Tampa Bay Aquatics

ORLANDO — The early laps of Conor Swanson's final at the Class 3A state meet Thursday, the 100-yard breaststroke, betrayed none of the effort he put into them.

The Sickles senior glided through the first two laps with such a commanding lead that the meet announcer stirred the crowd into a howl by announcing how far ahead he was of the field.

From then on, a new roar greeted Swanson every time his head popped out of the water.

Swanson, the top seed entering the meet, won with a scintillating time of 56.29 seconds in his most dominant event.

When he finished the race, Swanson immediately spotted the clock and shook his fist in the air.

Beating the second-place finisher, Miami Columbus' Douglas Ramos, by nearly two seconds, Swanson set a personal record.

And he made it look easy.

"I just felt really comfortable out there," Swanson said.

It wasn't the only race he dominated.

In the 200 individual medley, Swanson won in 1:48.92. He was cruising along in record-setting time when he fell off pace in the final leg, the freestyle.

"A state record was something I would have liked," Swanson said. "But I'm happy with just winning considering I didn't win any last year."

He added two more medals by teaming with Andrew Howard, Trey Went III and Gregg Cooke on the second-place 200 free relay (1:25.31) and third-place 400 free relay (3:09.97).

Cooke also was third in the 50 free (21 seconds) and sixth in the 100 free (46.53).

The Gryphons boys scored 135 points to finish fifth, the highest placement of any county team.

District rival Palm Harbor University won the boys title, outscoring Miami Palmetto 187-186. It is the first time since Seminole's girls won in 1985 that a team from the Tampa Bay area has won a title. PHU coach Lisa Bitting was a captain on that Seminole team that won.

"Everything has come full circle," Bitting said.

Wes Stearns was the Hurricanes' only boys champion, winning the 200 free. Other champions from the bay area included Countryside's Melanie Margalis in the 200 individual medley and Palm Harbor University's Katie Coleman in the 100 fly.

Bob Putnam can be reached at putnam@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4169.

Photo gallery

For more photos from the state meet, visit highschool.tampabay.com.


[Last modified: Nov 14, 2008 04:02 PM]