The 2026 high school swimming and diving postseason is moving toward its final stages, with Tallahassee-area teams competing across FHSAA classifications. The Class 1A District 1 meet was held October 26, while the Class 3A District 2 championship took place October 21. The 3A teams have already completed regional competition and will head to the state championships November 6-7. The 1A teams, meanwhile, will compete at regionals November 3, with the state championships scheduled for November 13-14. Both district meets featured strong performances from local swimmers and divers as they continue their postseason runs.
FHSAA 1A District 1
Maclay captured both the boys’ and girls’ team championships at the 2026 FHSAA Class 1A District 1 Swimming and Diving Championships, while Florida High and Community Christian School also turned in several standout performances.
Maclay’s individual swimmers combined for 18 medals, including 10 first-place finishes, six runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes. The Marauders also won all five relay events contested by the team, including the girls’ 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay, along with the boys’ 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Olivia Holt led the girls’ individual performances, winning both the 200-yard individual medley in 2:18.13 and the 100-yard butterfly in 1:00.59. Emerson Sutton also claimed two individual district titles, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 2:10.84 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:09.18.
On the boys’ side, William Chen won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.75 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle in 48.30. David Paquette captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.90 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:02.82. Peter Dunkerley added a victory in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.06.
Other individual district champions for Maclay included Eliza Horton in the girls’ 100-yard breaststroke in 1:16.91. Katherine Johnson finished second in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly, while Brennan Abatecola placed second behind Chen in both the boys’ 50- and 100-yard freestyle.
Community Christian School also had a strong showing, led by Ivy Holloway, who won the girls’ 500-yard freestyle in 6:09.16. The Chargers collected several other top finishes, including Blake Wheeler’s runner-up finish in the girls’ 200-yard freestyle in 2:12.14 and Sarah-Jane Holloway’s second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.08. Sarah-Jane Holloway also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle in 57.67.
Raleigh Grantham added a third-place finish in the girls’ 100-yard butterfly in 1:05.64, while Wheeler finished fourth in the same event in 1:05.86. Grantham also placed fifth in the 200-yard individual medley.
The CCS girls’ relay teams were also among the meet’s top performers. The Chargers finished second behind Maclay in both the 200-yard freestyle relay, with a time of 1:49.51, and the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing in 4:12.96. CCS also placed second in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:08.52.
On the boys’ side, Landon Stephens finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:11.47 and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:06.45. John Elias added a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:08.62.
Florida High was led by Sadie Campbell, who won the girls’ one-meter diving competition with a score of 383.30. In the swimming events, Tiana Rosbough placed second in the girls’ 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:22.25. Colin Mudd finished third in the boys’ 100-yard freestyle in 53.32 and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle in 6:00.01. Levi Taylor added a third-place finish in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.27.
Florida High also had several strong relay finishes. The girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay team placed third in 1:56.72, while the boys’ 200-yard medley relay team finished third in 1:57.45. The Seminoles’ boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay team also placed third in 3:56.84.
Maclay’s district performance was supported by improvements across the roster. The coach highlighted nine swimmers who improved their times in both individual events: Katherine Johnson, Kaylee Hanselman, Lydian Allen, Austin Thieme, Brennan Abatecola, Musa Faruqui, Rajveer Bansal, Ryan Randell and Savva Istomin.
Among the most notable time improvements were Hanselman dropping her 100-yard freestyle from 1:09.72 to 1:06.17, Parker Locasto improving his 100-yard breaststroke from 1:26.76 to 1:23.46, Abatecola cutting his 50-yard freestyle from 23.06 to 22.23, and Johnson lowering her 100-yard butterfly time from 1:07.92 to 1:05.58.
With the district meet complete, Maclay, Florida High and Community Christian will turn their attention to the next stage of postseason competition.
FHSAA 3A District 2
On its home deck, Lawton Chiles could not quite close the gap on a deep Duncan Fletcher squad, but the Timberwolves still turned the FHSAA 3A District 2 meet into a celebration of Leon County swimming.
Fletcher, from Neptune Beach, captured the team championship with 581 points, while Chiles finished as runner-up with 417. Three other Tallahassee public schools rounded out the local contingent: Leon placed fourth (241), Lincoln sixth (104) and Rickards eighth (53).
The afternoon belonged to Chiles senior Owen Ekk, who shared meet high-point honors behind a pair of individual titles. Ekk swept the 200-yard individual medley in 1:47.91 and the 100 freestyle in 45.15, then helped the Timberwolves win the boys’ 200 free relay (1:28.16) and place second in the 400 free relay.
Chiles’ strength was its depth. Sophomore Tyler Wang won the 100 butterfly (53.42) and took second in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.06). Kipton Fenniman was the runner-up in both the 200 free (1:46.45) and 500 free (4:45.06), Dalton Von Hertsenberg claimed bronze in the 500 free (4:48.82), and Manny Squitier was third in the 100 fly (53.62).
The Timberwolves’ girls were every bit as dominant in the water, sweeping both freestyle relays. Amelia McGlynn, Yiyan Wu, Sofia Kharchenko and McKay Yearty won the 200 free relay (1:41.77), while McGlynn, Wu, Teresa Castano and Yearty took the 400 free relay (3:51.11). The girls also finished second in the 200 medley relay.
Individually, McGlynn won the 50 free (24.74) and was second in the 100 free (55.03). Freshman Wu took the 100 back (1:00.62) and was the 50 free runner-up. Kharchenko captured the 100 fly (1:02.11), and Yearty placed second in both the 200 free (2:00.45) and 500 free (5:25.13).
Across town, Leon rode a breakout performance from junior Jake Askey, who swept the 200 free (1:45.08) and 500 free (4:44.63) to share the individual high-point lead. Conner Smith added a victory on the 1-meter diving board, and the Lions’ boys picked up bronze in the 400 free relay while the girls’ 200 medley relay placed third.
Rickards got a bronze-medal swim from Alexander Li, and Lincoln leaned on scoring depth across events to finish sixth.
Fletcher’s title was built on its own relay strength — the Senators won both medley relays and the boys’ 400 free relay — but the district meet made clear that the path to regionals runs through Leon County, led by Ekk, Askey and a Chiles relay corps that medaled in all six events.
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