Braden River's Tri-County swimming titles not a stroke of luck

Watching her dominate in the pool, you wouldn't know Braden River sophomore Kate Walker was dealing with pain.

Walker won both the girls 50 freestyle (25.45) and 100 breaststroke (1:09.37) at the Tri-County Swimming Championships on Oct. 7 at Sarasota's Potter Park despite not being able to practice normally all season.

At the Aquatica Summer Splash in Orlando on Jul 29, Walker awoke with pain in her back that prevented her from even bending over, but figured it was just a flare-up and swam through the pain. She had two weeks off after that, she said, and hoped it would subside in time to get healthy for the high school swim season.

It didn’t. She had it checked out, and doctors discovered fractures and bruising of her L4 and L5 vertebrae. She had to attend physical therapy, and cut down her practice time significantly, going only 30 minutes here, an hour there, instead of a full two-and-a-half-hour daily session. She also has had to change her sets, as some days were too painful for her to kick. It wasn’t ideal, but she was getting through it.

It continued until two and a half weeks ago, when Walker slipped while walking around the pool at practice and landed on the back of her head. She lost consciousness, and an ambulance had to be called.

Walker was diagnosed with a concussion, and that’s been her primary concern since the fall.

“The days that it (her head) hurts, I can’t do anything,” Walker said. “I take all athletic stuff off and relax.”  

Since the concussion, she’s taken part in two high school practices, and that’s it, as far as preparation. It hasn’t affected her times too much. She won the same events at the Tri-County meet that she won three days earlier, at the Manatee County championships.

“This whole season so far has been a mess of things happening,” Walker said. “I’m just trying to fix it and do the best I can.”

Also representing the area well at the Tri-County Meet were senior Martin Baffico and junior Sarsen Whatmore of The Out-of-Door Academy. Baffico won the boys 100 butterfly in 52.52, while Whatmore won the 500 freestyle in 4:45.82. Lakewood Ranch junior Sebastian Aguirre (52.76) finished second to Baffico, and was part of the third-place 200 medley relay team with senior Michael McKeitlen and Quinn Lynch and sophomore Victor Kassabov.

The Lakewood Ranch girls finished third as a team with 344 points, though well behind both second-place Riverview (495) and first-place Sarasota (513). They were the only area team to finish in the top three. Sophomore Katelynn Coons finished second in the 50 freestyle (24.99) and third in the 100 freestyle (57.22). The Mustangs’ 200-yard relay team (Coons, junior Emily Loefgren, senior Hallie Bogumil and freshman Suzy Aguirre) also finished third, in 1:43.23.

The team has a hearty cheering section led by Rene Massengale, mother of Mustangs sophomore Emily Massengale. Rene attends every meet and roots on the girls with vigor, even though Emily hears none of it.

When I wrote about Emily, who is deaf, a few months ago, I failed to consider things from a parent's perspective. Is the emotion of watching your daughter swim so overwhelming that you have to let it out, or is it easier to keep the nerves bottled inside?

It turns out, Rene lets the cheers fly. There’s a few reasons for this, she said, the biggest reason being they want to treat her no differently than everybody else.

“We feel like Emily can hear it in her spirit, even though she’s not hearing us with her ears,” Rene said.

Rene tapes all of Emily’s swims for her to watch later. When she watches, implants in tact, she listens for her family’s cheers, and she smiles.

She will hear a fair amount of cheers watching the Tri-County races back. Emily did well, finishing fifth in the girls 200 yard individual medley (2:17.94) and was part of the Lakewood Ranch third-place 200 yard medley relay (1:56.34).

The Tri-County meet is the signal of peak high school swimming season. District meets begins Oct. 21 for The Out-of-Door Academy, Oct. 27 for Braden River and Oct. 28 for Lakewood Ranch.