Seniors anchor Bay County swimming meet

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Avalon Dudinsky stood shoulder to shoulder with a small group of people, running her index finger through the results posted from the Bay County swim meet held Saturday.

“Hey!” Dudinsky cried out excitedly. “We finished fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, and I finished seventh in the 100 backstroke!”

The pool at the Frank Brown Park Aquatic Center was swelling with accomplished swimmers who have succeeded at the prep and club levels, a number of state placers and several who intend to swim in college. Dudinsky is a sophomore at North Bay Haven, which was competing in a county meet for the first time in program history.

The charter school doesn’t have juniors or seniors yet, and the swim team comprises about a dozen athletes, only two of whom swim year-round, Dudinsky said.

“I expect that we’ll do our best,” said Dudinsky, a team captain. “I don’t necessarily expect us to win every time, but I expect us to do our best.”

Even after the school has seniors walking the hallways beginning in 2013, North Bay Haven won’t soon be challenging for county meet championships. But Dudinsky and her teammates at least have taken an important first step: Competing in the same pool against the other county schools.

“This was the end of our season, and our last practice was (Friday) night,” Dudinsky said. “I’m really proud.”

Four area seniors and a sophomore collected a pair of individual titles at the county meet. Two of those swimmers, Mosley seniors Caleb Champagne and Victoria Hove, also helped the Dolphins win two relays.

Champagne placed first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle, raced the first leg in Mosley’s victorious 400 free relay and anchored the first-place 200 free relay team. Champagne won the 50 freestyle by 12-hundredths of a second and the 100 by 11-hundredths.

Dolphin senior Chet Seaman placed first in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, and he contributed on Mosley’s first-place 200 medley relay.

Bay’s JD Clutch led the Tornado boys with victories in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. He also assisted the Tornadoes in a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

Clutch, a senior, believes he has a chance to place in the Top 5 at state in the 100 backstroke. He finished a half-second ahead of Mosley’s Michael Duderstadt to win that race Saturday.

“I use this meet to measure where I’m at,” said Clutch, who wants to swim at Florida State. “I use this as my district meet and my district meet as, well, a regular old meet. But this year I am going for three-time district champion.”

Clutch also swims for the Panama City Swim Team, and he said he practices six times a week in the afternoon. He added that he swims in the morning twice a week at Mosley’s pool, too. He may practice with swimmers from other schools and compete alongside them at PCST meets, but he was out to win Saturday.

“I was racing in the 200 IM and ended up winning,” he said. “I looked over to the lane next to me and told him it’s strictly business, it’s nothing personal.”

Hove won the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke for the Mosley girls. She swam the third leg on the winning 200 medley relay and anchored the Dolphins in a first-place effort in the 400 free relay.

Taylor Wilder, a sophomore at Mosley, placed first in the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. She joined Hove on the 200 medley relay and also helped Mosley finish second in the 200 freestyle relay.