If you’ve never been to a Key West home swim meet, you are most definitely missing out. The longest-serving coach in the Florida Keys, Lori Bosco, started one of several unique traditions many years ago, and still today you will find her team standing beneath the American flag at each home meet. The team collaboratively sings the “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the beginning of each race. Bosco also initiated a post-race congratulatory lineup for both teams in a sport she says is full of sportsmanship and goodwill.
Bosco’s Conchs are playing catch-up a bit this season after their home pool underwent resurfacing, sending them scrambling for practices, but her team now seems ready to represent in the beautifully-redone pool at College of the Florida Keys.
The pool is not the only thing looking great these days. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, but right now we have 10 returners for 21 total on the boys team and eight returners with 14 total on the girls,” Bosco said. “The boys’ numbers are pretty good,” she added, explaining that though the girls’ numbers were a little low, their talent makes up for it.
Returning this season are Aly Camargo, a sophomore who qualified for regionals last season in four events. Camargo is a sprint specialist, qualifying for postseason starts in the 50 and 100 free as well as a pair of relays.
Seniors Reeghan Davis and Lindsey Smith will serve as team captains this season. Both are experienced swimmers, praised by Bosco for their leadership and maturity. Also returning for the Lady Conchs are Colbie Turner, Hadley Bardoni and Mary Searcy, three veterans who should make an immediate positive impact for Key West.
New to the girls high school team, but not the sport, are Ashlyn Pico and Karis Dryer. Both athletes have club experience which they will bring to the Lady Conchs varsity squad this fall.
For the boys, Eli Morris returns for his senior season as a captain. Morris used his specialty, backstroke, to help carry two Conch relays to regionals last season. Joining Morris in leadership roles this season are Matthew Robertson and Jason Frankel.
The boys team will also benefit from the return of Santiago Gonzalez, a 100 and 200 freestyle specialist, Hugo Blinckmann at breaststroke and freestyle and Jacob Perez, who holds down the distance races for Key West.
Johnny Pico, a junior who swam for Key West’s club team long ago, is on the roster, as well as Camargo’s older brother Sebastian, who is taking up competitive swimming for the first time as a junior.
Bosco’s squad includes nine freshmen and 11 first-year swimmers, a bit of an anomaly for Key West. Bosco stressed that her team will focus on PRs for themselves and work on coming together as a team. “You have to work together to win,” she said. “Swimming is both an individual and a team sport.”
With eight home meets and one of their three away meets at Founders Park in Islamorada, Conch fans have plenty of opportunities to see the Southernmost swimmers in competition. Although Bosco has been coaching for nearly three decades, she keeps things fresh with creative solutions each season. This year the crafty coach has added an event to her busy schedule to benefit athletes and parents alike.
“Usually our last home meet is senior day. This year it is on a Thursday at 1 p.m. and a lot of parents can’t be there,” she explained. “We also have a week between the last meet and Districts, so to keep them swimming that week, we are having a Saturday senior show day.”
Bosco plans to allow the seniors to choose their events in an intrasquad meet for some fun competition and to honor the outgoing athletes in their final competition at CFK. Key West took the plunge for their first competition on Aug. 24 against Port Charlotte High School (results not available at press time).
Coral Shores returns a host of veterans this season. “We have a fantastic group of juniors and seniors who are ready to take the lead and inspire our rookies this year,” said coach Kelly Owens. She named Abbie Sargent, Layne Smith, Allegra Fucarracio, Sofia Figueredo and Larkin Dunn on the ladies side and Evan Osipov, Mason Osipov and Anthony Jeffrey on the boys. Sargent, Smith and Fucarracio all made the cut last season, qualifying for the state meet, and with three-fourths of their relay teams intact, they have a very good chance of repeating the feat.
Owens and co-head coach Jon Olsen have their eyes set on the big show. They are hoping to repeat last year’s postseason successes, and the coaches as well as the athletes in Coral Shores’ swim program put in the work all year long. Olsen works year-round with some of the athletes, and their work should pay dividends this season. Several athletes partake in open-water long-distance swims to stay competitive in the offseason.
Coral Shores will again feature a group of competitive divers. Last season the ’Canes added a pair of divers to their roster after being without any for several seasons. This year, Owens says more have joined, and she hopes they too will meet the requirements to qualify for the postseason.
The ’Canes are heavy on the leadership this season, with a group of dedicated seniors willing to sacrifice and lead by example in their last year representing Coral Shores. Seniors Sargent, Jeffrey, Evan Osipov, Calista Wittke, Leticia Lima and Rachel Rusch are a special group this season; all six have plenty of experience, strong work ethic and a willingness to set the tempo for the underclassmen.
Owens described her seniors as “truly some of the best leaders and a great group of role models for our up-and-coming swimmers. Regardless of their level in the pool, they always show up with a positive attitude,” Owens added. “I am looking forward to seeing their influence on our team dynamic this year.”
Although the Lady ’Canes return a majority of their roster, including multiple state qualifiers, they did lose a key sprinter last season to graduation and will need to find a fourth swimmer to fill in on their highly-successful relay teams. Owens is not too worried, though.
“I believe we have the depth to make a seamless transition,” she said.
As of press time, Coral Shores’ schedule had not been finalized, but the Hurricanes are doing everything they can to take South Florida by storm this season and bring home more hardware to the Keys.
Photos by Mark Hedden and Doug Finger.
