SOFLO’s Julio Horrego Leads Florida Gold Coast 20-Swimmer Contingent For FINA World Aquatics Championships That Begin Saturday

By Sharon Robb
BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 15, 2022–Honduran Olympian Julio Horrego of South Florida Aquatic Club will compete on opening day of the 19th FINA World Aquatics Championships Saturday at Duna Arena.

Horrego, 23, will swim the prelims of the 100-meter breaststroke. It is the first of two events he will compete in. He will also swim the 50-meter breaststroke.

Horrego competed in the 2019 World Championships in South Korea, 2019 Pan American Games in Peru and 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and was flagbearer for his country in the opening parade of nations ceremony.

Horrego will see plenty of familiar faces during the meet with Florida Gold Coast well-represented with 20 swimmers competing on one of swimming’s biggest international stages.

Azura Florida Aquatics has qualified 14 swimmers.

Heading the group is Uruguayan national record holder Micaela Sierra. The Pompano Beach resident who will start swimming for Auburn University this fall, competed for South Florida Heat in high school.

Other Azura swimmers are: Esteban Nunez Del Prado, Bolivia; Fatima Portillo, El Salvador, open water; Jahir Lopez, Ecuador, open water; Jayhan Odlum-Smith, St. Lucia; Jenebi Benoit, Grenada; Julimar Avila, Honduras; Kito Campbell, Jamaica; Leon Seaton, Guyana; Matheo Mateos, Paraguay; Maximiliano Paccot, Uruguay; Nicole Frank, Uruguay; Steven Aimable, Senegal and Yeziel Morales, Puerto Rico, coming off the PanAm Aquatics Age Group Championships.

Brazil Olympic bronze medalist Bruno Fratus of Coral Springs Swim Club will compete in the 50-meter freestyle.

Patrick Groters, a former NSU University School and Pine Crest Swim Club swimmer now at South Carolina, will represent Aruba in the 100 and 200 backstrokes and 200 individual medley.

Former St. Andrew’s and Florida State swimmer Izaak Bastian, national record holder for the Bahamas, will compete in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes.

Former Plantation American Heritage swimmer Dylan Carter of Trinidad & Tobago will compete in the 50 butterfly, and 50 and 100 freestyles.

University of Florida’s Anna Auld of West Palm Beach and Forest Hill High School and East Coast Aquatic Club alum, will compete in the 5K and 25K open water events for the U.S. team.

The swimming opens Saturday and runs through June 25 with the pool events. The aquatics championships that also features water polo, diving, open water swimming, high diving and synchronized swimming end July 3. NBC Sports will televise the swimming finals only. The FINA facebook page will show the other competitions. Canada’s CBC will also broadcast the swimming.

Saturday’s opening day prelim events are: women’s 200 IM, men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 100 butterfly, men’s 50 butterfly, women’s 400 freestile, men’s 100 breaststroke, men’s 400 IM and women’s and men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay. Finals will be held in the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle, men’s 400 IM and relays. The opening ceremony will also be held.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com

SOFLO’s Jennifer Martin Golden Girl At U.S. Police & Fire Championships

By Sharon Robb
SAN DIEGO, Calif., June 15, 2022—Jennifer Martin showed no signs of slowing down at the 55th annual United States Police & Fire Championships.

The City of Pembroke Pines Police Sargeant assigned to the Traffic Unit won all nine of her swimming events in the 40-44 age group and broke four USPFC records including one that stood for 22 years on June 11th at Mesa College Aquatic Complex.

Over four years (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), Martin has won 36 gold medals and broken 14 records. In 2020, the meet was cancelled because of the pandemic.

During the one-day swimming competition, Martin, a former South Florida Aquatic Club coach, won the 100 breaststroke in a record 1:14.66, breaking a 22-year-old USPFC record by nearly nine seconds that was 1:23.79 set in 2000.

Her other gold-medal swims were:

50 breaststroke, 33.26.

200 women’s freestyle relay 30-plus, 1:52.76, breaking the USPFC record of 2:00.78 set in 2018. Her relay teammates were Marcela Reuda, Carrie Nordyke and Tesla Hughes.

50 freestyle, 25.19.

50 butterfly, 28.41.

200 women’s medley relay 30-plus, 2:08.43, breaking the USPFC record of 2:19.25 set in 2018. Reuda, Nordyke and Hughes were relay teammates.

200 women’s mixed freestyle relay 18-plus, 1:58.81 with Reuda, Nordyke and Robert Daltorio.

50 backstroke, 30.72, breaking her own 2021 record of 31.07.

200 mixed medley relay, 2:22.46, with Reuda, Nordyke and Daltorio.

“Overall, a pretty good day as far as my times,” Martin wrote on her Facebook page. “The old lady, who apparently needs to take a step back, still had a 25.1, 50 free left in her after swimming nine events in three hours. Blessed that my body has held up as long as it has and that I have been able to maintain consistency for the past 20 years.”

As if that wasn’t enough, she also competed in the indoor rowing event two days later at Four Points Sheridan in San Diego. Martin learned the finer points of rowing from YouTube tutorials.

Martin won four gold medals and broke two USPFC records.

Martin won the 2000-meters race in 8:15.2, breaking the USPFC record of 9:09.1 set in from 2016. She also won the 500-meter race in 1:147.2.

She teamed with Reuda to win the 1000-meter doubles in 1:55.5, breaking the previous record 1:56.5.

Martin also won the 1000-meter mixed doubles in 1:51.0 with teammate and boyfriend Chance O’Quinn, a retired fireman from Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue.

“The best part is when your boyfriend registers last minute to team up with you for the mixed 1000 meters and you take the gold. Best gold medal I’ve ever won!” Martin said.

Martin, wearing her USA swim cap while racing, was also the poster girl for the swimming event on the event’s website promoting the USPFC.

The United States Police & Fire Championships, presented by Bio-One Crime & Trauma Scene Cleaning, is an Olympic-style competition with athletes representing law enforcement, firefighters and officers from corrections, probation, border protection, immigration and customs from across the country.

It began in 1967 as the California Police Olympics, in 1990 was the California Police Summer Games, in 2000 was the California Police and Fire Games, and since 2012 has been known as the U.S. Police and Fire Championships.

The California Police Athletic Federation is the governing body for the U.S. Police & Fire Championships. Its mission is to promote sport and physical fitness among personnel representing various agencies. More than 2,800 athletes are competing in 40 various sports at 30 venues around San Diego County June 11-19.

Sharon Robb can be reached at sha11cats@aol.com
http://www.swim4soflo.com