2018 FHSAA 4A State Championships
The final meet of the FHSAA 4A state series begins on Saturday, November 10 with the state championships.
This year, the state meet presents many exciting battles amongst teams and individuals. Here’s what this 2018 edition of the Florida 4A state championships looks like:
Girls
| 2017 Finish | Rank | School | Total | 200 Medley | 200 FR-R | 400 FR-R | Individuals |
| 1 | 1 | Buchholz | 260 | — | 40 | 40 | 180 |
| 3 | 2 | Riverview | 220 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 132 |
| 2 | 3 | Plant | 181 | 40 | 30 | 34 | 77 |
| 4 | 4 | Oviedo | 163 | 34 | 22 | 22 | 85 |
| 13 | 5 | Winter Park | 130 | 14 | 32 | 30 | 54 |
| 10 | 6 | Sarasota | 120 | — | 18 | 24 | 78 |
| 7 | 7 | Seminole | 97 | 30 | 34 | 8 | 25 |
| 17 | 8 | West Orange | 96 | 32 | 4 | — | 60 |
| 6 | 9 | Boca Raton | 89 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 53 |
| 5 | 10 | Palm Harbor | 87 | 26 | 26 | 12 | 23 |
When scoring the meet, Buchholz takes the top spot by a comfortable margin in front of Riverview and Plant, who are also in the top three. What makes Buchholz a very dominant force in this meet is that they could win the meet without a 200 medley relay. Taking the top spot by 2 seconds is the Plant relay team with a seed time of 1:44.60.
In the free relays, the top three have a more intense battle to face.
| 200 FR-R | 400 FR-R | |
| Buchholz | 1:34.05 | 3:27.78 |
| Plant | 1:38.37 | 3:27.95 |
| Riverview | 1:38.49 | 3:30.84 |
In the 200 free, Plant’s Ella Bathurst also takes the top seed with a 1:48.58. Bathurst is also top of the psych sheet in the 100 breast, with a blistering 1:01.75. The state record in the event is a 1:00.99, set last year by junior national team member Isabel Ivey.
Riverview’s Emma Weyant takes the top seed in the 200 IM with a 2:02.67. However, right behind her is Cooper City’s Kathleen Golding with a 2:02.97. On the opposing side, Weyant and teammate Christina Cianciolo look to secure their potential dominance in the 500 free, as they take the top two seeds with 4:49.84 and 4:52.84, respectively.
Despite missing a relay, Buchholz’s Talia Bates serves as a deadly weapon for her team. She takes the top seed in the 50 free (22.85) and the 100 fly (54.08), both are automatic All-American times. Bates is the current state record holder in the 100 fly (53.28), and just 0.55 off the 50 free state record of 22.30.
Behind Bates in the 100 fly is a very talented field. The top five behind Bates are all within less than a second of each and have achieved All-American consideration times.
| 100 Fly | |
| Talia Bates (Buchholz) | 54.08 |
| Caitlin Brooks (Buchholz) | 54.78 |
| Madison Cummings (Atlantic) | 54.78 |
| Abigail Gibbons (Oviedo) | 55.25 |
| Julia Rodriguez (Buchholz) | 55.27 |
Another Buchholz powerhouse, Brooks is also on the run for a state record. While second in the 100 fly behind Bates, Brooks takes the top seed in the 100 back with a 52.68. The state record could be in danger this year, as is currently stands at 52.46.
Could state records be broken and competition be fierce in tomorrow’s meet?
Boys
| 2017 Finish | Rank | School | Total | 200 Medley | 200 FR-R | 400 FR-R | Individuals |
| 2 | 1 | Lake Brantley | 240 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 120 |
| 7 | 2 | Oviedo | 155 | 34 | 28 | 18 | 75 |
| 5 | 3 | Seminole | 152 | 32 | 30 | 4 | 86 |
| 4 | 4 | Buchholz | 142 | 28 | — | 32 | 82 |
| 1 | 5 | Riverview | 141 | 10 | 14 | 26 | 91 |
| 15 | 6 | Palm Harbor | 128 | 26 | 22 | 34 | 46 |
| 41 | 7 | Fletcher Neptune | 96 | 22 | 32 | — | 42 |
| 6 | 8 | Olympia Orlando | 90 | — | 34 | 22 | 34 |
| 8 | 9 | Countryside | 87 | 30 | — | 24 | 33 |
| 22 | 10 | George Steinbrenner | 85 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 39 |
Topping the psych sheet after taking second last year is Lake Brantley Altamonte Spring, by nearly 100 points. Only 14 points separates the rest of the top five: Oviedo, Seminole, Buchholz, and Riverview. The competitiveness of this year’s meet also reflects in the top five relays’ seed times.
| Rank | 200 Medley | 200 FR-R | 400 FR-R |
| 1 | Lake Brantley (1:35.08) | Lake Brantley (1:26.81) | Lake Brantley (3:09.94) |
| 2 | Oviedo (1:35.21) | Olympia Orlando (1:26.88) | Palm Harbor (3:11.52) |
| 3 | Seminole (1:36.99) | Fletcher Neptune (1:27.06) | Buchholz (3:12.13) |
| 4 | Countryside (1:37.19) | Seminole (1:27.54) | Miami Palmetto (3:12.31) |
| 5 | Buchholz (1:37.23) | Oviedo (1:27.57) | Newsome (3:13.12) |
Looking at the predicted scores and relay seeds, Lake Brantley presents a great depth with being the only school having all three relays in a strong scoring position in comparison to the other top five scoring schools.
Many of the individual events also present such a competitive nature with how close each seeded time is. With scoring points, hundredths of a second could mean a lot to those who are ready to fight for in.
In other micro-example of how close this meet could be is in the 200 IM. Only 0.78 seconds separates the second through fifth seeds. Crashing the party is top seed Garrett McGovern, from Newsome.
| Rank | School | 200 IM Seed | |
| 1 | Garrett McGovern | Newsome | 1:53.36 |
| 2 | Jason Brzozowski | Riverview | 1:54.39 |
| 3 | Alexander Gusev | Riverview | 1:54.44 |
| 4 | Ryan Gibbons | Oviedo | 1:54.62 |
| 5 | Nathaniel Boccuzzo | Lake Brantley | 1:55.17 |
The top five places are not the only valuable spots when scoring. There is an immense difference between making the championship final or the consolation final scoring-wise. In the 200 free, fourth through 12th place range from a 1:42.8 to a 1:43.9, just over a second. On the other hand, top seed is held by Buchholz’s Julian Hill, who is the only swimmer under 1:40 with a 1:39.73.
In the 100 back, St. Petersburg’s Lukas Cote takes top seed at 52.47. The top 10 behind Cote are all within 0.90 seconds of each other. In the same way, fourth through 16th place in the 100 breast ranges from a 59.1 to a 1:00.1, within a second at the 1:00 mark. Taking top seed in that event is Winter Park’s Hector Rodriguez with a 58.00.
Will Lake Brantley be able to maintain their impressive pre-meet lead in a very competitive state meet?
Tune in the action as the state meet begins Saturday, November 10. Prelims begin at 9:00 am EST, finals begin at 5:30 am EST.
Buchholz will go one two in the 200 and 500 free.