Male Hot Shot winner: Anderson Combs, Hudson
Combs, a junior, is a swimming anomaly. He doesn’t specialize in the sport. Instead of competing for a club team year round, he plays soccer in the winter and tennis in the spring.
“I try to enjoy a little bit of everything,” he said.
In the pool, he is at a disadvantage against more seasoned swimmers. It is hard to tell, though, by the results.
A sprinter, Combs is undefeated in the 50 free and 100 free. In a season-opening meet against Mitchell two weeks ago, Combs finished the 50-yard freestyle in 23.59 seconds and the 100 free in 55.87. Those times are already close to the ones he had in the postseason last year when he placed in the top 10 in the 50 at districts and was a region qualifier in the 100.
Combs credits his improvement to summer training on his own. His job as a lifeguard conflicted with a summer swim camp held by the Cobras. But he remedied that. “Whenever I had a break during work I would hop in the pool and time myself,” Combs said. “It helped tremendously.”
Combs’ improvement now has him contemplating whether to give up soccer and tennis so he can join a club swim team.
“I only had three weeks of practice before the start of the season, and I’m already close to where I was at the end of last season,” Combs said. “I’m excited. I think I can get to states.”
Why he won: Combs was dominant in last week’s dual meet against River Ridge, taking first in the 50 and 100 free, and swimming the anchor leg on the winning 200 medley relay.
Have an athlete who should be considered for our next voting cycle? Email hometeam@tampabay.com.