The Wellington High School boys varsity swim team is poised for another great season in the pool.
Under the guidance of head coach Richard Whalen, a number of the male swimmers are expected to conclude their fall season as competitors at the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Class 4A state swimming and diving finals to be held on Friday, Nov. 14 at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) facility in Ocala. It’s an indoor facility that Whalen and his swimmers enjoy visiting for meets throughout the year.
“It’s a great facility for swimming, and our swimmers like it,” said Whalen, who is entering his 20th season as the head coach of the swimming and diving program at WHS. “Our boys have a chance of a top five finish at states in November.”
The top swimmers on the boys team this fall will be senior Andreas Da Silva, junior Julian Granison, senior Dillon Metz, and a pair of brothers, sophomore Oliver Fergus and senior Everhart Fergus.
Da Silva, Granison and Metz have been to the state meet in the past as individuals and are expected to return this fall.
According to Whalen, Da Silva’s best events are the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, but swimmers can only compete in two events at the state meet.
Last year, Da Silva advanced to states in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. He’s not sure which two events he will pursue for states this fall. While he likes swimming the 50-yard freestyle, and he’s fast enough to challenge for first place at the Class 4A level, it’s an event with no room for error.
“In the 50 free, you need a tremendous start, a perfect turn, just one or two breaths, and a little luck,” Da Silva explained. “There’s no room for error in that race.”
In last year’s 100-yard freestyle at the state meet, Da Silva’s morning preliminary time was fast (45.84 seconds), but not fast enough to earn a spot in the Championship “A” final. Instead, he was the fastest qualifier in the Consolation “B” final. In that evening’s Consolation “B” race, Da Silva swam the event in 44.71 seconds, which was more than a second faster than his morning preliminary effort. While he easily won the Consolation “B” final, which earned him a ninth-place finish overall in the state, had Da Silva been swimming in the Championship “A” final, his time of 44.71 would have earned him a third-place finish overall. Da Silva’s clocking (44.71) was an Automatic All-American standard time.
Granison had a great experience at the state meet last November, and he is also expected to return this fall.
According to Whalen, Granison’s best events are the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. As a sophomore, Granison finished in fifth place in the state meet in the 50-yard freestyle last year. His time was 20.68 seconds, and the winning time was 20.05 seconds. Of the four swimmers who finished ahead of Granison last year, three of them were graduating seniors.
In the boys 100-yard freestyle at states, Granison had the sixth-fastest time (45.42 seconds) in the morning preliminaries, which qualified him for the Championship “A” final. There, he swam the 100-yard race in 45.63 seconds, which was fast enough for sixth place in the state. Of the five seniors who finished ahead of Granison, three of them were graduating seniors.
Last year, Metz swam the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle at the state meet. He is expected to return to states in those two events in November, and he has a strong chance of improving in both events.
Oliver Fergus is expected to specialize in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle, while Everhart Fergus’s best events are the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.
The best chance for the Wellington boys to win a Class 4A state title this fall may well come in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where last year’s quartet of swimmers (Da Silva, Granison, Metz and Everhart Fergus) finished in third place. That foursome is the highest finishing group where all four swimmers are returning this year. The same thing can be said about those four Wellington boys who finished fourth in last year’s 400-yard freestyle relay. They could easily return this fall and win the state title in that race, Whalen said.
Both Da Silva and Granison are interested in swimming at the collegiate level. Both are currently being recruited by NCAA Division I programs.
The first dual meet of the 2025 fall season for Wellington is expected to be Aug. 27 against West Boca Raton High School.
