Peruvian national record holder Alexia Sotomayor highlighted Saint Andrews’ senior night with two lifetime bests in the 25-yard pool. A senior herself, Sotomayor moved from Peru to Florida in 2022 and began training at Saint Andrews in Boca Raton, FL. In her last high school dual meet, Sotomayor swam 23.46 in the 50 freestyle and 53.60 in the 100 butterfly.
Her 100 butterfly time is particularly intriguing, as she lowered her standard from the 53.88 she swam in prelims of the 2023 FHSAA 1A Region 4 Championship. A World Junior Championship finalist, Sotomayor is committed to Arizona State’s class of 2029. Her new personal best in the 100 fly would’ve landed her fourth on the Sun Devils’ depth chart last season. It’s early in the NCAA season, but she’d be third so far this season behind freshman Julia Ullmann and sophomore Miriam Sheehan. Both will still be in Tempe when Sotomayor arrives, giving the Sun Devils a solid core in the event as they aim to build into a nationally contending team.
Sotomayor may have closed out her high school dual meet career, but before she heads to college she still has the Florida high school postseason, and a 53.60 100 butterfly will carry a lot of weight there. Last year, she won the FHSAA 1A Region 4 Championship title in the event with a 53.96.
A week later at the FHSAA Class 1A State Championship, Bolles’ Julia Murphy—now racing at Virginia Tech—won the event title in that exact time while Sotomayor added from the lifetime best she swam in prelims and finished second (54.18). Armed with her new lifetime best, Sotomayor has reaffirmed that she is the favorite in the event for both quickly approaching championship meets.
The FHSAA 1A Region 4 Championships often see quick swims from some of the fastest high school swimmers in the country. Last year, the Bolles girls ran away with the title, while Saint Andrews finished fourth.
