Photo courtesy of Melannie Vargas
Florida International University Head Coach Randy Horner has attracted a lot of international strength to the Panthers roster while building his two-time Conference USA Champion team, but he apparently isn’t afraid to seek out local talent as well. Doral, Florida native Melannie Vargas, has given her verbal commitment to FIU for the Fall of 2017. Vargas should contribute right away for the Panthers, as she is bringing with her two backstroke events that would already have scored in the B-final at the conference meet based on 2016 results.
Melannie originally intended to be a gymnast when she discovered swimming, and even after a few years in the sport considered quitting to transition to diving. She was convinced by a coach to stick with it and has seen a tremendous pay-off with strong improvements over the last few years. While training under coach Ariel Fernandez for the Flying Fish, Melannie has excelled with high finishes at both the long course and short course FGC Championships. She is a student at Doral Academy where she is also coached by Cathy Silveira and has reached the A-final at the FHSAA class 3A meet. At FIU she hopes to major in sports medicine and eventually work in physical therapy for athletes.
“I fell in love with the facilities and the welcoming spirit of the team and the coaches. The FIU swim team has also improved a great deal in recent years and I am excited to be apart of their upcoming success.”
SCY best times:
- 50 backstroke 26.32
- 100 backstroke 57.09
- 200 backstroke 2.02.58
- 200 individual medley 2.09.62
- 100 butterfly 58.73
LCM best times:
- 50 backstroke 31.63
- 100 backstroke 1.08.45
- 200 backstroke 2.25.83
- 200 individual medley 2.29.13
- 100 butterfly 1:07.75
Jack Blake from SAC just committed to Alabama