By Sharon Robb
July 17, 2016—South Florida Aquatic Club continues to build on its’ winning tradition.
SOFLO captured its’ seventh consecutive team title and 13th overall at the Florida Gold Coast
14&Under Long Course Junior Olympics Sunday at Sailfish Splash Waterpark in Stuart.
SOFLO led the meet from opening day and built on its’ lead with talent, depth and relay dominance to win its’ sixth long course title.
SOFLO won the combined team title with 835 points followed by Gulliver Swim Club with 572 and East Coast Aquatic Club with 466.5 points.
SOFLO boys won the team title with 570 points, nearly 300 points more than the City of Hialeah Storm with 289.
SOFLO girls were fourth with 265 points. Co-host North Palm Beach Swim Club won the girls’ crown with 365 points.
It was the fourth consecutive year the club won back-to-back short and long course titles the same year.
“We are very competitive for sure,” said SOFLO head coach Chris Anderson. “We do target the championship meets. I really like to peak our entire program for the month of July and August of each year.”
SOFLO swimmers showed their versatility by swimming six events. The team’s strength in relays was also evident.
“It’s nice these kids are not specific in one race, they are specific in swimming which helped us with the relays,” Anderson said.
“We do expect them to swim six swims, challenging themselves and pushing themselves past their comfort zone. It does show. We had the B relays beating the A relays.
“People look to move forward in our program and over time it’s understood. The kids come to expect it. Our coaches are always striving to be better which is why we stay on top.”
SOFLO won its’ first JO title at the long course meet and have come full circle. Swimmers and coaches know there is going to be a target on their back at every major meet.
“For sure it is more difficult each time,” Anderson said. “I thought winning the first JO title was going to be the best, but I am not so sure that is the truth now because of the target on our backs. Our team continues to improve and so do the other teams in the FGC which makes it harder.
“The meet schedule is unreal and we were able to stay organized with the staff. Any time you win a championship meet going into the Olympics and first road trip out of the county, it is a huge thing for our program. It was nice to see our numbers stay where we needed them to be.”
It was the first time the JO meet was held in Stuart. It was also the first road trip and hotel stay for the young SOFLO 60-member team.
“This is the first time this group travelled and slept in a hotel,” Anderson said. “It was something special for them. We definitely got better and definitely matured. This is the culture that we have to enable kids to step up because they have to. They know what other kids did before them and they are following suit.”
Anderson and several other FGC coaches enjoyed the new venue.
“The environment was perfect for cultivating age group swimming with the waterpark atmosphere and the fact high school states are held there. The facility is definitely built for long course swimming. The spectators had a really nice area. It was such a healthy, wonderful environment.”
SOFLO boys had another impressive relay victory in the 11-12 200-meter freestyle, placing first in 1:55.55 with Juan Colmenares, Sebastian Lares, Javier Roman and Christian Vasquez.
Among SOFLO’s top three individual finishers were:
Valerie Vank, first, 50-meter breaststroke, 40.95, best time; second, 200-meter individual medley, 2:52.52.
Rafael Rodriguez, first, 1500-meter freestyle, 16:42.49, best time; second, 200-meter individual medley, 2:15.86, best time.
Michelle Marinheiro, second, 1500-meter freestyle, 18:56.22, best time.
Mallory Schleicher, second, 1500-meter freestyle, 19:08.60, best time.
Alessandro Pereira, second, 200-meter individual medley, 2:46.79, best time; second, 50-meter breaststroke, 42.39, best time.
Sebastian Lares, second, 200-meter individual medley, 2:28.80, best time; second, 200-meter butterfly, 2:25.14, best time.
Juan Serna, second, 100-meter freestyle, 56.75.
Leonardo Mateus, third, 1500-meter freestyle, 17:19.71.
Meet officials said the high point awards list will be released on Monday.
SUNDAY RESULTS
COMBINED TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 835, 2. Gulliver Swim Club 572, 3. East Coast Aquatic Club 466.5, 4. North Palm Beach 397, 5. Hialeah 390.5.
BOYS TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 570, 2. Hialeah 289, 3. Gulliver 268.5, 4. East Coast Aquatic Club 188, 5. Metro Aquatics 153.
GIRLS TEAM TOTALS: 1. North Palm Beach 365, 2. Gulliver Swim Club 303.5, 3. East Coast 278.5, 4. South Florida Aquatic Club 265, 5. Pine Crest Swimming 219.
