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Taylor Sets State Record In 500 Free

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By KATHERINE SMITH

ksmith@tampatrib.com

Published: November 16, 2008

ORLANDO - Blue Wave Swim Team coach Peter Banks considers Jason Taylor the best boys swimmer he's had in 10 years.

Considering Banks trained several Olympic swimmers, including Brooke Bennett and Maritza Correia, he knows talent when he sees it. The Olympics in 2012, Banks said, are an obtainable goal for the Newsome senior.

Before that, Taylor wanted to set his mark on high school swimming. He did that at Saturday night's Class 2A swimming and diving championships. Taylor, a Junior National Team member, set a state record in the 500 freestyle with an All-America time of 4:23.42.

"The record means a lot because that's really what you train for, to have fast times like that," said Taylor, a University of Florida commit. "Even though I felt like I could have gone faster, I'm so happy with the time."

Taylor, who won a state title last year in the 100 butterfly, also took the silver in the 200 free, his first individual event.

The Plant girls team of Meg Anderson, Hillary Hahmann, Haley Hahmann and Rebecca Werdine broke two school records with an All-America time of 1:37.62, claiming the gold medal in the 200 free relay, and another All-America time of 3:32.59 in the 400 free relay, which was good enough for silver. That helped the team finish third.

Anderson, a three-time state champion entering the meet, ended her high school career with a silver in the 50 free and bronze medal the 100 free. The Clemson commit was edged out by Seminole junior Kaitlin Frehling in the 50 free, who won with an All-America time of 23.07.

Frehling won a second gold medal in the 100 butterfly, again with an All-America time of 54.47. Northeast's Meg Romano had two medals around her neck after the first two events and finished with three. Romano won a gold in the 200 free, with an All-America time of 1:46.06, and another in the 100 backstroke with an All-America time of 54.12.

Sunlake's Brad Morrison earned the school's first-ever state championship when he won the 100 backstroke. The senior covered the distance in 51.87 and also earned automatic All-American honors.

In girls diving, Newsome senior Alexa Wollach fell just short of gold, finishing second with 500.35 points, 2.90 points behind Ponta Vedra Beach Nease's Kirstyn Shepler.

Correspondent Rick Harmon contributed to this report.

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