Palm Beach County swim clubs competing in Speedo Fort Lauderdale Open
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FORT LAUDERDALE — A Who's Who in swimming will compete in the Speedo Fort Lauderdale Open that gets under way Wednesday, April 29 at Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.
World record holders Katie Ledecky, Gretchen Walsh, Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand head the field for the four-day meet.
The meet has nearly 600 swimmers, including 25 Olympians and seven reigning world champions. Action gets underway Wednesday at 5 p.m. with the timed finals of the distance events.
Swimmers from three Palm Beach County club teams will be competing.
Jupiter Dragons has the second largest Florida Gold Coast contingent with nine. They are Trey Chesney, 17, Reese Garland, 14, Gabe Guglietta, 18, Charles Howard, 17, Feagin Kaminski, 16, Dillon Metz, 18. Veronica Metz, 16, Hayden Scholl, 16 and Asher Smith, 17. North Palm Beach Swim Club has three swimmers: Tessa Broedell, 16, Trace Colton, 15, and Eamon Lappas-Ford, 17. Boca Raton-based Performance Aquatics' Josiah Morales, 31, also will compete.
In last year's meet, three world records were broken on the final day. Ledecky, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist, lowered her own women’s 800-meter freestyle world record (8:04.12). Walsh broke the women’s 100-meter butterfly twice (55.09 and then 54.60).
Marchand will race the same schedule he did at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The four-time Olympic gold medalist will swim the 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter breaststroke and 200- and 400-meter individual medleys. He holds the IM world records. Marchand is tuning up for the European Championships in Paris this summer.
At 19, McIntosh is a three-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist, having won the 200 meter butterfly and 200- and 400-meter individual medleys at Paris 2024. Last August in Singapore, she won four world titles and Swimmer of the Meet honors.
Other world-class swimmers entered are Regan Smith, Josh Liendo, Hubert Kos, Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, Emma Weyant, Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Simone Manuel, Kate Douglass and Dylan Carter.
Speedo Fort Lauderdale Open
Wednesday timed finals 5 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, prelims 9 a.m., finals 6 p.m.Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center, 501 Seabreeze Blvd.Tickets $10 for prelims, $15 for finals. For tickets/information: 954-828-4580
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Katie Ledecky among world record holders at Speedo Fort Lauderdale
