SOFLO’s Lismar Lyon, Juan Vallmitjana Come Up Big; SOFLO Finishes Among Top 10 Teams On Final Day Of Speedo Southern Zone South Sectional Championships

By Sharon Robb
OCALA, May 27, 2024—South Florida Aquatic Club finished among the Top 10 teams at the Speedo USA Swimming Southern Zone South Sectional Championships at Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training Center.

On Sunday, the fourth and final day, SOFLO finished eighth among a field of 60 teams in the combined (597), women (318) and men’s (279)teams.

Olympic hopeful Lismar Lyon of Venezuela and Juan Vallmitjana closed out one of their best meets.

Lyon, 23, won her second event of the meet in the 50-meter freestyle in 25.21, just off her best time of 25.19. She had the fastest qualifying time in morning prelims in 26.16. Lyon finished with 99 points.

Vallmitjana, 15, won the 800-meter freestyle in a best time 8:12.93 with an impressive time drop of 8.65 seconds. His previous best was 8:21.58. He finished with 73 points.

SOFLO finished second in the women’s and women’s 400-meter medley relay. SOFLO women finished in 4:22.09 with Carley Kaplan, Ana Villamil, Lyon and Laila Harran. They bettered their entry time by 2.12 seconds. SOFLO men finished in 3:53.50 with Austin Nelson, Julio Horrego, Nicolai Ross and Eric Veit with a 3.02 secod time drop from their entry time.

SOFLO had 15 swimmers compete including three pros during the four-day meet.

Defending champion Sarasota Sharks had no problem repeating as champions in the combined (2,390 points) and women’s (2,085). University of Minnesota won the men’s team title with 707 points. Both teams led from start to finish and Sarasota clinched the title after only two days.

SUNDAY RESULTS
COMBINED TEAM TOTALS: 1. Sarasota Sharks 2,390.5, 2. University of Minnesota 1,125.5, 3. Hurricane Aquatics 932, 4. St. Petersburg Aquatics 726, 5. Southwest Stars 685, 8. South Florida Aquatic Club 597.

WOMEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. Sarasota Sharks 2,085.5, 2. Hurricane Aquaticsa 670.5, 3. St. Petersburg Aquatics 561, 4. University of Minnesota 418, 5. Laker Swim 359, 8. SOFLO 318.

MEN TEAM TOTALS: 1. University of Minnesota 707.5, 2. Fast Falcons 390, 3. Sarasota Tsunami 356, 4. Southwest Stars 347, 5. Loggerhead Aquatics 330.5, 8. SOFLO 279.

WOMEN
200-meter individual medley: 1. Anna Moore, UF 2:18.71, 2. Danika Varda, SYS 2:20.47, 3. Arianna Wertheim. STAR 2:20.72; SOFLO: 24. prelims Gabriella DeLuna 2:28.73, time drop 0.28, finals 2:27.95, 0.78 time drop, 31. Ana Villamil 2:29.89, 52. Lydia Smutny 2:34.93

50-meter freestyle: 1. Lismar Lyon, SOFLO 25.21, 2. Gloria Muzito, CS 25.65, 3. Addison Sauickie, SYS 25.88; SOFLO: 29. tie, prelims, Ana Villamil and Laila Harran 27.87, 23. finals, Ana Villamil 27.75; 30. finals, Laila Harran 28.32, 38. Carley Kaplan 28.25.

200-meter backstroke: 1. Brynn Lavigueur, SYS 2:17.99, 2. Kennedy Gilbertson, UN 2:18.58, 3. Brianna Deierlein, SYS 2:18.87; SOFLO: 14. prelims, Carley Kaplan 2:27.11, 12. finals 2:25.69.

1500-meter freestyle: 1. Eliot Kennedy, MINN 16:47.01, 2. Brinkleigh Hansen, SPA 16:48.45, 3. Lauren Milbaum, SYS 17:05.56.

400-meter medley relay: 1. Hurricane Aquatics 4:19.02, 2. SOFLO 4:22.09 (Carley Kaplan, Ana Villamil, Lismar Lyon, Laila Harran), 3. Planet Swim 4:26.57.

MEN
200-meter individual medley: 1. Gerhardt Hoover, CS 2:04.29, 2. Thomas Frost, LA 2:05.23, 3. Tyler Bardak, FOX 2:05.50; SOFLO: 23. Juan Vallmitjana 2:15.51, 33. Nicolai Ross 2:17.69, time drop 0.53, 48. Stephen Kim 2:21.38.

50-meter freestyle: 1. Jacob Rubin, FAA 22.88, 2. Gustav Olsson, CS 23.46, 3. Timothy Brown, UN 23.66; SOFLO: 30. Eric Veit 24.73, 52. Aldo Zepeda 25.25, 57. Nicolai Ross 25.48, 71. Manny Melendez 25.99, 78. Stephen Kim 26.77, 79. Julio Horrego 28.75.

200-meter backstroke: 1. Parker Knollman, CL 2:00.91, 2. David Melnychuk, SYS 2:02.38, 3. Matthew Iverson, CS 2:05.46; SOFLO: 16. prelims, Austin Nelson 2:12.28, finals 2:10.08, 45. Aldo Zepeda 2:21.15.

800-meter freestyle: 1. Juan Vallmitjana, SOFLO 8:12.93, time drop 8.65, 2. Colin Jacobs, SYS 8:18.92, 3. Thomas Frost, LA 8:23.91.

400-meter medley relay: 1. Metro Aquatics 3:51.92, 2. SOFLO 3:53.50 (Austin Nelson, Julio Horrego, Nicolai Ross, Eric Veit), 3. Fast Falcons 3:57.48.

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