Bay County swim meet set for Thursday

PANAMA CITY BEACH - The drama during Thursday's Bay County Swim and Dive Championships will be outside the pool.

Bay coach Sarah Guillot and a few of the Tornado swimmers will miss the meet to put the finishing touches on their weekend performance of Murder Mystery Dinner Theater.

Otherwise there's no mystery, Mosley is the team to beat.

The Dolphins have cruised through the season, with their girls going undefeated and the boys losing just once, to Fort Walton Beach. Mosley is looking to add to its consecutive streak of county titles, Coach Sue Cottrill having lost count of how many the Dolphins have strung together.

Today's meet, at the Frank Brown Park Aquatics Center, also marks the start of the championship season. That means divers will perform 11 dives instead of the six required during the regular season.

The diving competition begins at 2 p.m. and swimming starts at 4 p.m. and will also include athletes from Arnold, Bay and Rutherford.

"It's our biggest local meet of the year, so you get county bragging rights, and we also have that," Cottrill said.

Mosley may be even faster this meet. Cottrill said some swimmers will be wearing full body suits, similar to the one worn by Michael Phelps during the Summer Olympics. She said they are legal for high school competition.

Some Lady Dolphins may not need the extra speed. Sara Evans and Mary McDermott are aiming for the county record in the 500-yard freestyle. Mosley's Candice Hilton's top competition will come from Arnold senior Katie Branham in the 50 freestyle. Cottrill hasn't decided who will swim the relays, although she has a pool of Evans, McDermott, Sara McDermott, Kyle Olstad, Victoria Hove, Taylor McQueen and Brielle Seaman to choose from.

It's the deepest team Cottrill has seen in more than 40 years of swimming experience.

There will be plenty of young women ready to challenge Mosley. In addition to Branham, Arnold senior Ana Jacobs will swim the 50 and 100 freestyle, Alicia Navarro will compete in the 100 freestyle and Whitney Hall in the butterfly events.

Bay will be led by assistant coach Lynn Woodrum. She said sophomore Allison Troia is looking to lower her school record in the 100 breaststroke and could be competitive in the 200 IM.

For the boys, Mosley's Matt Bryant will race in the 100 butterfly, and Michael Perdomo in the 200 and 100 freestyle.

Arnold lost three boys to injury, but still offers seniors Chris Miner in the 50 and 100 freestyle and Josh Tegue in the 200 and 100 freestyle. The best male swimmer is among the youngest. Sophomore Cody Bronnenberg will miss the first half of the meet because of his obligations to the Arnold band, and will swim in the 500 freestyle.

Bay will bring four-year letterman Alec Lippmann in the 200 IM, 100 backstroke and two relays, the medley and 200 freestyle. Sophomore Kurt Owen will swim in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle. Classmate Ian McGuire will compete for the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle titles, and senior Eric Henely will race in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

"I don't think anybody takes this county meet lightly," Arnold coach Rock Snow said. "I think we all want the kids to swim for the last time as a unit hard against each other. There's much more of an emphasis."