By Dave Brousseau
PLANTATION – The Cypress Bay boys swimming team was quite convincing on just how dominating they can be at the 28th annual BCAA championships this past Saturday.
With a strong performance from sophomore Noah Mejias from his victories in the 200 Individual Medley and 100-butterfly, the Lightning overpowered the rest of the field to capture their second team title at the Plantation Aquinas Center.
Mejias set a new meet record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.61 eclipsing the previous time set by Javier Colmenares (Everglades) in 2023. He also shattered the meet record in his 100-fly victory (48.52) that stood since 2004 by Bradley Alley (St. Thomas Aquinas) and three-time Olympian for Barbados.
“My success comes from working really hard at practice and it showed today,” said Mejias, who has a dual nationality between the United States and Spain. “This was one of my best meets ever.
This Cypress Bay team could be the best there ever will be. The boys’ team is amazing.”
The Lightning boys cruised to the team title with 671.5 points, which was 226.5 points better than second place St. Thomas Aquinas.
“I’ve been here since 2022 and never seen a Cypress Bay team so strong,” said Lightning coach Rodrigo Mendes. “We have the best team over the past decade probably. I’m so proud I have a boys’ team like this.”
In addition, the boys’ team smashed the previous record in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:06.78. Fort Lauderdale’s time of 3:10.02 had stood since 2015.
When the meet was complete, the boys finished with nine overall individual and relay events.
The Cypress Bay girls team also captured the championship with 483 points, 105 points better than second place Western.
The Lightning, though they fell short of any individual titles on Saturday, they won the 200 Medley Relay (1:50.90) and finished second 400 Freestyle Relay (3:38.89).
Gianna Martin placed third in the 100-breaststroke (1:09.52).
Laila Harran of West Broward was the only double winner in the girls’ competition. She was victorious in the 200 freestyle (1:50.16) and 50 freestyle (23.30).
BOYS
Team scores
1. Cypress Bay 671.5; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 445; 3. Fort Lauderdale 259.5; 4. Coral Springs Charter 247; 5 (tie). Douglas 213, Pompano Beach 213.
Individual results
200 Medley Relay: 1. Cypress Bay 1:34.45; 2. Coral Springs Charter 1:36.96; 3. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:38.75; 200 Freestyle: 1. Persten (CB) 1:41.12; 2. Alvarez (CB) 1:42.34; 3. Denevi (CGL) 1:42.96; 200 Individual Medley: 1. Mejias (CB) 1:50.61; 2. Albornoz (CSC) 1:53.48; 3. Menacho (DB) 1:55.28; 50 Freestyle: 1. Hamilton (CSC) 21.21; 2. Fothergill (CB) 21.68; 3. Ruytenbeek (MSD) 21.86; 100 Fly: 1. Mejias (CB) 48.52; 2. Menacho (DB) 50.23; 3. Alvarez (CB) 50.98; 100 Freestyle: 1. Persten (CB) 46.58; 2. Hamilton (CSC) 46.68; 3. Mantilla (CB) 48.12; 500 Freestyle: 1. Bass (STA) 4:41.06; 2. Kondrashov (MSD) 4:45.77; 3. Herran Garcia (STA) 4:46.29; 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Cypress Bay 1:27.09; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:29.77; 3. Cooper City 1:31.90; 100 Back: 1. Ives (CB) 52.57; 2. Lennington (CB) 54.76; 3. Paz-Villada (FTL) 54.83; 100 Breast: 1. Albornoz (CSC) 57.19; 2. Diaz (WB) 57.32; 3. Ivanof (SB) 57.61; 400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Cypress Bay 3:06.78; 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 3:15.30; 3. Coral Springs Charter 3:18.43; Diving: 1. Drysdale (CB) 315.25; 2. Silva (CGL) 159.45.
GIRLS
Team scores
1. Cypress Bay 483; 2. Western 378; 3. Fort Lauderdale 330; 4. Coral Springs Charter 328; 5. Douglas 261.
Individual results
200 Medley Relay: 1. Cypress Bay 1:50.90; 2. Western 1:51.88; 3. St. Thomas Aquinas 1:54.81; 200 Freestyle: 1. Harran (WB) 1:50.16; 2. German (FTL) 1:51.91; 3. Rodriguez (PB) 1:53.38; 200 Individual Medley: 1. Scott (STA) 2:10.42; 2. Schnoeller (FTL) 2:12.45; 3. Henriquez (WEST) 2:14.29; 50 Freestyle: 1. Harran (WB) 23.30; 2. Abijo (WEST) 24.29; 3. Rashard (CSC) 24.73; 100 Fly: 1. Rodriguez (PB) 57.05; 2. Schnoeller (FTL) 59.37; 3. Henriguez (WEST) 59.78; 100 Freestyle: 1. Lumsden (EVGL) 52.75; 2. Harrypersad (MSD) 53.01; 3. Almeida (FTL) 53.98; 500 Freestyle:1. German (FTL) 5:03.56; 2. Gardner (CSC) 5:13.08; 3. Blanco (PB) 5:18.91; 200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Fort Lauderdale 1:37.98; 2. Douglas 1:42.21; St. Thomas Aquinas 1:42.63; 100 Back: 1. Montes (CSC) 1:01.78; 2. Almeida (FTL) 1:01.82; 3. Brancati (PPC) 1:02.73; 100 Breast: 1. Scott (STA) 1:04.85; 2. Lumsden (EVGL) 1:06.71; 3. Martin (CB) 1:09.52; 400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Fort Lauderdale 3:38.52; 2. Cypress Bay 3:38.89; 3. Western 3:42.40 Diving: 1. Krasnopolskit (STA) 247; 2. Mock (CSC) 215; 3. Mortensen (WEST) 214.50.
Dave Brousseau is a veteran journalist who worked at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a longtime BCAA Correspondent. Need to reach out to him? Contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.