Swimmers from Coral Shores and Key West high schools traveled to their respective regional competitions last week following successful campaigns at districts. When the final race was complete, two Keys athletes made the cut to the state competition this week. Hurricane seniors Layne Smith and Aaron Lykins earned their spots at the big show, held this year at Ocala’s FAST facility on Nov. 8.
Smith, the district champ in the pool’s longest race, the 500 free, swam to a fifth-place finish last week to earn a lane at states. Smith finished seventh in the 200 freestyle race, but did not quite make the cut in that event. She, along with Larkin Dunn, Parks Dunn and Sofia Figueredo, teamed up for a pair of relays that cracked the top 10 at regionals. The team swam to an eighth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay and 10th place in the 200 medley relay.
Lykins, fresh off his district gold in the 1-meter diving competition, placed fourth at regionals. His score advanced him to the next round of competition, where he is seeded 10th and is well within reach of a state medal.
Key West did not have any state qualifiers this season, but did have some notable performances at regionals. The 400 freestyle relay team of Max Blinckmann, Jacob Perez, John Picco and Santiago Gonzalez finished in 10th place. Gonzalez went on to break Cruse Sweeney’s record in the 200 freestyle individual race, a mark which has stood for seven seasons.
