The King’s Academy girls and boys swimming and diving teams had strong performances at the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Class 1A swimming and diving finals, which were held in Ocala on Friday, Nov. 15.
In the overall team competition, the TKA girls finished in fourth place with 117.5 points, while the boys earned 79 points to finish in ninth place. The Bolles School from Jacksonville won both competitions.
The list of girls who represented TKA included senior Emma Herrera, senior Kiersten Munna, sophomore Tessa Broedell, senior Rebekah Foster, senior Diana Harris, senior Julianna Bell and senior Sarah Person. The boys swimmers from TKA included sophomore Asher Smith, senior Tyler Wilkinson, junior Timothy McQueeney, senior Maxwell Strohecker, freshman Aaron McQueeney, junior Enzo Gaeta and sophomore Samuel Strohecker.
Jonathan Zuchowski, the head coach of the swim teams at TKA, was delighted with the performances of his swimmers at the state tournament.
“The girls swam great. It was the fourth time in four years that they finished in the top four,” Zuchowski said. “That’s hard to do with so many of last year’s swimmers now swimming in college. A top four finish was the goal, and it was a hard goal.”
All the swimmers competed in a series of preliminary races on the morning of Friday, Nov. 15. The top eight swimmers in each event qualified for the Championship A finals, and the next eight swimmers qualified for the Consolation B finals, both of which were held that night in Ocala.
In the individual events, the top female swimmer for TKA was Herrera, who finished second in the girls 200-yard freestyle and third in the girls 500-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard freestyle, she had the second-fastest time (1:50.0) in the preliminaries. In the Championship A final, Herrera improved her time (1:48.23) from the morning but was barely out-touched by Allison Kelly of Jacksonville Bolles, who swam the eight-lap race in 1:48.06.
“Emma’s 200-yard freestyle was amazing, and she came up a fingernail behind at the finish,” Zuchowski said.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Herrera swam the morning preliminary race in 4:51.49, which was the second-fastest qualifying time. That time earned her a spot in the Championship A final, where she swam the 20-lap race in 4:52.37, good enough for third place overall. Isabella Riva from Shorecrest Prep won in 4:50.11.
Other points-producing performances by TKA female swimmers included Julianna Bell’s 10th-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (23.99), Bell’s ninth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (52.03) and Kiersten Munna’s 16th-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle (53.03).
The opportunities for big points came in the three relays. The girls 200-yard medley relay team (Munna, Broedell, Foster and Harris) finished ninth (1:50.56); the girls 200-yard freestyle relay quartet (Bell, Harris, Foster and Herrera) finished fourth (1:37.7); and the girls 400-yard freestyle relay squad (Herrera, Harris, Bell and Munna) also finished fourth (3:33.9). Other girls from TKA who swam at states included Broedell (200-yard individual medley, 2:11.84, 17th place); Foster (50-yard freestyle, 25.4, 24th place); Munna (100-yard backstroke, 1:00.11, 20th place); and Sarah Person (one-meter diving, 17th place).
In the boys competition, the top male swimmers for TKA were Smith, Timothy McQueeney and Wilkinson. Smith was seventh in the boys 100-yard backstroke (52.11), McQueeney was eighth in the boys 100-yard breaststroke (57.89) and Wilkinson 15th in the boys 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.89).
“The boys team did incredible, and I could not be prouder,” Zuchowski said. “Everyone had a role on relays.”
The main points-producing events for the boys came in the three relays. The boys 200-yard medley relay team (Smith, Wilkinson, Maxwell Strohecker and Timothy McQueeney) was fourth (1:35.95); the boys 200-yard freestyle relay unit (Wilkinson, Maxwell Strohecker, Gaeta and Aaron McQueeney) was 12th (1:29.66); and the boys 400-yard freestyle relay foursome (Aaron McQueeney, Samuel Strohecker, Maxwell Strohecker and Timothy McQueeney) was ninth (3:14.57).
Other boys who swam at states included Timothy McQueeney (100-yard butterfly, 53.61, 19th); Aaron McQueeney (100-yard freestyle, 48.46, 18th); Maxwell Strohecker (100-yard backstroke, 55.03, 19th); and Samuel Strohecker (100-yard backstroke, 55.06, 20th).
