2020 FHSAA 4A Swimming and Diving Championships Recap
Nov. 7 marked the final day of the 2020 FHSAA 4A Swimming State Championships.
In an exciting meet, the Oviedo boys repeated as state champions, while depth carried the Creekside girls to victory.
The Creekside girls opened up the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, finishing in 1:43.93. That is faster than last year when Creekside finished in second with a time of 1:44.15.
On the boys’ side, Bartram Trail won the 200 medley relay in 1:33.25. That time was just 0.13 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Oviedo.
Micayla Cronk of Flagler Palm Coast picked up two state titles, winning the 200 (1:46.23) and 100 freestyles (48.78). Cronk, a University of Florida commit, is the state record-holder in the 100 free. For the boys, Sage Sungail claimed the top spot in the 200 free, posting a strong time of 1:37.99.
In the 200 IM, Ella Bathurst, a University of Virginia commit, was the only girl to dip under the 2:00 mark, posting a winning time of 1:58.24 for Plant High School. She finished second in this event at last year’s meet. Bathurst also won the 100 backstroke in 52.77, just three-tenths longer than Clara Smiddy’s state record of 52.46.
Liam Custer claimed the top spot in the boys 200 IM in 1:48.60, while Davis Hanley of Oviedo grabbed the top spot in the 100 back (49.15). Custer also dominated the boys 500 free, winning in 4:21.41, almost nine seconds ahead of second-place finisher Jason Brzozowski of Riverside High School (4:30.37).
For the girls, freshman Addison Sauickie of Riverside picked up her first state title, winning the 500 in 4:47.23.
In the 50 freestyle, senior Alexis Mulvihill of George Steinbrenner High School broke a state record, winning in 22.22. That time dipped under the previous record of 22.30 set by Christina Swindle of Gulliver Prep in 2002. Mulvihill also won the 100 butterfly in 53.16, ahead of second-place finisher and state-record holder Olivia Peoples of Nease High School (53.41).
Dawson Joyce of Seminole High School successfully defended his 2019 titles in both the 50 and 100 free races, winning in 19.79 and 43.59, respectively. His time in the 50 was half of a second off of Olympian and world record holder Caeleb Dressel’s state record of 19.29.
The girls 200 freestyle relay was a nail-biter, with Winter Park out-touching Windermere High School 1:34.97 to 1:35.05. Creekside grabbed the win for the boys with a time of 1:24.10.
In the girls 100 breaststroke, freshman Gracie Weyant of Riverside grabbed the top spot in an impressive time of 1:01.51. Senior Thomas Nagle of Plant High School won the boys in 55.10.
In the final event, the 400 free relay, Oviedo picked up first-place points on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. The girls defeated Winter Park by almost a second, 3:24.50 to 3:25.48, while the boys defeated Bartram Trail by 0.4 seconds, 3:07.31 to 3:07.75.
In diving, freshman Lanie Gutch of Boone High School was victorious on 1M with 468.6 points, while Brandon Wegner of Olympia High School won on the boys side with 490.9 points.
Written by: Elizabeth Levy
