Liberty swimmers, Robert Negron and Nolan Vannata were gold medalists at the District XI Class AAA Swimming Championships this past weekend at Parkland High School.

Negron clinched gold and a district record in the 50 free with a time of 20:53. The Hurricane sophomore also won a gold medal in the 100 free with a time of 46.33.

“I just kind of went in trying to swim fast,” Negron said. “I felt real loose. A medal was my main goal.”

Vannata’s gold medal came in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.63.

“Before, I was thinking about the hard work at practices,” said Vannata. “Being seeded second was absolutely on my mind ever since the psych sheets came down.”

Vannata tore off his goggles and pounded the water twice upon looking at the scoreboard.

“I was thinking how great it felt,” he said. “It was nice to have a good friend up there on the podium with me.”

That good friend was Chris Chambers, who won a fourth place medal in the same event with a time of 1:02.85.

Vannata also won a fourth place medal in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.50.

“I was actually surprised,” said Vannata, who was seeded seventh in that event. “This was a huge night for Liberty High School. Every year, we’re known to come from behind and drop time.”

Chambers had a fifth place finish in the 200 free in 1:48.60, and teammate, Alexis Calderon, placed fifth in the 100 backstroke in 54.87.

Also for the Hurricanes, Reid Rossi placed sixth in the 100 butterfly in 54.60, and eighth in the 100 backstroke in 56.67. Jase Smith came in tenth in the same event in 57.30.

In the 50 free, Jake Evert placed eighth in 22.71, Smith was ninth in 23.05, and Anthony Delcorso placed tenth in 23.15.

Ben Stuckey finished the 200 free in ninth place in 1:50.98, and Brice Kessler was tenth in 1:51.45.

Kessler also placed eighth in the 100 free in 49.61, and Evert was ninth in 49.93.

Chase Ledger took tenth place in the 200 IM in 2:05.25.

For the Freedom Patriots, Al J Bell placed fifth in the 200 IM in 2:03.29, and tenth in the 100 butterfly in 55.95.

Tyler Higgins took sixth place in the 500 free in 4:55.84, and Troy Watlington placed ninth in 5:03.74.

Colin Burnette had a seventh place finish in the 100 backstroke in 56.49, and a ninth place finish in the 200 IM in 2:05.08.