By Sharon Robb
CORAL SPRINGS, March 11, 2023—Juan Vallmitjana of South Florida Aquatic Club won his third event of the Florida Gold Coast Age Group Championships Saturday at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.
At 14, Vallmitjana is leaving a lasting impression in his final 14-and-under FGC Age Group Championships.
Vallmitjana won the 500-yard freestyle in a best time 4:40.29, dropping 1.01 seconds off his previous best. He was also second in the 100 IM in a best time 56.04, dropping 2.41. He swam third leg on the 400-yard medley relay that finished second in 3:48.43. His butterfly split was 55.66. Earlier in the meet, he also won the 1,650-yard freestyle and 200-yard IM.
Vallmitjana is second among individual high point scorers with 47 points, four points behind Hamilton Gates of FAST with 51.
The 11-12 girls’ 400-yard medley relay won in 4:19.17 with Ellie Jackson, Gianna Martin, Jianna Amores and Jemma Baldwin.
After three days of competition, South Florida Aquatic Club continues to lead the combined and boys team standings. SOFLO girls are second. SOFLO has 655 in combined points ahead of defending champion St. Andrew’s with 594.50.
Other top four SOFLO finishers were:
Jianna Amores, 100 IM 1:04.57; 200 freestyle, 4. 2:03.51.
Laila Harran, 100 backstroke, 3. 58.33.
Lydia Smutny, 200 butterfly, 4. 2:12.80.
Ellie Jackson, 50 backstroke, 4. 30.40.
Guillermo Mantilla, 200 freestyle, 4. 2:01.40.
SOFLO girls 13-14 400-yard medley relay was third in 4:02.05 with Laila Harran, Elise Dinehart, Lydia Smutny and Carley Kaplan.
SOFLO boys 11-12 400-yard medley relay was fourth in 4:27.83 with Guillermo Mantilla, Noah Mejias, Rainier Leyva Riestra and Eric Ferrer.
SOFLO boys 13-14 400-yard medley relay was second in 3:48.43 with Maximiliano Remmele, Mason Jimenez, Juan Vallmitjana and Nicolai Ross.
The top six finishers in each event qualify for the FGC All-Star team for the March 24-26 All-Star Meet in Fort Pierce.
SOFLO has 53 swimmers competing in 273 individual events and 20 relays. The meet has attracted 530 swimmers from throughout the Florida Gold Coast.
In addition to favorites SOFLO, St. Andrew’s and Metro Aquatics, among other FGC clubs competing are Jupiter Dragons, Eagle Aquatics, Midtown Weston Aquatics, Pompano Piranhas, Lake Lytal Lightning, Swim Fort Lauderdale, Pine Crest, North Palm Beach, FAST, Sunrise Swimming, Wahoos of Wellington, SwimFast, Azura, Heritage Aquatics and host Coral Springs Swim Club.
SATURDAY RESULTS
COMBINED TEAM TOTALS: 1. South Florida Aquatic Club 655, 2. St. Andrew’s Aquatics 594.50, 3. North Palm Beach 468, 4. Jupiter Dragons 387, 5. Wahoos of Wellington 328.
GIRLS TEAM TOTALS: 1.
BOYS TEAM TOTALS:
GIRLS
200-yard butterfly:
13-14, 1. Gioia Balzano, EA 2:03.24; SOFLO: 4. Lydia Smutny 2:12.80, 8. Mackenzie McPherson 2:17.08, 16. Sofia Lugo 2:22.04.
50-yard butterfly:
11-12, 1. Kira Perry, SUN 27.55; SOFLO: 6. Jemma Baldwin 28.90, 7. Sofia Rodriguez 29.28.
10-and-under, 1. Wendy LaPietra, SAA 29.09; SOFLO: 9. Catalina Akpabio 33.37.
100-yard backstroke:
13-14, 1. Maria Camila Perez, Azura 56.60; SOFLO: 3. Laila Harran 58.33, 8. Jenesys Amores 1:00.99, 10. Saree Young 1:01.90, 12. Lydia Smutny 1:03.48.
50-yard backstroke:
11-12, 1. Penelope Lopez-Casula, EA 27.71; SOFLO: 4. Ellie Jackson 30.40, 13. Lana Althuis 31.99.
10-and-under, 1. Julieta Stolk, SAA 30.65; SOFLO: 10. Catalina Akpabio 36.06.
100-yard individual medley:
13-14, 1. Maria Camila Perez, Azura 58.87; SOFLO: 6. Laila Harran 1:01.89, 7. Carley Kaplan 1:02.03, 9. Elena Dinehart 1:02.52.
11-12, 1. Roxann Rohrbaugh, SAA 1:03.25; SOFLO: 2. Jianna Amores 1:04.57, 7. Jemma Baldwin 1:06.96, 8. Ellie Jackson 1:07.27, 11. Sophie Szutkowski 1:09.22, 14. Gianna Martin 1:09.46.
