November 11, 2025
Montverde Academy Boys and Girls Finish Second at State Swim Championships
By Cindy Peterson
Montverde Academy Boys and Girls Finish Second at State Swim Championships
The Montverde Academy boys and girls swim teams each earned runner-up finishes at the Florida High School Athletic Association State Championships on Saturday, capping another strong season for the program.
The Montverde boys placed second out of 40 teams with 214 points, while the girls also took second out of 46 teams with 197 points.
Montverde swimmers combined for 10 All-America qualifying times and several top-three finishes across both divisions.
In girls events, the 200-yard medley relay team of Stella Belmore, Mariana Bustamante, Layla Busby and Kayra Tatifinished second with an All-America time of 1 minute, 45.15 seconds. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Alejandra Ordonez, Maria Castro, Layla and Kayra placed second in 1:35.15, while the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Alejandra, Maria Fernandez, Stella and Maria took second in 3:29.39.
The boys teams earned three All-America relay finishes. The 200-yard medley relay of Paolo de Fabrique, Cobi Wu, Jayden Davis and Heitor Tinoco took third in 1:33.14. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Jayden Chan, Heitor, Zac Holmes and Lucas Paez placed second in 1:23.67, and the 400-yard freestyle relay of Jayden, Zac, Paolo and Lucas finished second in 3:04.05.
Stella Belmore
Among individual performances, Stella placed second in the girls 100-yard backstroke (55.68), Heitor took third in the boys 50-yard freestyle (20.71) and Cobi finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (55.65).
Heitor Tinoco
Additional top finishes included Maria, who was fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:04.40) and ninth in the 500 freestyle (5:00.92), and Alejandra, who placed sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:52.69) and fourth in the 100 freestyle (51.76). Kayra took seventh in the 50 freestyle (24.13), while Maria Fernandez finished ninth in the 100 butterfly (56.93).
Maria Castro
For the boys, Zac placed fourth in the 50 freestyle (20.79) and seventh in the 100 freestyle (45.87). Jayden Chan finished seventh in the 50 freestyle (20.99) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (45.63). Lucas was 10th in the 100 freestyle (46.63), Paolo 13th in the 200 individual medley (1:55.80), Jayden Davis 14th in the 100 butterfly (51.43) and Arthur Romero Rabello11th in the 500 freestyle (4:37.60).
Zac Holmes
The performances reinforced Montverde Academy’s position as one of Florida’s top swimming programs, with both teams demonstrating depth, balance and consistency throughout the season.
Originally from the small town of Berryville, Arkansas, Cindy has become a multimedia specialist in journalism, photography, videography, and video editing. She has a B.S. in Communications from the University of Central Arkansas and produces Style Magazine's Sports Hub Podcast and the Healthy Living Podcast. She also produces for Beacon College’s Telly Award-winning PBS show, “A World of Difference.” When she isn’t working, Cindy loves traveling the National Parks with her husband , Ryan, and son, David, photographing wildlife.
