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Distance freestyler Mercedes Traba has announced her decision to swim at Vanderbilt University beginning in the fall of 2021. She shared her excitement in an Instagram post:
Traba is a rising senior at Sarasota High School. Last November she competed at the Florida High School 3A State Championships. She swam the 200 and 500 free and the 200 and 400 free relays, placing within the top 8 in each event. She finished 4th in both prelims and finals of the 200 free, and she moved from 6th to 4th in the 500 free. Both times were new top times for Traba. She led off both of Sarasota’s relays, taking 6th place in the 200 free relay and 2nd in the 400 free relay. Sarasota High School placed 3rd at the end of the championship meet.
In December, she swam at the Speedo East Winter Juniors meet, representing her club team, the Sarasota YMCA Sharks. She swam the 200, 500, and 1650 free, scoring points in the 500 and 1650. She dropped a total of 3.46 seconds from her seed time to take 12th place in the 500 free. She finished 15th in the 1650 and 27th in the 200 free, securing personal best times in each.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 free – 1:50.31
- 500 free – 4:50.33
- 1000 free – 10:03.25
- 1650 free – 16:46.02
Traba will be a top distance swimmer for the Commodores. Her 500 free and 1650 free times are already faster than the current school records. Additionally, she would have been the top swimmer in the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 free during the 2019-2020 season. Lara Hernandez-Tome swam the team’s top times in the distance events this season, while Abigail Burke posted the fastest time in the 200 free.
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