Auld, Campbell Shine; Horrego, Dinehart Sisters, Women’s Relay Top Finishers For Second Place SOFLO At Southern Zone South Sectional Championships

By Sharon Robb
PLANTATION, July 7, 2022—Two swimmers coming off the 19th FINA World Aquatics Championships had plenty left in the tank Thursday at the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships at Plantation Aquatic Complex.

A week after competing in the 25K open water event in Budapest Hungary, Anna Auld, 19, of St. Andrew’s Aquatics won the 800-meter freestyle in 8:51.08, just 0.11 off her entry time.

In Hungary, the University of Florida freshman was the top American finisher in the 25K, placing seventh in 5:25:25.60, just two minutes off the leader. She was also 20th in the 5K in 1:00:57.20.

In the best men’s race of the evening, Jamaican Kito Campbell, 19, of Azura Florida Aquatics out-touched South Florida Aquatic Club’s Julio Horrego, 23, by 1/100ths of a second to win the 50-meter breaststroke 28.65-28.66. They were the only two swimmers to dip below 29 seconds among the 31-swimmer field. In Hungary, Campbell competed in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes.

In the men’s 800 freestyle, Philip Moldovanu, 19, of the Wahoos of Wellington won in 8:26.75 ahead of Swim Fort Lauderdale’s Dylan Felt in 8:29.21. SOFLO’s Enrique Rodriguez, 17, dropped 3.12 seconds off his 800 time in 8:46.77 to finish 13th.

South Florida Aquatic Club had three swimmers among the top three finishers in their events. In addition to Horrego, Elena Dinehart, 17, was third in the 50-meter backstroke in 31.39. Olivia Dinehart, 17, was third in the 50-meter breaststroke in 33.87.

SOFLO’s women’s 800-meter freestyle relay was third in 8:44.81 with Olivia Dinehart, Natalie Gembicki, Mallory Schleicher and Elena Dinehart.

SOFLO women and men’s teams are both second among 50 teams. Azura leads the men’s team standings and Planet Swim Aquatics lead the women’s.

On Friday and Saturday, prelims are 8 a.m. and finals 6 p.m. On Sunday, prelims are 8 a.m., 1500-meter freestyle distance events 3:15 p.m. and finals at 5 p.m.

SOFLO has 29 swimmers (16 girls and 13 boys) qualified in 131 individual events (77 girls and 54 boys) and 10 relays.

Some of the top teams entered are Azura Florida Aquatics, St. Petersburg Swimming, Treasure Coast Swimming, Flood Aquatics, Sarasota Tsunami, Pine Crest Swimming, Eagle Aquatics and Gulliver Swim Club.

THURSDAY RESULTS
WOMEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Planet Swim Aquatics 125, 2. SOFLO 93, 3. Azura 77, 4. FAST 62, 5. Academy Aquatics 57, 6. Berkeley 48, 7. Golden Panther 38, 8. Pine Crest 36, 9. Hurricane Aquatics 35.5, 10. St. Andrew’s Aquatics 33.
MEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Azura 145, 2. SOFLO 87.5, 3. St. Andrew’s Aquatics 81, 4. Academy Aquatic 73.5, 5. Plantation Swim Team 49, 6. Planet Swim 43, 7. Metro Aquatics 41, 8. FAST 36, 9. Gulf Coast 31, 10. Eagle Aquatics 21.

WOMEN
800-meter freestyle: 1. Anna Auld, St. Andrew’s Swimming 8:51.08, 2. Riley Botting, PC 9:11.06, 3. Cadence Fort, GCST 9:11.44; SOFLO: 10. Izzy Wilson 9:25.16, 12. Mallory Schleicher 9:25.82.

50-meter butterfly: 1. Kelsie Campbell, GPA 28.73, 2. Mia Zahab, GPA 28.97, 3. Adrianna Cera, CANE 28.97; SOFLO: 25. Natalie Gembicki 30.19, 26. Molly Golding 30.24, 39. Sara Quintero 31.90.

