US National Teamer Weyant and Olympian Atkinson Face off at SYS v. SOFL Dual

SOFL vs. SYS

• October 2-3, 2020
• Academic Village Pool, Pembroke Pines, FL and Selby Aquatic Center, Sarasota, FL
• Course: SCY
• Results on Meet Mobile under “SOFL vs. SYS”

Two of Florida’s top teams, the Sarasota YMCA Sharks and the South Florida Aquatic Club held a virtual dual meet this past weekend that featured Olympians, US National Team members, and US Junior National members. 

During the meet, each team swam at their own pool, with Sarasota competing at the Shelby Aquatic Center and South Florida competing at the Academy Village Pool. Sarasota ultimately came out on top, scoring 2175 points to South Florida’s 898. 

Highlighting the Shark’s meet was US National team member Emma Weyant, who won 5 out of the six individual events she entered. The 18-year-old began her day by swimming the 100 IM, where she posted a time of 57.66 to slice about 2 seconds off of her best time. In that race, Weyant only touched second to Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson, who finished a few tenths ahead in a time of 57.49. 

In her primary event, the 400 IM, Weyant touched in a time of 4:14.04. Although this came a few seconds off of her best time (4:07.63), Weyant now ranks 2nd in the country, across all age groups in the event. 

Over the remainder of the meet, Weyant also racked up victories in the 200 backstroke (2:00.05), 200 freestyle (1:48.68), 100 backstroke (56.69), and 200 IM (2:02.20). Notably, her time in the 200 IM now ranks her 4th in the country across all age-groups, right behind her future University of Virginia teammate Ella Nelson. 

Weyant’s younger sister, Gracie Weyant also had a strong showing for the sharks, sweeping all 6 of her events in the 13-14 age group. The 14-year old began her day by also dropping almost 2 seconds in her 200 IM, breaking the 1:00-barrier to finish in a time of 59.59. 

Gracie Weyant then followed this up by crushing the fields in all three breaststroke events. In the 200 breaststroke, Weyant touched in 2:19.94 to finish over 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Her time was the fastest of the day across all age groups, beating teammate Eliza Brown, the winner of the 15 and over race by 4 seconds. 

She then replicated her performance in the 100 breaststroke, where she touched the wall in a time of 1:04.65, besting the rest of the field by over 9 seconds. Weyant cruised to a 29.97, in the 50 breaststroke, completing her day as the only swimmer to go under the 30-second barrier. 

Swimming for Southern Florida, the aforementioned Atkinson was another multi-event winner. The Jamaican Olympian posted victories in the 100 IM, 100 freestyle, and 100 breaststroke, showcasing her skills in some of her “off” events. 

In the 100 freestyle, Atkinson posted a final time of 51.94 to beat the field by almost 3 seconds. Traditionally a breaststroker, Atkinson owns a personal best of 49.64 from 2016. She also swam the 200 freestyle, where she placed 3rd overall behind Emma Weyant and World Junior Championships finalist Natalie Mannion. 

Atkinson’s final victory of the day came in the 100 breaststroke, the event in which she is the reigning short course (SCM) world champion. Splitting 29.42/33.64, Atkinson finished in a time of 1:03.06 to beat the field by over 4 seconds. 

Other Highlights

• 15-year-old Felipe Baffico posted a best time en route to a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle. His time of 1:43.48 dropped .33 off of his previous best that he swam in July. The drop marked Baffico’s 14th best time since the end of quarantine. 
• Sarasota’s Liam Custer continued his hot-streak, taking victories in the 200 backstroke (1:49.65), 400 IM (3:58.51), 100 butterfly (50.99), 200 IM (1:56.43), and 100 backstroke (51.52). Post-quarantine, Custer shot into the spotlight after swimming best times in 13 events, making him arguably one of the best recruits in the class of 2022. 
• Honduran World Championship team member and Florida State swimmer Julio Horrego won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 55.50, coming about a second off of his best time (54.36) from 2018.