Hundreds hit the water in Gold Coast senior championships
Coral Springs’ Hannah Virgin was a state champion for Pine Crest School last year, and if her efforts for her Pine Crest club swim team this summer are any indication, she could be in line for another gold medal.
“The Senior Championships wasn’t a main meet for me because I wasn’t really tapered for it,” said Virgin, 16, one of 624 swimmers who competed in the Florida Gold Coast Senior Long Course Swim Championships at the Michael Lohberg Pool of Champions at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.
“It was more to see where I was in my training,” added Virgin, who won the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 1A Girls state title in the 100-yard breaststroke last year. “I felt really happy with my performance after it actually because I did some fast times not being rested.”
Virgin’s winning 50-meter breaststroke time of 34.62 in the Girls 15-16 Division of the surprised her because she trimmed nearly half a second off her previous best time. Virgin thought a third-place finish was going to be her best effort.
“I have been training since the beginning of summer,” said Virgin, who also won the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke events. She also finished second in the 200-meter IM. “It has been hard training for several months. I didn’t take a break this summer.”
Davie-based Azura Florida Aquatics won the combined team title with 1,295.50 points, while the Westminster Academy Swim Club placed fifth with 638.50. Defending champion Swim Fort Lauderdale finished sixth with 586.
The South Florida Aquatic Club placed seventh (540), while Pine Crest Swimming rounded out local Broward teams in the Top-10 with 423.50 points to take ninth.
Several top swimmers did not compete in all three days because they were participating in several big meets, such as the Southern Zones in Tupelo, Mississippi; USA Futures Championships in Nashville, Tennessee; and Junior Nationals in Long Island, New York. Some skipped the meet entirely.
Amanda Kopas, 15, who competes for Swim Fort Lauderdale, won the high point award for Girls (15-16), while Solana Capalbo, 16, of Azura Florida Aquatics, was second. Virgin placed sixth, while Allora Williams (SwimFast), 16, and Adrianna Barone (Pine Crest Swimming), 15, took seventh and eighth respectively.
Pompano Beach Piranhas’ Mattheus Santos won the Boys 15-16 High Point, while TS Aquatics, based in Tamarac, had Juan Zapata, and Diego Machado, both 16, placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Brandon Moran, 16, of Azura, was ninth.
Swim Fort Lauderdale’s Elizabeth Zubero, 19, was second in the Girls High Point, while Westminster Academy Swim Club’s Victoria Fonville, 19, was fifth.
Pompano Beach Piranhas’ Tyler Zuyus, 17, won the Boys High Point, ahead of Westminster Academy’s David Lambert, 24, and Felipe Zapata, 20 who were third and fourth. Adan Diaz, 18, of Azura Florida Aquatic, and Patrick Groters, 18, of Pine Crest Swimming, took fifth and sixth, respectively.
“We were excited to host another great championship meet at our pool,” said Coral Springs Swim Club head coach Bruno Darzi. The meet was held in the newly renovated Aquatic Complex, which had been closed for nearly a year.
“Our pool renovations were completed in March, and we officially have the fastest pool in South Florida,” Darzi added. “We have new starting blocks, new backstroke start devices, new filtration system and the pool is one foot deeper than the old pool. We look forward to continuing to host many national and international events.”
Coral Springs’ Megan Schimansky, 17, a junior at Coral Glades High School, made the cut for Futures competition in the 200-meter backstroke event with a 2:24.69.
“I just love everything about swimming,” she said. “It is relaxing and I love to train and I love to work out. It was a lot of fun swimming at the new pool. It was always nice, but now it is even nicer.”
Over two days, four-time Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson, who competes for the South Florida Aquatic Club, broke her own national record in the 100-meter freestyle in 55.35, lowering her own record of 56.06 she set three years ago.
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