10-and-under, 1. Julieta Stolk, SAA 1:10.58.
100-yard freestyle:
13-14, 1. Gioia Balzano, EA 49.89; SOFLO: 5. Laila Harran 52.90, 6. Carley Kaplan 53.06, 14. Elise Dinehart 55.22.
200-yard freestyle:
11-12, 1. Penelope Lopez-Casula, EA 1:53.56; SOFLO: 4. Jianna Amores 2:03.51, 6. Ellie Jackson 2:05.60, 7. Jemma Baldwin 2:05.67.
10-and-under, 1. Wendy LaPietra, SAA 2:07.38.
500-yard freestyle:
13-14, 1. Allison Kelly, JD 5:02.47; SOFLO: 6. Carley Kaplan 5:14.73, 7. Jenesys Amores 5:14.83, 9. Elise Dinehart 5:21.74.
200-yard medley relay:
10-and-under, 1. Sunrise Swimming 2:19.08, 2. St. Andrew’s 2:21.97, 3. North Palm Beach 2:24.18, 5. SOFLO A 2:28.08, 8. SOFLO B 2:42.06.
400-yard medley relay:
11-12, 1. SOFLO A 4:19.17 (Ellie Jackson, Gianna Martin, Jianna Amores, Jemma Baldwin), 2. St. Andrew’s 4:22.21, 3. Lake Lytal Lightning 4:26.03, 11. SOFLO B 4:39.83.
13-14, 1. tie, North Palm Beach, Jupiter Dragons 3:58.25, 3. SOFLO A 4:02.05, 11. SOFLO B 4:20.28.
BOYS
200-yard butterfly:
13-14, 1. Lucas Fernandez-Chung, MAC 1:56.27; SOFLO: 12. Mason Jimenez 2:07.54
50-yard butterfly:
11-12, 1. Trace Colton, NPB 25.67; SOFLO: 7. Noah Mejias 28.18.
10-and-under, 1. Kaan Trentadue, PB 29.41; SOFLO: 9. Ethan Phan 32.82.
100-yard backstroke:
13-14, 1. Hamilton Gates, FAST 53.33; SOFLO: 9. Connor Jimenez 57.93, 11. Maximiliano Remmele 57.58
50-yard backstroke:
11-12, 1. Alexander Diaz, MWA 28.03.
10-and-under, 1. Ryan Harris, HAT 32.52.
100-yard individual medley:
13-14, 1. Juan Leon, TS 53.35; SOFLO: 2. Juan Vallmitjana 56.04; 16. Connor Jimenez 59.87.
11-12, 1. Alexander Diaz, MWA 1:00.87; SOFLO: 5. Guillermo Mantilla 1:05.22.
10-and-under, 1. Joaquin Gomez-Liendo, SAA 1:11.22; SOFLO: 9. Gabriel Ferrer 1:18.68.
100-yard freestyle:
13-14, 1. Hamilton Gates, FAST 48.01; SOFLO: 13. Nicolai Ross 49.85.
200-yard freestyle:
11-12, 1. Trace Colton, NPB 1:52.59; SOFLO: 4. Guillermo Mantilla 2:01.40, 7. Rainier Leyva Riestra 2:04.99, 8. Eric Ferrer 2:05.08.
10-and-under, 1. Joaquin Gomez-Liendo, SAA 2:11.64; SOFLO: 10. Ethan Phan 2:26.24.
500-yard freestyle:
13-14, 1. Juan Vallmitjana, SOFLO 4:40.29; SOFLO: 7. Mason Jimenez 4:58.64, 8. Nicolai Ross 4:59.53.
200-yard medley relay:
10-and-under, 1. Jupiter Dragons 2:17.47, 2. North Palm Beach 2:18.68, 3. Coral Springs 2:20.17, 5. SOFLO A 2:22.14, 10. SOFLO B 2:34.85.
400-yard medley relay:
11-12, 1. Midtown Weston 4:08.33, 2. North Palm Beach 4:24.32, 3. MAC 4:25.90, 4. SOFLO A 4:27.83, 11. SOFLO B 4:45.21.
13-14, 1. Jupiter Dragons 3:41.59, 2. SOFLO A 3:48.43, 3. FAST 3:48.88, 12. SOFLO B 4:02.07.
IF YOU GO
What: Florida Gold Coast Age Group Championships
When: Sunday
Where: Michael Lohberg Pool of Champions, Coral Springs Aquatic Complex, 12441 Royal Palm Blvd.
Timelines: Sunday, Girls & Boys prelims, 8:30 a.m.-11:59 a.m. and finals 5:30-7:04 p.m.
Admission: $5 per person, cash only. Heat sheets are free and can be found at http://www.swimcssc.com or Meet Mobile. A concession stand will be available.
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