West Port swim leads the charge in record-breaking county meet
The Coastal Wolf is known to swim more than eight miles at a time in search of food. For elite swimmers like Jeffery Wolfe, a West Port swim team member, he swims that distance before competing in a meet.
Ocala’s top swim talent was on full display during the county-wide meet. Over the next four hours, students from Marion County public schools rewrote the swim record books. After a combined 24 boys and girls events, 11 names were etched in history.
Forest, West Port, and Vanguard all had swimmers crush existing times. Races were so competitive Forest’s Ben Camp dipped below the 2020 mark by almost two seconds and came in second place to Wolfe in the 50-yard freestyle. Vanguard’s Bryce LaBonte took home the 200-yard IM as a junior.
“I’ve broken it in a dual meet before I went in there with me right attitude and mindset,” LaBonte said. “Instead of thinking if I was going to break the record, I was thinking I am going to break the record.”
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For West Port swim, it was another strong year in the pool. Nine of those 11 broken records belong to the Wolf Pack.
“Their commitment to training, which includes the new swimmers, has made a difference,” West Port head swim coach Greg Humphries said.
Ten of fifteen of West Port’s top swimmers work with FAST Falcons swim club head coach, Allison Bebee. She’s coached each record-breaking swimmer and other top performers around the county. With a coaching background that includes preparing Simone Manuel for Olympic greatness, she is just the person who harnesses the country’s potential.
When the F.A.S.T facility opened last year, Humphries projected records to fall. In the previous two years, a new generation has left its mark. With F.A.S.T hosting the FHSAA state tournament meet on October 25, more times may fall state-wide.
Since the opening, several swimmers from around the state have moved to Ocala to train at its world-class pools. Many of them attend West Port.
Two of the youngest are Hannah Parkin and Alex Gonzalez. Parkin’s a natural in the pool. Both her parents were on the South Carolina swim team. She’s also seconds away from qualifying for winter and summer junior nationals.
Gonzalez, affectionately known as Godzilla for his energy and competitiveness, is a homegrown product. At 15, he qualified for the 33rd annual Speedo Winter Championships in December. LaBonte jokes with Gonzalez, who finished second during the junior’s record-breaking performance, that the record will be his soon enough.
Coming into the meet, Parkin, a Gainesville native, had no idea what the 50-yard freestyle county record was. When it flashed across the leaderboard, Parkin had a target, and like a precision missile, she struck it with .85 seconds to spare.
“It means I’ve been working hard, and it’s paying off,” West Port freshman Hannah Parkin said.
Senior Sabian Branch and sophomore Ian Disosway join Parkin as individual county record holders. Each was a part of taking down relay records. Wolfe broke the record he’s held since his sophomore year.
Heading into the postseason, each new record holder has a chance to qualify for state. At their toughest meet of the year, the Mid-Florida Conference meet, the boys took a commanding first-place victory while the girls took third. This could be West Port’s chance to beat another record, 2017’s 11th-place finish at the state meet.
“They’re hungry for competition,” Humphries said. “I think they proved that at the Mid-Florida Conference meet.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: 11 swimmers set county record heading into districts
