Florida Summer Senior Championships
- July 16-19, 2026
- Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training, Ocala, FL
- LCM (50 meters)
- “2026 Florida Summer Senior Championships” on Meet Mobile
Even outside of a World Championships or Olympic Games, it is always a privilege to witness one of the greatest ever to do it compete in the pool. That was the case for Katie Ledecky as she raced the 200 free at the Florida Summer Senior Championships in Ocala, winning the event in 1:56.62.
That time for Ledecky marks her 2nd fastest of the season thus far, only trailing her performance at the Fort Lauderdale Open in Early May of 1:56.57. Ledecky, primarily featured in longer events such as the 400, 800, and 1500 free, has had a fair share of her own successes in the 200 free in years past, with her career best time coming from the 2016 Olympic Games when she won gold in the event in 1:53.73.
Ledecky has also been called upon to swim the 200 free on several international relays, including the 2025 World Championships last summer in Singapore, where she anchored the silver-medal-winning relay in 1:53.71.
Ledecky was not the lone standout in Ocala, as some of her fellow training mates at the University of Florida had strong outings as well; one of those being Catie Choate, who also only raced one event at this meet, throwing down a season best of 1:00.30, that sits just over half a second off her best time of 59.73 from this meet last summer.
Another Olympian in the field was World Record holder Bobby Finke, who also only swam one event that being the 400 IM, where he would take the win by over seven full seconds, touching in 4:20.17, just off of his season-fastest 4:18.35 from the Pro Swim Series in Austin in January, a time that still sits nearly three full seconds outside of the top 25 in the would this season.
One of the highlight swims of the meet was University of Tampa swimmer Rufus Bernhardt swimming to a new lifetime best and pool record in the men’s 50 back in 25.24. He also added a 2nd place finish in the 100 back, swimming a big personal best of 55.50.
It was the Bolles School Sharks that cleaned house when it came to wins; leading the way was rising Boston College sophomore Savannah Branon, who, in addition to four relay wins and a win in the 50 breast (32.76), she also added four lifetime bests to her meet resume; among those being the 50 free (26.91), 100 free (58.29), 50 back (30.30), and 50 fly (28.91).
Class of 2027 Cal commit Thi Rai of Bolles School Sharks also saw plenty of success, including a win in the 100 breast in 1:03.32, another in the 200 breast in 2:19.51, and a new lifetime best in the 200 IM in 2:07.23, finishing 2nd, only trailing Ray Prosinski‘s 2:05.23.
University of Tampa’s Rufus Bernhardt set a new pool record in the 50m backstroke