Girls from South Dade, Wellington and Key West dive in for the start of the 200-yard individual medley on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the CFK Aquatics Center.
Key West freshman Aiden Pate clocked a 26:25 split in the freestyle leg of the boys medley relay to break his time in the 50-yard freestyle and in the actual event he swam to a 26:62, both times better than his previous PR of 27.32.
Junior Gracie Lechnar clocked a 2:29.78 for a personal record time in the girls 200-yard freestyle and was the top Key West swimmer with a third-place finish.
Senior John Searcy started the meet with the backstroke in the boys 200-yard medley relay for a second, just missed his PR for second in the boys 100-yard butterfly and set a personal record time of 5:50.18 for third in the boys 500-yard freestyle.
Girls from South Dade, Wellington and Key West dive in for the start of the 200-yard individual medley on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the CFK Aquatics Center.
RON COOKE/Keys Citizen
Key West freshman Aiden Pate clocked a 26:25 split in the freestyle leg of the boys medley relay to break his time in the 50-yard freestyle and in the actual event he swam to a 26:62, both times better than his previous PR of 27.32.
Photos by RON COOKE/Keys Citizen
Junior Gracie Lechnar clocked a 2:29.78 for a personal record time in the girls 200-yard freestyle and was the top Key West swimmer with a third-place finish.
Senior John Searcy started the meet with the backstroke in the boys 200-yard medley relay for a second, just missed his PR for second in the boys 100-yard butterfly and set a personal record time of 5:50.18 for third in the boys 500-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Matthew Robertson swam to a PR in the boys 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:34.58.
Samantha O’Brien cruised to a PR in the girls 200-yard IM with a time of 2:25:78 and set another PR in the girls 100-yard freestyle with a 1:14.34.
Key West freshman Taylor Gibson swam to a personal record time of 2:56.60 in the girls 200-yard individual medley to place third in the event.
The competition keeps getting faster for the Key West High School swim teams with every meet, and this weekend the Conchs face their biggest challenge.
Key West will travel to Stuart to compete in the Florida Swimming Pool Association (FSPA) Invitational. Close to 2,000 swimmers will take part in the meet, said Conchs coach Lori Bosco. Most of the 37 Key West swimmers making the trip will compete on Friday, Sept. 23, in the developmental meet, while several Conchs qualified for the invitational meet slated for Saturday, Sept. 24
“It’s the largest high school meet in the state of Florida. It’s super-fast and helps a lot of our swimmers get their personal bests and see some fast swimming,” said Bosco. “For those that don’t quite qualify for the invitational meet, they swim in the developmental.”
Key West swimmers who qualified for the invitational meet are: A.J. Smith in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle; Lucas Montiel in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke; John Searcy in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke and Marcos Montiel in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle along with a few relay events.
For the Lady Conchs: Lauren Walterson qualified in the 100-yard butterfly; Isabella Johnson in the 50-yard freestyle; Kaitlyn Noss in the 100-yard backstroke; Daniela Mikesz is going in the 100-yard breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle and Gracie Lechnar is close in the 100-fly so Bosco put her in the invite.
In their last home meet on Saturday, Sept. 17, Key West hosted a very good Wellington High School team and South Dade in a tri-meet at The College of the Florida Keys Aquatics Center.
Wellington took firsts in every event except for the boys 50-yard freestyle. Key West junior A.J. Smith took first with a personal best time of 23:08 and senior Lucas Montiel captured second at 24:82.
In the end, Wellington outscored Key West and South Dade while the Conchs took wins over South Dade.
The Lady Conchs were able to break up a sweep by Wellington in the 50-yard freestyle. Isabella Johnson was second with a PR of 28:60 and Daniela Mikesz took third.
In the girls 200-yard freestyle, Key West took second and third. Gracie Lechnar set a PR in the event and Serena Sanders was No. 3.
The Lady Conchs could not take first in the 200-yard IM, but took the next three spots as Taylor Gibson was second, right behind her was Samantha O’Brien with a PR in only her second time swimming the event, and Lauren Walterson was fifth. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Mikesz was second while Gibson finished third.
John Searcy finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and dropped eight seconds in the 500-yard freestyle with a PR of 5:50 and Marcos Montiel was No. 3. Sophomore Matthew Robertson swam to a PR in the boys 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:34.58 and freshman Aiden Pate clocked a 26:62 for a PR in the boys 50-yard freestyle.
“A.J. is right there with a personal best in the 100-free which was a really good race for him. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do at the FSPA,” said the coach. “This weekend I expect fast time, some personal bests. They’re going to get the experience of watching tons and tons of fast swimming. There’s a lot of energy in the pool.”
