Alia Atkinson today capped off a fantastic weekend of swimming at the Florida Gold Coast Winter Championships by breaking the Florida Gold Coast record in the 11-12 50 yard Breaststroke and added a Gold and Silver medal to her already large tally. Coming into the final of the Breaststroke sprint event, Atkinson had the fastest time by just under two (2) seconds and dominated the race to finish in 31.34, beating the old record of 31.49 set in 1998, more than two (2) seconds ahead of Tori Richmond who touched in 33.43. Atkinson’s excellent time put her in the Top 16 times in America for that event.

In the 11-12 100 yard Freestyle Atkinson and Emily Kasmer battled for the entire race. At the 50 yard turn Atkinson was just .03 second behind and fought hard to take the lead. In an exciting finish, both swimmers finished with Top 16 times, but Kasmer reached the wall first in 54.49, just .34 second ahead of Atkinson who finished in 54.49.

Tornadoes Swim Club’s Robert Chen, who also had a great meet, won his second Gold of the competition when he swam a personal best 4A time of 32.12 to win the 11-12 50 yard Breaststroke. Jake Frazier (Space Coast) touched second (32.99) and Mauro Pazmino (Lga Twisters) third 33.84.

Jamaica’s 100 Meter Breaststroke National Record holder, Adi Atkinson, controlled the 15-16 100 yard Breaststroke event from start to finish. At the 50 yard turn Atkinson was 1 second ahead of the competition and powered home to finish in a 4A time of 59.55, ahead of Jeffrey Vivo (Miami Metro) who touched second in 1:00.93 and Jamaica’s Dominic Lee who finished sixth with a time of 1:02.82.

In other events, Dave Smith swam a personal best 1:08.90 to place fourth in the 13-14 100 yard Breaststroke. Allison Bardowell (FLST), Raine Paulson-Andrews (Canes) and Alford Green (National Swim Squad) each swam in two finals. Bardowell finished fifth in the 15-16 100 Yard Freestyle (54.29) and seventh in the 200 yard Backstroke (2:17.07). Paulson-Andrews finished sixth in the Open 100 yard Breaststroke (1:12.80) and ninth in the 100 yard Freestyle (56.58). Green swam two 2A times to finish eighth in the 11-12 100 yard Butterfly (1:06.05) and tenth in the 100 yard Freestyle (57.94).

Pine Crest’s Vesna Stojanovska swam a scintillating 2:05.66 in the 15-16 200 yard Breaststroke outclassing her competition. In the same event, National Squad swimmers Kristie Irving and Katherine Chen placed sixth and eighth respectively swimming 2:28.24 and 2:31.28. Melissa Bardowell (FLST) swam 2:23.35 to finish seventh in the Open 200 yard Backstroke while Jason James (National Squad) placed tenth in the Open 100 yard Breaststroke (1:04.66).

In the final points standings, the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team squeaked out the victory by amassing 1525.5 point just 15 points ahead of Pine Crest. In a touch battle of high points in the girls 11-12 age group, Alia Atkinson finished third with 69, just four points behind Brunswick’s Ansley Otte who topped the tables with 73. The eleven member Jamaica National Swim Squad finished with 95 points while the Tornadoes Swim Club scored 39.

The local based Jamaicans will return to the island on Monday, courtesy of National Swim Team Sponsor Air Jamaica.

December 9th 2001

ALIA ATKINSON SIZZLES AGAIN AT FLORIDA GOLD COAST CHAMPS