The Florida State men have picked up their first major verbal for the class of 2014, with a commitment from Canadian Anthony Lyons from the Cascade Swim Club.
Lyons was the runner up in the 17-18 age group in the 100 free at this summer’s long course Canadian Age Group Championships, swimming a 52.18. His best long course time from the summer, though, was a 51.56.
That’s his best race, but he goes up and down from that distance fairly well. He’s flat-started a 24.12 in the 50 free, and has also been 1:52.34 in the 200 free.
He’s been a very good short course meters swimmer in his career also, which means that 100 and 200 can pretty confidently be converted to a 45.0 and a 1:38-low in yards.
Though they’ve turned over much of their staff, including the head coach, Florida State shouldn’t see much of a drop-off in the sprint group, which is where they’ve been very, very successful over the last half-decade. That’s in part thanks to the retention of Andy Robins, who’s been directly responsible for the sprint group under the old administration and the new, plus the addition of new head coach Frank Bradley, who comes from the very successful sprint program at Auburn.
Congratulations Anthony, well deserved. All those lapse in the pool over so many years; has payed off. Hope it all comes back to you ten fold.
B&K