Swim and Dive: Top area swimmers and divers to keep an eye out for in 2023

The state of Florida has been dealing with extreme heat throughout the summer – even delaying or changing some sports’ practices.

There’s one group of athletes, however, while hard at work, they can still relatively “cool down” at practice: swimmers and divers.

A few teams have already hit the water for the 2023 season, preparing for the championship meet seasons. District meets will be held Oct. 16-21 for Classes 1A and 2A, and Classes 3A and 4A will be held Oct. 23-28.

State Roundup: Booker T. Washington boys swim take fifth

'The practicing has paid off': Washington's Logan Robinson qualifies for 2024 Olympic Trials

Regional meets will be Oct. 23-28 for Classes 1A and 2A. Classes 3A and 4A will have their regionals from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4.

The State Championships are being held from Nov. 4-10 at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) facility in Ocala. Class 1A will be Nov. 4, Class 2A will be Nov. 3, Class 3A will be Nov. 11 and Class 4A will be Nov. 10.

After speaking with area coaches, here are some of the top swimmers and divers to look out for this coming season:

Logan Robinson, Sr. (Booker T. Washington)

Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club head coach Greg Johnson said Booker T. Washington senior Logan Robinson really “blossomed” during the spring, leading to an impressive summer. His offseason from the high school season was highlighted by hitting the qualifying mark for the 2024 Olympic Trials in the 200-meter butterfly.

At the state meet last season, Robinson had two top-five finishes to help push the Wildcats to a fifth-place finish with 142 team points. Robinson finished third in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.0) and claimed fourth in the 100 butterfly (49.21).

Robinson was also part of Washington’s 400 freestyle relay that finished second, clocking in at 3:10.03; and the 200 medley relay (1:37.34).

Robinson is committed to Division I Florida State and was the PNJ 2022 Boys Swimmer of the Year.

Jennifer Mims, Jr. (West Florida)

After two seasons of drastic improvement at the state meet, West Florida’s Jennifer Mims is arguably the area’s top performer in the 1-meter dive event.

Mims finished 14th in 2021 with an 11-dive score of 305.85 before taking seventh in 2022 with a final score of 324.40.

A dual threat at the pool, Mims also propelled West Florida’s 200 freestyle relay to a third-place finish at the state meet, and the 200 medley relay to a fourth-place finish.

Mims set a school record in the 1m dive at the district meet, posting a 439.9.

West Florida head coach Justin Luciano called Mims “a rare athlete … even though (he knows he is) probably biased a little bit,” after she was named the 2022 PNJ Girls Swimmer/Diver of the Year.

Taylor Clements, Soph. (West Florida)

Who else was part of the top West Florida relays? Taylor Clements, now a sophomore, was right up there on the West Florida 200 freestyle relay. In the finals, she anchored the relay and posted a 24.24 in her respective 50 freestyle.

In the medley relay, Clements was the breaststroker, clocking in at 29.53 in her leg of the relay.

Individually, Clements finished seventh in the finals of the 100 breaststroke with a 1:06.86 – finishing before sixth-place’s Billi Lovell by 0.1 seconds, though she did finish in 1:05.83 in the prelims.

During the 200 individual medley, Clements posted a personal best with a ninth-place finish. She recorded a final time of 2:11.28 – which was the sixth-best time overall, but was in the “B” final, meaning ninth was the best she could claim.

Ian Malone, Soph. (Booker T. Washington)

As a freshman last season, Malone didn’t stray away from claiming early success at the high school level. Also a member of GPAC, Malone had a success club meet season between the Southeastern Championships and the USA Swimming Futures Championship in Ocala.

At last year’s state meet, Malone anchored the Wildcats’ 200 freestyle relay that finished eighth with an overall time of 1:30.51. Malone’s individual split was a 20.99, just 0.01 seconds slower than his time in the preliminaries.

Washington’s second-place 400 freestyle relay saw Malone take the second leg with a 100 time of 46.32. Malone was the leadoff in the 200 medley relay with a 25.08 in his 50 backstroke split that finished fourth overall (1:37.34).

Individually, Malone took fifth in the 200 freestyle with a personal-best time of 1:41.78.

Jack Hebert, Sr. (West Florida)

On the boys side for West Florida, Jack Hebert placed in two events at the FHSAA 2A State Championships. In the 100 breaststroke, Hebert placed 15th overall with a time of 1:02.90, but did post a 1:02.36 in the prelims earlier. In the 200 individual medley, Hebert clocked in at 1:59.17 to take eighth overall. Earlier in the meet, he finished in 1:58.29 in the prelims for a personal-best time.

Hebert saw decent success in the Southern Senior Zone Championships and Southeastern Swimming Championships while participating with GPAC.

Braeden Jacobs, Sr. (Tate)

Taking on a couple of the mid-distance events at the state championship meet, Tate's Braeden Jacobs competed in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle. In the latter, Jacobs posted a personal-best time of 1:43.79 to take 10th overall in the finals. In the 500 freestyle, Jacobs finished in 4:45.09, claiming 13th.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola area swimmers and divers to watch out for in 2023