50-meter backstroke: 1. Annie Wohlgemuth, PSA 31.04, 2. Alyssa Bozzuto, FAST 31.15, 3. Elena Dinehart, SOFLO 31.39; SOFLO: 21. Gabriella DeLuna 33.31, 29. Sara Quintero 34.29.

50-meter breaststroke: 1. Alyssa Bozzuto, FAST 33.77, 2. Nicole Frank Rodriguez, Azura 33.80, 3. Olivia Dinehart, SOFLO 33.87; SOFLO: 8. Ana Villamil 34.26, 11. Sophia Grubbs 34.55, 15. Molly Golding 35.01, 37. Mariann Catalasan 37.17, 48. Sally Golding 39.47.

800-meter freestyle relay: 1. Planet Swim Aquatics 8:41.49, 2. Azura 8:44.48, 3. SOFLO A 8:44.81 (Olivia Dinehart, Natalie Gembicki, Mallory Schleicher, Elena Dinehart).

MEN
800-meter freestyle: 1. Philip Moldovanu, WOW 8:26.75, 2. Dylan Felt, SFTL 8:29.21, 3. Cole Firile, SRQ 8:30.98; SOFLO: 13. Enrique Rodriguez 8:46.77, time drop 3.12

50-meter butterfly: 1. Mitchell Ledford, Treasure Coast 24.50, 2. Josiah Morales, PAQ 25.12, 3. Kaii Winkle, EA 25.18; SOFLO: 23. Alejandro Mateus 27.89.

50-meter backstroke: 1. Josh Zuchowski, FAST 27.09, 2. Lance Lesage, PC 27.63, 3. Steven Aimable, Azura 27.97; SOFLO: 6. Ricardo Roche 28.94, 8. Aldo Zepeda 29.04, 12. Alex Golding 29.80, 27. Nathaniel Garrick 32.42.

50-meter breaststroke: 1. Kito Campbell, Azura 28.65, 2. Julio Horrego, SOFLO 28.66, 3. Noah Sipowski, FAST 30.17; SOFLO: 11. Javier Colmenares 31.33, 13. Manuel Melendez 31.49.

800-meter freestyle relay: 1. Azura 7:46.43, 2. Academy Aquatic Club 7:49.81, 3. St. Andrew’s Aquatics 7:58.88, 5. SOFLO A 8:07.41 (Agustin Rodriguez, Ricardo Roche, Wisthon Rendon, Alex Golding).

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

SOFLO Swimmers Head Field At FGC LCM BB Championships

By Sharon Robb
MIAMI, July 6, 2022–The championship season continues for South Florida Aquatic Club swimmers with the Florida Gold Coast Long Course Meters BB Championships.

The three-day meet begins Friday at host Ransom Everglades’ Ansin Aquatic Center.

Opening day action begins 5:30 p.m. with the 400-meter freestyle and 400-meter individual medley.

Swimming continues Saturday and Sunday with prelims at 8:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. On Sunday the distance 1500-meter freestyle events begin 3:30 p.m.

SOFLO has the largest contingent with 54 swimmers (34 boys and 20 girls) in 223 individual events.

