A much-anticipated prep swimming season opened last week with meets at College of the Florida Keys and Founders Park.
Coral Shores started its season with a tri-meet against Doctors Charter and Braddock on Sept. 9 at Founders Park in Islamorada. The girls team silenced their opponents to take first place, while the boys took second, falling to Braddock but beating Doctors Charter.
The boys 200 freestyle relay team of Curran O’Donnell, Patrick O’Donnell, Evan Osipov and Cole Ferger won the event with a time of 1:49.60. O’Donnell also had a strong swim in the boys 200 individual medley, taking second with a time of 2:10.68.
The girls 200 medley relay team of Layne Smith, Abbie Sargent, Riley Cooper and Corley Smith took first place in the event with a time of 1:55.83. Additionally, Smith, Allegra Fucarracio and Larkin Dunn swept the 200 freestyle event.
Smith’s weekend of competition didn’t end on Sept. 9. The next morning, she swam 8.1 miles (that’s 13,035.7 meters) in the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse, completing the open water swim in 3:35:33, good enough to win the female overall category behind just three men. The event, described by its promoters as “not for the faint of heart,” promises one of the hardest endeavors a swimmer can consider – plus some jellyfish stings.
Coaches Kelly Owens and Jon Olsen were not only happy with their teams’ overall performance, but the camaraderie they showed each other.
“The kids truly gave 100% effort on all of their swims,” said Owens. “The best part of the meet for us, though, was not the effort in the pool, but the support our athletes gave to each other from the pool deck.”
Key West opened its season against the Mavericks of Archbishop McCarthy, who traveled from Ft. Lauderdale on Sept. 10 to meet up with the Conchs at the College of the Florida Keys swimming pool on Stock Island. Key West’s boys beat Archbishop McCarthy 92-78, with notable wins by Lucas Montiel in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.82), AJ Smith in the 50 freestyle (23.18) and John Searcy in the 100 butterfly (59.27). Montiel and Smith teamed up with Jeffrey Hoyt and Brody McCandless in the 200 freestyle relay, edging out McCarthy for a big first place.
The girls team lost to the Mavericks 106-64. The Lady Conchs took first place in the 100 fly, with Lauren Walterson winning the event in 1:17.04.
