Equipped with district hardware, Coral Shores and Key West will each send a dozen athletes to the FHSAA Region 4 swimming championships in their respective divisions.
Both teams qualified athletes via automatic and wild card bids. Swimmers who claim the top two spots at districts, plus the top 22 times from the remaining districts in a region, make it to the next level, and with some of the fastest competition in the state right here in South Florida, swimmers finishing well past that second-place mark sometimes make the trip while others who touch the wall in third are denied.
The Hurricanes brought home plenty of hardware from the 1A District 12 meet on Oct. 29. The top finisher was junior Aaron Lykins, whose performance in diving earned him a gold medal in the event. Lykins will compete at the regional event Nov. 8 at Nova Southeastern Aquatics Center along with teammates Anthony Jeffrey, Anton Khioni, Evan Osipov and Mason Osipov. The Osipovs, Jeffrey and Khioni were all part of Coral Shores’ fourth-place 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.
The girls team will also be well-represented at regionals. Abbie Sargent, Layne Smith, Sofia Figuredo and Allegra Fucaraccio proved that their breakout performances in ’23 were certainly not flukes. All four have been on the podium often this season and helped the team finish fourth overall at districts. Sargent was part of Coral Shores’ second-place 200 freestyle relay team and third-place 200 medley team and was the individual silver medalist in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM events.
Smith was a member of the same relays and brought home a pair of district silver medals in the 200 and 500 freestyle individual events. Figueredo took seventh in the 200 IM and eighth in the 100 breaststroke with times fast enough to make the cut for regionals. Figueredo was also a member of the 200 medley and free relay teams. Fucaraccio was sixth in the 100 butterfly event, qualifying her for regionals. She was the fourth member of the 200 medley team and swam a leg of the fifth-place 400 freestyle relay team, which also qualified.
Joining Fucaraccio on the final relay team will be Stella Hodder, Sophia Jackson and Larkin Dunn. Hodder will also have a chance to swim as the second alternate in the 100 breaststroke event and Parks Dunn will make the trip and serve as first alternate for the 400 relay team.
Both of Key West’s teams finished in fifth place at the 2A district event. Seven Lady Conchs will represent the Southernmost City on Saturday, Nov. 9 for the regional event held at Gulliver Prep. Two qualified for individual events including Aly Camargo, whose seventh-place time in the 100 freestyle race was fast enough to make the cut. Hadley Bardoni was 10th in the 500 free, but a fast field of swimmers in District 12 ensured she would qualify in the distance race. Camargo and Bardoni will be joined by Mary Searcy and Molly Martinez in the 200 medley relay. Key West’s team finished fourth in that race and fifth in the 400 free relay, which will also make the trip. Swimmers in that event are Searcy, Ashlyn Picco, Charlotte Murray and Reeghan Davis.
Five male swimmers will join the girls at regionals. Santiago Gonzalez was the lone individual qualifier with an eighth-place finish in the 200 free race. He will also swim a leg of the 200 freestyle relay and 400 free relay teams, both of which captured fifth place. On the 200 relay, Gonzalez will be joined by Hugo Blinckmann, Max Blinckmann and Sebastian Camargo. For the 400 relay, it will be Gonzalez, Camargo, Jason Frankel and Jacob Perez. Eli Morris, Kieran Smith, Matthew Robertson and Hugo Blinckmann were members of the 200 medley relay team, which also finished in fifth place but will have to settle as alternates should another team be unable to compete.
In addition to the regional qualifiers, coach Lori Bosco made mention of a slew of swimmers turning in personal bests at districts. Included in the athletes who peaked in their final race were many of the qualifiers as well as David Anthou, Caber Bausmith, Wesley Farrer, Nazar Matiushenko, Matthew Robertson, Devon Soni, Stone Turbeville and Jackson Way.
Regional meets were scheduled from Nov. 4-9 for both the 1A and 2A classifications (results not available at press time). Should any of the athletes perform well enough at their regional races, states will be on Friday, Nov. 15 for Coral Shores and Nov. 16 for Key West. All divisions compete at Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training Center in Ocala.
