Cape swimmers shine in St. Pete
Meghan Cotugno and Monica Jaeger captured gold medals, leading a strong performance by Swim Florida Cape Coral swimmers at the Florida Swimming Area 3-5 Championships last weekend at the North Shore Pool in St. Petersburg.
There were a total of 974 swimmers from 24 teams entered in the three-day event.
Cotugno, 16, took first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.95. She competed in the 15-18 girls’ division and senior events. She placed second in the 200 IM and second in the senior 1,000 free.
Lauren Smith, 17, competed in the 15-18 division, finishing fifth in the 400 IM, eighth in the 100 back and 10th in the 100 free.
Jaeger, 13, grabbed first in the 200 back with a time of 2:18.85, and the 200 free with a time of 2:07.77.
In all, Cape swimmers brought home three golds, four silvers and eight bronze medals, and garnered numerous Junior Olympic, Senior Championships and United States Southern Zone Sectional qualifying times.
“Our swimmers are remarkably competitive with swimmers not just around the state, but around the nation,” said coach Ed Collins. “I hope we can someday have a pool that will put our youngsters on an equal footing with swimmers from all over the United States.”
In the 8U division, Makailey Hauser turned in a heroic performance. With one arm in a cast, Hauser, 7, placed fifth in the 50 breast, in 52.24 seconds.
In the 11-12 division, Jason Tillotson, 11, placed in the top 10 in seven events, including third-place finishes in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle.
Kaitlyn Hauser, 11, qualified for the Florida Swimming Junior Olympics with a time of 28.32 in the 50 free.
Collan Herby and Mike Zizzamia both competed in the 13-14 division. Zizzamia finished sixth in the 400 IM and fourth in the senior 1,000 free.
Herby was seventh in the 500 free, fourth in the 400 IM, third in the 200 back, fourth in the 200 IM, fourth in the 100 back, sixth in the 100 free and fifth in the 200 butterfly.