Key West hosted the Mavericks of Archbishop McCarthy on Sept. 20 at the College of the Florida Keys pool. The Mavericks swam away with the victory in the boys competition, but the Lady Conchs outscored McCarthy 83-81 for the win.
Christina Rice had a pair of individual wins for Key West. Rice won the 50 and 100 freestyle events in 27.32 and 1:01.20, respectively. Mary Searcy, Amelia Korzen, Molly Martinez and Aly Camargo teamed up for the 200 medley relay for a Conch win in 2:12. Korzen went on to win the 200 IM in 2:42. Martinez was the individual champ in the 100-meter butterfly event, finishing in 1:15.44 and Searcy touched the wall first in the 100 backstroke race, winning in 1:22.63.
Santiago Gonzalez was the lone first-place winner for the boys. Gonzalez won the 200 freestyle event in 2:02.
Up next for Key West is a home meet against Wellington Sept. 27, then they’re off to Ocala for the Florida Swimming Pool Association meet the following weekend.
Coral Shores did not have a meet scheduled for last week, but the Hurricane swimmers did not shirk their training schedules. The athletes took part in the annual Swim for Alligator Lighthouse, an eight-mile course that leaves the shores of Islamorada, travels four miles through open water to Alligator Lighthouse, rounds the lighthouse and returns to shore. Swimmers brave the elements, sea creatures and a grueling distance in an event described as “not for the faint of heart”.
This year, Layne Smith, a senior at Coral Shores and a staple of the successful girls swim program, was the first female solo swimmer to complete the course. Smith was the second local to win the race in the event’s history – her sister Corley won it in 2022. In front of Smith were eight adult men, and Smith was one of two full-course finishers under 18. The youngest was teammate Sofia Figueredo, a junior, who finished eighth in the women’s division.
Also putting in some extra training were Parks and Larkin Dunn, who participated in the two-person team relay. Their aptly-named team, the Dunn Sisters, placed fourth overall in the double swimmer relay category. The rest of the Hurricane swim and dive team cheered on their teammates and volunteered, hauling kayaks out of the water for the solo competitors’ support teams.
Coral Shores dives back into the Founders Park swimming pool this week for a home meet against Westminster Christian on Sept. 25.
