- April 16, 2024
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Dante DiPietro swims in the 100-yard breaststroke. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jordyn Eckert celebrates her 100-yard breaststroke finish. Photo by Michele Meyers
Sandcrab Caleb Orchard qualified for the state championships in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze freshman Mackenzie O'Keefe finishes first in her heat in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.64. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jordyn Eckert is going to the state championships in the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard medley and freestyle relays. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jordyn Eckert dives in to swim the 100-yard breaststroke where she cut her qualifying time by almost six seconds. Photo by Michele Meyers
Stacie Allison swims leg two of the 400-yard freestyle relay. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze parents cheer as their kids compete at regionals. Photo by Michele Meyers
ZZ Nichols swims in the 100-yard backstroke at the regional meet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Alexander Deininger flies off the block to swim in the first heat of the 100-yard freestyle. Photo by Michele Meyers
Alexander Deininger is all smiles after his swim. Photo by Michele Meyers
Sophia Saramago and Mackenzie O'Keefe. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jake Eisner competes in the 100-yard butterfly. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jake Eisner. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mathew Long swims in the second heat of the 100-yard freestyle. Photo by Michele Meyers
Clare Cassidy dives in to start the 100-yard freestyle. Photo by Michele Meyers
Valentyna Saramago, Sophia Saramago, Stacie Allison and Avery Dellinger are happy with their finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze swim team captain Andrew Randolph and his parents, Todd and Julie Randolph. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze High School swim team headed to the regional meet following the boys’ district championship and girls’ district runner-up finish in Mount Dora on Oct. 22.
All six relay teams advanced along with at least one swimmer in each individual event after the boys brought home the title that had eluded Seabreeze since 2013. Individual district champions included Jordyn Eckert in the 100-yard breaststroke, Mackenzie O’Keefe in the 100-yard butterfly and ZZ Nichols in the100-yard backstroke.
The girls were seeded first in the 200-yard freestyle relay going into regionals Oct. 29 at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce. The relay team consisting of Cassidy Clare, Eckert, Nichols and O’Keefe, qualified 12th to compete at the state championships Friday, Nov. 5 in Stuart.
In addition to the free relay, freshman O’Keefe and her relay buddies will swim in the medley relay event at state. She will also compete in two individual events: the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle.
O’Keefe has been swimming since she was 6 years old and currently swims with Hydro4 Swimming. This is her first year on the Seabreeze team.
“I love Seabreeze,” she said. “Coach John and coach Sam are amazing. I am so excited. I usually celebrate by going to a restaurant and ordering boba tea.”
Junior Caleb Orchard finished first in the 50-yard freestyle at regionals and captured the 24th spot in the 100 yard freestyle, awarding him two individual event slots at state. Orchard started swimming in seventh grade but got serious about the sport in high school. Last season, he contracted COVID and was forced to miss districts. This will be his first time competing at the state level.
“I didn’t think I’d do it in the 50,” he said. “I thought I’d do it in the 100. Just kind of pulled it out of nowhere. I don’t know what to say. Buy a tech suit is all I’ve got.”
All of the Seabreeze swimmers moving on to the state championships shaved time off of their regional qualifiers, including Eckert who cut almost six seconds off of her time in her signature event, the 100-yard breaststroke. Eckert finished first at districts with a time of 1:15.82 and qualified for states with a 1:10.11. Cassidy placed third at districts in the 100 free with a time of 57.31 and qualified for states with a 56.46.
Team captain Andrew Randolph started his swimming career between the ages of 4 and 5 at the YMCA. He is a senior this year and has decided to swim when he attends college to stay in shape but not competitively.
“I feel really good about my team,” he said. “This has been my favorite year so far. To stay motivated, we usually start with a chant, but I talk to my teammates. Not so much about the meet but personal stuff.”
The state meet will be at the Sailfish Splash Waterpark and Aquatics Center in Stuart.
