Gator Olympians and Juniors Lead the Way at Orlando Sectionals

2017 SOUTHERN ZONE SECTIONALS – ORLANDO

• July 6th-9th, 2017
• Orlando, Florida
• Psych Sheet
• Meet Info
• Live Results

With Olympians and collegiate champions headlining, the junior-aged swimmers at the Orlando Sectionals still got in their fair share of victories on Friday. That started early in the session when a pair of teenagers tied for the win in the first race of the meet, the 200 free. 16-year old Mary Smutny of the AK Sharks and 14-year old Olivia McMurray of Swim Florida posted matching 2:03.05. That swim by McMurray is the second-fastest by a 14-year old nationally this season.

Florida senior-to-be and 2016 Polish Olympian Jan Switkowski won the men’s 200 free in 1:49.16, beating out the defending SEC Champion in the event Baqlah Khader (who represented Jordan in Rio).

Switkowski later added a win in the 100 fly in 53.51.

On the women’s side, Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson grabbed two wins as well. She won her signature event, the 100 breaststroke, by exactly 3 seconds over Florida State’s Natalie Pierce (1:07.61-1:10.61). Just over a week ago, Pierce became Florida State’s first-ever finalist at USA Swimming’s Summer National Championships in the 50 breaststroke.

Atkinson also picked up a win in the 100 fly (59.94) and later swam with her younger South Florida Aquatic Club teammates to a win in the 800 free relay as well (Kathleen Golding, Kelley Heron, and Melissa Marinheiro).

Other Day 2 Winners:

• Grant Sanders won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:02.68.
• Gator Swim Club 16-year old Caitlin Brooks won the women’s 50 backstroke in 29.27.
• Another 16-year old, Kathleen Golding from the South Florida Aquatic Club, won the women’s 400 IM in 4:50.65.
• New Zealand Olympian Corey Main won the men’s 50 back in 26.15.
• Jonathan Gomez, a Colombian Olympian, won the men’s 400 IM in 4:25.25.
• The Gator Swim Club won the men’s 800 free relay in 7:39.03, swimming with a combination of college and high school swimmers. They took 2 out of the 3 spots in the race with a split relay, as they pulled into 2nd place in the team standings.

Team Standings

Women’s Scoring:

1. Gator Swim Club – 249
2. Scarlet Aquatics – 164.5
3. Swim Florida – 154.5
4. Bolles School Sharks – 141
5. South Florida Aquatic Club – 137

Men’s Standings:

1. Scarlet Aquatics – 294
2. Gator Swim Club – 226
3. Metro Aquatic Club of Miami – 223
4. Bolles School Sharks – 143
5. Club Seminole – 124