GIRLS
200-meter individual medley:
10-and-under, 1. Erika Pelaez, Gulliver 2:39.81; SOFLO: 2. Valerie Vank 2:52.52, 17. Kaitlyn Barrios 3:12.90, best time; 11-12, 1. Heidi Smithwick, Jupiter 2:33.30; SOFLO: 6. Mallory Schleicher 2:40.90, best time, 13. Sara Quintero 2:44.77, 42. Mia Escudero 2:55.40, best time, 43. Jena Legaspi 2:55.59, 45. Emma Twombly 2:57.02, best time, 52. Sabrina Osorio 2:59.61, best time; 13-14, 1. Jennifer Secrest, North Palm Beach 2:23.81; SOFLO: 10. Molly Golding 2:35.56, best time, 14. Katrina Del Vecchio 2:36.70, best time, 16. Jacqueline Lugo 2:37.08, best time, 26. Daniela Curbelo 2:41.02, best time, 32. Michelle Marinheiro 2:43.55, best time, 40. Valentina Carrion 2:46.22, best time.
50-meter backstroke:
10-and-under, 1. Erika Pelaez, Gulliver 33.61; SOFLO: 4. Valerie Vank 38.31; 11-12, 1. Megan Murphy, East Coast 31.58; SOFLO: 17. Jena Legaspi 36.59, 45. Sofia Osorio 39.14, 51. Emma Twombly 41.76; 13-14, 1. Claudia Acosta, Hialeah 31.90; SOFLO: 14. Katrina Del Vecchio 34.17, best time, 21. Paige Lane 35.04.
50-meter breaststroke:
10-and-under, 1. Valerie Vank, SOFLO 40.95, best time; SOFLO: 19. Mariann Catalasan 48.13, 27. Judith-Alison Natino 50.87; 11-12, 1. Chloe Hernandez, Gulliver 36.29; SOFLO: 19. Mia Escudero 41.52, 27. Sabrina Osorio 43.80; 13-14, 1. Rachel Cherelstein, North Palm Beach 35.98; SOFLO: 6. Molly Golding 36.69; 32. Jacqueline Lugo 40.94, best time, 36. Valentina Carrion 41.40.
200-meter butterfly:
11-12, 1. Rebecca Montero, AquaKids Sharks 2:34.51; SOFLO: 12. Mallory Schleicher 2:40.18, 13. Sarah Acevedo 2:40.96, best time, 14. Sara Quintero 2:43.28; 13-14, 1. Jennifer Secrest, North Palm Beach 2:22.93; SOFLO: 7. Michelle Marinheiro 2:36.55, best time, 13. Daniela Curbelo 2:43.45.
100-meter freestyle:
10-and-under, 1. Aspen Gersper, St. Andrew’s 1:07.20; SOFLO: 13. Kaitlyn Barrios 1:15.92, best time, 18. Leah Pando 1:17.56, best time; 11-12, 1. Megan Murphy, East Coast 1:02.24; SOFLO: 15. Emma Twombly 1:07.08, best time, 35. Sarah Acevedo 1:09.45, best time; 13-14, 1. Nicole Gomez, North Palm Beach 59.05; SOFLO: 6. Paige Lane 1:02.15, 21. Kyana Castro 1:03.78, 23. Jacqueline Lugo 1:04.15, best time, 29. Katrina Del Vecchio 1:04.69, 44. Valentina Carrion 1:06.18, best time.
1500-meter freestyle:
11-12, 1. Bailey Durkin, East Coast 18:56.61; SOFLO: 2. Mallory Schleicher 19:08.60, best time, 4. Sara Quintero 19:18.87, best time; 13-14, 1. Anna Auld, East Coast 18:25.40; SOFLO: 2. Michelle Marinheiro 18:56.22, best time, 4. Kyana Castro 19:14.91.
200-meter freestyle relay:
11-12, 1. North Palm Beach 1:58.07, 8. SOFLO “A” (Mallory Schleicher, Sarah Acevedo, Sara Quintero, Emma Twombly), 2:05.20.
400-meter freestyle relay:
13-14, 1. Pine Crest Swimming 4:06.70, 4. SOFLO “A” 4:10.57 (Kyana Castro, Katrina Del Vecchio, Jacqueline Lugo, Paige Lane), 10. SOFLO “B” 4:25.88 (Valentina Carrion, Molly Golding, Alana Acevedo, Michelle Marinheiro).
