Following their collegiate careers, seven members of the Florida State swimming and diving teams are scheduled to compete in both national and international competitions throughout 2014.
From the 2014 senior class, McKayla Lightbourn, Kelsey Goodman, Ariel Rittenhouse, Jared Pike and Pavel Sankovich have all lined up big meets starting this spring. In addition to those five, former Seminoles Mark Weber and Mateo De Angulo have also stuck to competing.
McKayla Lightbourn – 2014 - Commonwealth Games, Glasglow, Scotland – July 24-29 – Following her breakthrough senior season where she set a pair of individual FSU records on top of capturing an All-America honorable mention in the 100 back, Lightbourn will wait a few more months before retirement. She will represent the Bahamas at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland where she will most likely swim the backstroke races and 200 IM.
Kelsey Goodman – 2014 – FINA Grand Prix – May 15-18 – Goodman also decided that she has one more meet left in the tank. Goodman will compete in the FINA Grand Prix circuit in Guanajuanto, Mexico. She will dive the 3-meter springboard.
Ariel Rittenhouse – 2014 – World Cup Synchro Trials – April 11-13 – After getting back on track during her junior and senior seasons, Rittenhouse decided to revamp her synchro career after FSU. The 2008 U.S. Olympian attended a USA Diving Camp which was held from April 2-4 that matched her with a partner – Amanda Burke. They will compete at the World Synchro Trials in Tallahassee, Fla. in 3-meter with hopes of continuing competing in the event.
Jared Pike -2014 – South African Nationals – April 7-11 – After his senior season ended with a pair of All-America relay honors, Pike jumped on a plane to Ethekwini, South Africa for the 2014 South Africa Nationals which are held at the King Parks Pool. Pike is one of top seeds in the 50, 100 and 200 breast races. This meet will serve as the Commonwealth Games trial for South Africa. Following this meet, Pike will look to compete through 2016 with hopes of making the Olympic Team for Rio.
Pavel Sankovich – 2014 – European Championships – August 18-24 – No stranger to international competition, Sankovich will compete in the European Championships at the end of this summer. While representing Belarus, he will also compete in a few meets on the Arena Grand Prix circuit leading up to meet in Berlin. Sankovich will stay training through 2016 with eyes on making his third Olympic Team.
Mark Weber – 2013 – Arena Grand Prix Series - Following his graduation in 2013, Weber moved to Charlotte, N.C. and is training with SwimMAC where he had already competed in a few events. He placed 17th in the 50m free and 44th in the 100 free at the Orlando Grand Prix in February. In addition, Weber was asked to model and test new products for Nike.
Mateo De Angulo – 2012 – Central American and Caribbean Games – This past year, De Angulo has competed in several international meets including the South American Games and Bolivarian Games. While representing Colombia at the Bolivarian Games, De Angulo won gold in the 800m free and set a new national record of 8:05.39. He also captured silver in the 400m free and bronze in the 1500m free. At the South American Games, De Angulo grabbed silver as a part of the 4x200 free relay. De Angulo plans to continue competing both in the U.S. in the Arena Grand Prix Series as well as internationally. He will represent Colombia at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico at the end of July.
