Commission Commends KWHS Swimmer

Mayor Teri Johnston and the City Commission this month commended Key West High School swimmer AJ Smith for his outstanding accomplishments.

AJ’s journey to the 50 Freestyle State Championship began in September 2021 as a sophomore, when against his father’s wishes, he left the Key West football team to swim. In that 26-month time he lowered his 50 freestyle time by three and half seconds to win State. This is an incredible feat and would not have happened without Lori Bosco, head coach of the Conchs.

In 2021, he placed 20th in the final Regional 4 Meet. In 2022 he won the District Championship, swam at Regionals, and qualified for State. AJ met Michael Duderstadt, a 15-time All American at Auburn and 2012 and 2016 Olympic Swim Trials Qualifier and started working on turns. By the State Finals, AJ took 10th in the state.

After a short stint in basketball in 2022, AJ decided to focus entirely on swimming.  He befriended lifeguards at Martin Luther King Pool allowing him to swim after hours three days a week where Michael Duderstadt would help him with speed drills and turns.  He swam all winter and spring with Lori and the Bone Island Swim Club, allowing him to swim two times a day.

In August, he sought out John Shepard at Fyt to cross train three times a week and get stronger.

In early October, AJ broke the school record for the first time in the 50 free. When States started, AJ started tapering off.  This culminated in his Districts victory and then his Regional victory, making him the number one seed in 2A.

In the State preliminaries meet AJ took 5th place.  He made the finals and had five hours to regroup. After a slow start, he won with a personal best, another school record and beat the 2^nd place swimmer by only .04 seconds. He says he always practices the finish!