Grant Sanders Swims a Quadruple, Ethan Ekk Goes 1:35 in the 200 Free at Florida Sr Champs

2024 FLORIDA SWIMMING SPRING SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 7-10, 2024
• FAST, Ocala, Florida
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central/Results
• Psych Sheets
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Results

Four-time University of Florida All-American Grant Sanders swam a quadruple on Friday at the Florida Swimming Spring Senior Championships, and an LSC Record fell on the girls’ side on the second day of competition.

While neither of the two biggest names entered in the meet, Olympic gold medalists Bobby Finke and Katie Ledecky, raced on Friday, there was still plenty to get excited about at the FAST pool in Ocala.

Sanders, who swims for the home team, swam one race on Thursday, a relay, but swam the last four races of the night on Friday.

First he won the 200 breaststroke in 1:55.33, beating out 16-year-old Ian Heysen (1:57.46). Heysen’s swim knocked more than four seconds off his previous best time in the event.

Next up for Sanders was the 100 fly, where he swam 47.88 for 2nd-place behind Antoine Destang of the Bolles School Sharks. Destang, a young high school junior from St. Lucia, has been as fast as 47.2 in the race.

In the next boys’ event of the night, Sanders picked up a win in the 400 IM in 3:47.67. This time the runner-up was 16-year-old ATAC swimmer Ethan Ekk, who posted a 3:49.26.

Ekk, who recently told SwimSwam that along with his siblings he plans to race at the Canadian Olympic Trials, is off to an electric start to his meet. That 400 IM swim was a three-second improvement on his lifetime best, and earlier in the session he also swam a best time of 1:35.66 to win the 200 free. Adam Varga (1:35.69), Thomas Frost (1:37.89), and his younger brother Owen Ekk (1:37.89) were not far behind.

Sanders finished his night by anchoring the Fast Falcons’ 400 medley relay with a 43.82 as they finished in 6th place.

Sanders, 26, is an assistant coach for the Fast Falcons and in the fall qualified for his third-straight US Olympic Trials.

On the girls’ side of the meet, 17-year-old Ekaterina Baranova won the 50 yard breaststroke in 28.54, but it was the runner-up who set the record. 16-year-old Madyson Hartway from the Sarasota Sharks touched in 28.58, which breaks the 15-16 LSC Record of 28.80 set by Marcela Scaramuzza in 2019.

It was the sprinters who stole the show on the girls’ side on Friday. Addison Reese, a University of Florida commit from the Windermere Lakers near Orlando, won the 100 fly in 52.94, shaving .05 seconds off her personal best in the race. Florida is home to Olivia Peoples, who two weeks ago won the SEC Championship in the 100 fly.

The Sarasota Sharks, after winning both girls’ events on Thursday, added two more wins on Friday to bookend the finals session.

16-year-old Brynn Lavigueur won the 200 free in 1:47.76 – more than a second better than the 1:48.99 she swam on Thursday to open the Sharks’ dominant 800 free relay.

After a 28th-place finish in the 100 fly, on her third race of the night, Lavigueur again kicked off a Sarasota relay to end the session, splitting 54.28 on the backstroke leg as the Sharks raced to a 3:41.40 win. That included a 49.65 anchor leg from Maeve Eckerman. This time, though, the race was much more competitive – the runners-up from Bolles swam 3:41.88.

Other day 2 winners on the girls’ side included 15-year-old Victoria Edgar from Bolles in the 200 breaststroke, where she swam 2:15.78 to just out-touch the hard-charging Aidyn Reese from the Windermere Lakers and her Bolles teammate Gracyn Lanning. Reese and Lanning both closed in 35.3s, compared to Edgar’s last 50 split of 36.3, but Edgar’s early work in the race paid off for her as she was able to hold on for the win.

The other winner on the day was 23-year-old Canadian swimmer Mabel Zavaros in the 400 IM. A member of Canada’s team for the 2023 World Championships, Zavaros won in 4:08.60. The top 18 & under swimmer was Addison Reese, who already won the 100 fly, in 4:16.40 – another personal best.

Team Scores After Day 2

Combined Top 5:

1. Sarasota Sharks – 1,612
2. Bolles School Sharks – 1,597
3. Planet Swim Aquatics – 862.5
4. FAST Falcons – 559
5. ATAC – 479