Ave Maria Swimmer Wins Medal at High School State Championships
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Published on Saturday, 20 November 2010 22:29
Haley Fournier of Ave Maria had two top-ten finishes -- including a medal for fourth-place in the 100-yard breaststroke -- at the Florida high school state swimming championship meet in Orlando recently. The Florida High School Athletic Association championshps drew more than 4,300 swimmers from 144 high schools across Florida.
In addition to her medal-winning swim, Haley, a 16-year-old junior at Palmetto Ridge High School, also finished 9th in the championship's 500-yard freestyle, capping a season in which she set seven Palmetto Ridge swimming records and had two first-place finishes in the Collier County meet.
Haley and her family moved to Ave Maria two years ago from Massachusetts, where she had been a highly ranked competitive swimmer. After attending Donahue Academy for a year, she transferred to Palmetto Ridge because it offered more of an opportunity to swim competitively at the high-school level.
In Massachusetts, she was primarily a longer-distance swimmer and had to make adjustments because Florida high schools swim shorter distances. She seems to have adjusted well, setting records at Palmetto Ridge in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay.
Haley also swims year round for T-2 Aquatics in Naples, where she is coached by Paul Yetter, who was the USA Women's swim coach at the last Olympics in Beijing.
