Wave Runners make a splash

LAKEWOOD RANCH — No matter how many laps she has completed or races she has won, Sydney Panzarino is filled with nervous energy just about every time she walks out onto the pool deck for a championship swim meet.

And the YMCA Florida Swimming State Championships proved to be no different for the Lakewood Ranch sophomore.

“It’s fun, but it’s very nerve-wracking,” Panzarino said. “Everyone there is pretty intimidating, and they’re all twice your size.”

However, while Panzarino would have liked nothing more than to hop out of the pool, giving her butterflies a chance to subside, her 10-year-old teammate, Sebastian Aguirre, faces his competition with a head full of confidence. And, if given the opportunity, he would spend the entire meet in the pool.

“When you get in the water at the (state championships), it feels like you’re gliding on top of the water, and there’s no effort,” Aguirre said.

Although Panzarino and Aguirre approached the state championships differently in their heads, the two proved to be among the best of the 35 members of the Wave Runners swim team that competed in the YMCA Florida Swimming State Championships Feb. 10-12, at the YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando.

Aguirre led the way for the Wave Runners, finishing second overall in the 10-and-under male age group with seven second-place finishes, two third-place finishes and one fourth-place finish.

It was the most medals Aguirre had won in a single meet. Additionally, he nearly achieved his goal of breaking the one-minute mark 100-yard freestyle.

“I did good, but I could have done better,” Aguirre said.

Across the pool, Panzarino, who finished eighth in the 50 butterfly and in the top 16 in four of her races, and Haile Middle School seventh-grader Courtney Chapin, who finished in the top eight in four of her races, including first in the 50 backstroke, led the way for the girls.

Suzanne Aguirre, Chloe Millard, Elijah Gelongo, Courtney Lancaster, Camille Gonzales and Summer Cardwell also received ribbons for finishing in the top 16 in at least one of their respective races.

“I’m very pleased with the accomplishments they’ve achieved,” coach Bridget Bowman said. “Their attitudes, times, confidence and they way they carry themselves — even when things go bad, they’re still good sports. They’re just a great group of kids.”

Chapin swam one of the most exciting races of the meet, finishing first in the 50 backstroke — much to her and her coach’s delight.

“I was shocked,” Chapin said. “I didn’t realize I was going to win. I was very pleased, though, because I beat all of my times. I think we all did really well.”

“I knew she had it in her,” Bowman said. “I used to be a swimmer and I also swam the backstroke. I think I was grinning more from ear to ear and laughing (than she was).”

Now with the state championships behind them, the Wave Runners are now looking ahead to new feats.

Panzarino competed in the Senior Championships Feb. 23-26, in Orlando with the hopes of qualifying for the YMCA Swimming National Championships, which will be held the first week of April in Greensboro, N.C.

Meanwhile, Chapin will compete in the 2012 Florida Swimming FLAGS Age Group Championship, which features the top swimmers ages 14 and up in the state, March 8-11.

“I just want to keep beating my times and making cuts,” Chapin said.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].