Among SOFLO’s top-seeded swimmers are:
Michael Barber, 10, 400 freestyle 6:24.48; 100 backstroke 1:36.11.
Mason Jimenez, 14, 400 IM 5:23.31.
Isabella Montes, 14, 200 butterfly 2:54.94.
Joshua Menezes, 13, 200 butterfly 2:37.14; 1500 19:25.26.
Alexander Ross, 12, 100 backstroke 1:26.20; 50 butterfly 37.26.
Matt McVeigh, 14, 100 backstroke 1:13.13; 200 backstroke 2:37.21.
Sara Bedoya, 14, 50 freestyle 30.96.
Reynaldo Manzanarez, 10, 50 freestyle 36.92; 50 butterfly 43.78.
Luis Escobar, 10, 100 breaststroke 1:48.95.
Anjana Andapally, 14, 100 breaststroke 1:31.78; 100 butterfly 1:16.67.
Gianna Martin, 11, 200 freestyle 2:35.49.
Martin Petkov, 13, 200 breaststroke 2:58.02.
Jose Rincon, 13, 100 freestyle 1:02.51.
Varvara Dmitrova, 10, 100 butterfly 1:44.26.
Kaylee Del Rio, 15, 100 butterfly 1:17.54.
Sophie Szutkowski, 12, 50 breaststroke 43.69.
Gabriel Ferrer, 9, 50 backstroke 45.20.
Maximiliano Remmele, 13, 200 IM 2:36.99.
Victor Valdiviezo, 15, 1500, 19:24.96Y.
Atharv Agashe, 12, 1500, 22:00.52.

In addition to host Ransom Everglades and SOFLO, among other teams competing are Gulliver, Metro Aquatics, Midtown Weston, Bravo Swimming, Blue Marlins, Eagle Aquatics, Cooper City Cyclones, North Miami Swimming and Azura.

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

SOFLO Swimmers Ready For Southern Zone South Sectional Championships That Begin Thursday

By Sharon Robb
PLANTATION, July 6, 2022—Let the summer championship season begin!

After all the hard workouts, South Florida Aquatic Club swimmers will get the chance to see the reward when they compete in the first championship meet of the summer.

SOFLO is one of fifty teams that will compete in the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships. The four-day meet begins Thursday at Plantation Aquatic Complex.

The meet opens with the men’s and women’s 800-meter freestyle at 4:15 p.m. and timed finals in the 50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke and 800 freestyle relay beginning at 6 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday, prelims are 8 a.m. and finals 6 p.m. On Sunday, prelims are 8 a.m., 1500-meter freestyle distance events 3:15 p.m. and finals at 5 p.m.

SOFLO has 29 swimmers (16 girls and 13 boys) qualified in 131 individual events (77 girls and 54 boys) and 10 relays.

Among SOFLO swimmers competing are Honduran Olympian Julio Horrego, Gaby Banks, Javier Colmenares, Elena and Olivia Dinehart, Ricardo Roche, Maddy Smutny, Izzy Wilson, Maddy Smutny and Mallory Schleicher.

SOFLO has top seeds in the women’s 400 medley relay (4:19.91) and women’s 800 freestyle relay (8:32.58) and individual swimmers Julio Horrego, 50-meter breaststroke (1:01.18); Olivia Dinehart, 100-meter breaststroke (1:12.54) and 200-meter breaststroke (2:34.85); and Maddy Smutny, 200-meter butterfly (2:14.37).

Some of the top teams entered are Azura Florida Aquatics, St. Petersburg Swimming, Treasure Coast Swimming, Flood Aquatics, Sarasota Tsunami, Pine Crest Swimming, Eagle Aquatics and Gulliver Swim Club.

It is one of the more competitive fields assembled. Heading the field are Julia Podkoscielny of Pine Crest, Erika Pelaez and Kaii Winkler of Eagle Aquatics, Josh Zuchowski of FAST, Nicole Frank Rodriguez and Gabriel Araya of Azura, Daniel Ramirez of Westminster Academy Swim Club, Philip Moldovanu of Wahoos of Wellington and Mitchell Ledford of Treasure Coast Swimming.

In the February sectionals, Sarasota Sharks won the combined team title (609.5) and women’s title (360.5) in Orlando. Azura Florida Aquatics won the men’s team title (310.5). SOFLO finished fifth in combined (215), sixth in the men’s (131) and eighth in the women’s (84).

SOFLO made club history in 2021 winning back-to-back Southern Zone South Sectional Championships. In February, SOFLO won the combined team title, was second among women and third among men. In July, SOFLO won the combined team title and boys team titles and girls were second.

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