Braden River makes a splash at district meet

The Braden River High boys swim team posted its best finish in school history, finishing second at the Class 3A-District 7 Swimming and Diving Championships Oct. 30. 

The Pirates scored 284 points to finish behind Venice (470 points) in the 14-team meet. 

Braden River senior Ryan Walker led the way for the Pirates, winning a pair of individual district championships. Walker won the 100-yard freestyle in 48.36 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 59.88 seconds. 

Walker then teamed up with Max Morris, GianCarlo Dibenedetto and Hunter Sparkman to win the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.50). Walker, Morris, Dibenedetto and Sparkman also finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:46.09)

On the girls side, Braden River finished seventh overall with 144 points. Paige Lewandrowski was the lone Pirate to place in the top 10, finishing second in the 100 butterfly (1:04.99) and seventh in the 200 freestyle (2:08.38). 

Walker and Lewandrowski both automatically qualified for the Class 3A-Region 3 meet Nov. 7, at Florida Gulf Coast University, in Estero, after finishing in the top two in an individual event with Walker earning the top regional seed in both of his events. Lewandrowski also qualified in in the 200 freestyle based on time. Braden River’s 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relays also qualified and are both seeded sixth. 

Additional individual qualifiers include: 

Eric Kimsey (100 breaststroke)

GianCarlo DiBenedetto (100 butterfly)

Max Morris (500 freestyle)

Hunter Sparkman (100 freestyle and 200 freestyle)