BOYS
200-meter individual medley:
10-and-under, 1. Kaii Winkler, Miami Swimming 2:35.56; SOFLO: 2. Alessandro Pereira 2:46.79, best time, 5. Jacob Navarro 2:57.91, best time, 8. Lucas Porven 3:00.17, best time, 9. Javier Colmenares 3:01.31, best time; 11-12, 1. Joshua Zuchowski, FAST 2:21.89; SOFLO: 2. Sebastian Lares 2:28.80, best time, 5. Javier Roman 2:33.79, best time, 6. Juan Colmenares 2:34.72, best time, 9. Zackary Harris 2:40.74, 15. Brennan Binder 2:43.96, best time, 17. Alejandro Mateus 2:44.13, best time, 21. Mark Andre De Gracia 2:46.06, best time, 22. Alex Golding 2:46.88, best time, 24. Christian Vasquez 2:47.80, best time, 52. Aldo Zepeda 2:59.20; 13-14, 1. Elvis Kotikovski, Pine Crest 2:12.78; SOFLO: 2. Rafael Rodriguez 2:15.86, best time, 6. Leonardo Mateus 2:23.94, 11. Jie Hoon Lee 2:26.32, best time, 18. Michael Arias 2:31.05, best time, 25. Nicolas Rossi 2:33.37, best time, 26. Eiza Gantus 2:33.77, best time.
50-meter backstroke:
10-and-under, 1. Noah Smith, Unattached 34.46; SOFLO: 4. Christian Tijero 38.82, 13. Jonathan Lozano 42.98, best time; 11-12, 1. Joshua Zuchowski, FAST 30.33; SOFLO: 4. Sebastian Lares 33.08, best time, 7. Juan Colmenares 34.52, best time, 10. Alejandro Mateus 35.56, best time, 18. Enrique Rodriguez 37.06, best time, 21. Odin Farkas 37.24, 27. Logan Gonzalez 38.07, best time; 13-14, 1. Elvis Kotikovski, Pine Crest 28.52; SOFLO: 4. Lance Lesage 30.25.
50-meter breaststroke:
10-and-under, 1. George Gonzalez, Flying Fish 39.49; SOFLO: 2. Alessandro Pereira 42.39, best time, 4. Jacob Navarro 43.65, best time; 11-12, 1. Aiden Kohanyi, Sunrise 34.49; SOFLO: 5. Javier Roman 36.99, best time, 7. Mark Andre De Gracia 38.61, 17. Enrique Rodriguez 41.20, best time, 20. Zackary Harris 41.37, 23. Alex Golding 41.81, best time, 25. Odin Farkas 42.22, best time, 13-14, 1. Kevin Degrijze, Swim Fort Lauderdale 33.61.
200-meter butterfly:
11-12, 1. Angelo Martinez, Unattached 2:23.31; SOFLO: 2. Sebastian Lares 2:25.14, best time 13-14, 1. Nestor Montero, Metro Aquatics 2:13.38; SOFLO: 7. Jie Hoon Lee 2:22.96.
100-meter freestyle:
10-and-under, 1. Kaii Winkler, Miami Swimming 1:03.99; SOFLO: 4. Christian Tijero 1:10.41, 8. Jacob Navarro 1:13.75, best time, 13. Lucas Porven 1:16.05, best time, 27. Jonathan Lozano 1:19.88, best time; 11-12, 1. Matthew Tarafa, Hialeah 58.92; SOFLO: 4. Juan Colmenares 1:02.11, best time, 6. Javier Roman 1:02.53, 7. Christian Vasquez 1:04.47, 10. Zackary Harris 1:05.11, best time, 13. Enrique Rodriguez 1:06.14, best time, 16. Brennan Binder 1:06.41, best time, 28. Alejandro Mateus 1:08.35, best time, 41. Logan Gonzalez 1:10.51, best time; 13-14, 1. Aaron Rodriguez, Hialeah 54.86; SOFLO: 2. Juan Serna 55.93, best time, 11. Michael Arias 58.90, best time, 18. Lance Lesage 59.70, best time, 26. Nicolas Rossi 1:00.95, 43. Nicolas Munoz 1:03.04, best time, 46. Eiza Gantus 1:03.21, 69. Ryan Alfonso 1:05.79.
1500-meter freestyle:
11-12, 1. Trenton Edwards, East Coast 18:55.89; SOFLO: 5. Christian Vasquez 19:51.08, best time; 13-14, 1. Rafael Rodriguez, SOFLO 16:42.49, best time; SOFLO: 3. Leonardo Mateus 17:19.71, 9. Nicolas Rossi 17:39.96, best time, 11. Joe Hoon Lee 17:50.97, best time.
200-meter freestyle relay:
11-12, 1. SOFLO “A” 1:55.55 (Juan Colmenares, Sebastian Lares, Javier Roman, Christian Vasquez), 6. SOFLO “B” 2:03.01 (Brennan Binder, Alejandro Mateus, Alex Golding, Zackary Harris).
400-meter freestyle relay:
13-14, 1. Metro Aquatics 3:47.40; 2. SOFLO “A” 3:48.30 (Rafael Rodriguez, Leonardo Mateus, Michael Arias, Juan Serna), 7. SOFLO “B” 4:07.10 (Nicholas Munoz, Nicolas Rossi, Jie Hoon Lee, Eiza Gantus).
Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
South Florida Aquatic Club's Blog 