bronze medals respectively. American Chase Kalisz (2:14.13) was fourth. The trio of swimmers also dripped under the previous meet record.

Germany’s Christian Diener won the 50-meter backstroke in 26.59, just 1/100^th off his own meet record of 26.58 set in the semifinals. American Pebley Jacob took the silver in 25.75 and Italian Niccolo Bonacch took bronze in 25.78

Lisa Fissneider of Italy won the gold medal in both the 50- and 100-meter breaststroke events in meet records. She won the 100 in a meet record 1:07.71.

Aussie sprinter Cameron McEvoy won the 50-meter freestyle in 22.69 followed by Spain’s Rodriguez Martinez (22.72) and Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece (22.80).

Spain’s Beatriz Cortez won the 200-meter individual medley in 2:13.57. Japan’s Emu Higuchi was second in 2:13.96 and Erika Seltenreich- Hodgson was third in 2:15.62.

Joseph Schooling of Singapore broke the national record during the heats of the 50-meter butterfly in 24.95. Joseph, 16, broke the previous mark of 24.99 set three years ago but failed to get out of the semifinals, placing tenth in 25.02.

Joseph now owns eight of his country’s nine national records in the 50-meter butterfly.

Canadian Brittany MacLean won the gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:10.32. Aussie Bonnie MacDonald was second in 4:11.86 and American Gillian Ryan was third in 4:12.28.

Canada added another gold medal in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Alex Page, Keegan Zanatta, Omar Arafa and Chad Bobrosky winning in 7:22.95. China was second in 7:23.28 and Poland third in 7:24.09.

Water Polo

Michigan’s Leah Robertson scored three goals to lead the U.S. women’s water polo team to a 9-8 victory over Italy in the semifinals of the World University Games. Stanford goalie alum Amber Oland had 11 saves for a .579 percentage and turned back Italy’s last quarter rally. Six other players also scored for the U.S. which plays host China in the gold medal game. Pre-tournament favorite China advanced with a 12-6 win over Russia in the other semifinal game.

Triathlon

2012 U.S. Olympic qualifiers Gwen Jorgensen and Sarah Groff finished in the Top 10 Saturday at the ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Jorgensen got her third straight Top 10 finish with a sixth place in 59 minutes and 2 seconds for the 750-meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run course.

Groff posted her fourth consecutive Top seven finish with her seventh place in 59:06.

Barbara Riveros Diaz of Chile won the women’s title just edging Aussie Emma Jackson in 58:35.

Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee on in 52:23.

On Sunday, Jorgensen, Groff, Barrett Brandon and Mark Fretta will represent the U.S. in the ITU Team Triathlon World Championships. Live coverage is available on triathlonlive.tv….At the USA Triathlon National Age Group Championships at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vt. Carlos Dolabella, 50, of Key Biscayne was third in 1:07:43 in the sprint event. His splits were 10:39 (swim), 34:39 (bike) and 20:51 (run). Race conditions were ideal. The water temperature in Lake Champlain was 74 degrees which made the course wetsuit-legal. There were 1,900 triathletes in the Olympic distance event and 600 in the sprint event. Colorado University student Karl Kahsar won the Olympic distance men’s event in 1:52:18. Olympic medalist Susan Williams won the women’s title in 2:06:02.

Miscellaneous

World and national champion swimmer Dana Vollmer and former Stanford swimmer Andy Grant were married on Saturday in northern California vineyard country in Livermore. The Texas native and U.S. Olympic hopeful trains with UC Berkeley coach Teri McKeever. Grant popped the question on Feb. 20, 2010 in Long Beach, Calif. Grant designed a wedding website loaded with photos and great stories. “I get married today!!! So excited I could hardly sleep,” Vollmer tweeted early Saturday morning….SOFLO’s Caroline Kuczynski, after competing on her first world team for Canada this past week at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, left Hong Kong on Saturday and managed to sleep her entire 12-hour overseas flight. After a seven-hour layover in Vancouver and five hour flight to Montreal, she was scheduled to arrive home late Saturday night…..In her comeback journey to the U.S. Olympic trials, Olympian Janet Evans lowered her own Masters world record in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:22.87. Evans, 40, being coached by former Mission Bay coach Mark Schubert, broke her own 40-44 age group record of 4:23.82. The Olympic trials qualifying time is 4:19.39.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com

 http://www.swim4soflo.com