Melbourne, Fla. – The Florida Tech men's swimming team competed in front of the home crowd for the final time in the 2022-23 season on Friday afternoon as they hosted #16 ranked Florida Southern for Senior Day at the Panther Aquatic Center. The Moccasins emerged victorious by a score of 175-86.
John Fonnotto tallied his fourth and fifth individual wins of the season by triumphing in the 100 Back (51.48) and 100 Fly (50.08) with both victories being nearly a second ahead of the closest competitor. Freshman
Jacob Sykora earned his first career individual win by taking the 50 Free with a time of 21.84 that was 0.28 seconds ahead of second place.
Max Martino nabbed second in the 100 Free thanks to a 47.78 time that was just 0.12 seconds off top spot.
David Armstrong (10:308.64) earned third place in the 1000 Free, while
Gavin Lanka took third in the 200 Free with a 1:48.12 time.
Connor Orth took third in the 100 Breast thanks to a finish of 59.08.
Michael Panariello grabbed third in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:01.54. Senior
Reston Bartlett took third in the 50 Free with a time of 22.25 that was less than a second by Sykora. Fellow Senior Sean Catron took home third in the 200 Back through a 2:03.93 finish.
Senior
Daniel Aizenberg's top finish of the day came in the 100 Back, where he took fifth place through a time of 54.63.
In relay action, the group of Fonnotto, Orth, Aizenberg and Martino earned second in the 200 Medley with a time of 1:33.19. The team of Bartlett, Catron, Fonnotto and Martino took second in the 200 Free thanks to a 1:29.69 finish while the squad of
Colin Harrison,
Slater Sabel,
Nathan Scott and
Matthew Goembel finished in third place with a 1:30.21 time.
Coach's Corner: "I think it was a good day. We had some good times, especially for where we're at in the season. We're really fatigued, we've been pushing it really hard in practice to get ready for (SSC Championships) and so to see some of the times that we put up today it's a good sign for what's going to come at Conference."
"We're just trying to get better every week and we've been doing that. A lot of people, they've been swimming some events that they did in the past few weeks and they did them again today and they're probably going to do them again tomorrow. So we just look for progression through that to get better as we go throughout the meets or through the season. Then once we rest and taper and shave down, that's when we're going to be at our best at Conference. So, just as long as we see those incremental progressions to get better and better every week, then we're in a good spot and we've been doing that."
"We trained pretty hard throughout the season and we look at dual meets to just get a good chance to race against other people but we don't look to have best times at those. So, we just look at a good opportunity to race in our events and focus on some of those little things to tweak and so that once we get to our conference meet, and we're ready and we're rested that's when the times have come along with everything else that we've been putting into the season."
"It was a good group of seniors to see to see graduate and they've been here with me for four years now. Sean and Reston have been here five years and they've been great leaders of this program. They've brought it up to where it's at today and they're just all-around good people and I'm excited for what they're gonna accomplish in the future. If you heard some of the things that they're majoring in and some of the goals that they have for their future, they're going to be accomplishing big things for not only themselves, but for the country and for the world."
Up Next: Florida Tech will return to the pool tomorrow morning at 11 A.M. at the Alfond Swimming Pool in Winter Park for their final meet of the regular season against Rollins.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech men's swimming team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
