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Renewed vigor pays off

Admiral Farragut senior Austin Hampton had been a high school All-American since he was a freshman yet seemed to be diving in obscurity. Even a close second-place finish at the Class A state meet a year ago - behind Alex Tilbrook of Osceola - hardly changed that.

Time was running out for him to reach his goals, so he started working even harder. Hampton is "a perfectionist," club coach Tony Perriello said, then chuckled. "Sometimes too much."

It's hard to argue with perfect.

Hampton completed a flawless senior season by winning the Class A title, fending off a seventh-grader, Boca Raton St. Andrew's Cameron Dehn, at the state meet. Hampton nailed an inward 21/2 on his final dive, giving him 526.65 points to Dehn's 504.75. After finishing second twice and third once, Hampton finally had the state championship he coveted.

"I really worked my tail off," Hampton said. "I made sure my coach, Tony, really critiqued me. I worked very hard. To have all this stuff pay off is just awesome; especially to (have the chance to) experience that with my family."

Hampton credits parents Deborah and Mark Hampton for helping him along, especially Deborah, who four or five times a week for five years shuttled him back and forth to Brandon so Hampton could train with well-regarded coach Joe Greenwell.

"I don't know how she did it," Hampton said of his mother.

About 18 months ago, Hampton began training closer to home with Perriello, coach of the West Florida Lightning Aquatics team in Largo.

"He has a great work ethic, and he drives himself," Perriello said. "He takes instructions very well and then works on it."

Hampton has been diving for nine years, but his renewed determination during the past year paid off with more than a state title. Last month, he signed with North Carolina State. Perriello predicts Hampton will blossom under Wolfpack coach Mike Finneran.

"I think he'll be a contender for the NCAA finals, and I see him going to the Olympic Trials," Perriello said, adding Hampton's best event is probably the 10-meter platform. "He's awesome on tower. That's what helped him get into college. He doesn't seem to be scared, and he's really sharp out there."

COACH OF THE YEAR: Osceola's Ernie Whalen had a remarkable season; more because of what happened out of the pool than in it. Whalen, who has coached the Warriors for 21 years, returned in August after spending eight months recovering from throat cancer. And he did so with renewed vigor.

Whalen was tethered to a feeding tube until June and has had difficulty eating solid foods but made it back to the pool deck in time to help a wave of newcomers learn the sport.

A former diver on the Puerto Rico national team, Whalen helped guide diver Kyle Blitch to a second straight fifth-place finish at state. Blitch has been diving only since the summer of 2003 just before Whalen was diagnosed with cancer.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Austin Hampton, Admiral Farragut

COACH OF THE YEAR: Ernie Whalen, Osceola

200-yard medley relay - Seminole (Andrew Blazuk, Alex Metka, Jon Proctor, Ryan Kearney) 1:39.95

200 freestyle - Adam Moody, Shorecrest 1:43.63

200 individual medley - Brenno Varanda, Northeast 1:54.24

50 free - Trevor Caldwell, Northside Christian 21.80

100 butterfly - Jon Proctor, Seminole 51.81

100 free - Trevor Caldwell, Northside Christian 47.79

500 free - Mitchell Snyder, Northeast 4:38.70

200 free relay - Palm Harbor U. (Levi Curnutte, Alex Glover, Peter Wellings, Aaron Haas) 1:29.13

100 backstroke - Adam Moody, Shorecrest 52.73

100 breaststroke - Brenno Varanda, Northeast 58.33

400 free relay - Seminole (Jon Proctor, Ryan Kearney, Andrew Blazuk, Alex Metka) 3:14.60

Diving - Austin Hampton 568.55

200 medley relay - Palm Harbor U. (Levi Curnutte, Andrew Mertens, Ramon Banacki, Aaron Haas) 1:41.18

200 free - Alex Metka, Seminole 1:44.28

200 IM - Brent Sunnucks, St. Petersburg 2:02.27

50 free - Jon Proctor, Seminole 22.33

100 fly - Jose Crescimbeni, Calvary Christian 52.20

100 free - Alex Metka, Seminole 48.25

500 free - Andy Stoddard, St. Petersburg 4:52.17

200 free relay - St. Petersburg (Kevin Nardozzi, Russell Williams, Andrew Stoddard, Brent Sunnucks) 1:31.34

100 back - Jose Crescimbeni, Calvary Christian 54.42

100 breast - Russell Snyder, Northeast 1:01.92

400 free relay - Palm Harbor U. (Levi Curnutte, Alex Glover, Aaron Haas, Peter Wellings) 3:15.24

Diving - Cody Dodds, Countryside 460.10

Clearwater - Webster Cook, Adam Corbin, Justin Dean, Charles Hill, Zachary Lain. Countryside - Ashley Clifford, David Donovan, John Harrington, Patrick Hurst, Tommy Lombardo, Matthew Reder, James Taddeo. Largo - Keith Coghlan. Osceola - Kyle Blitch, Mark Steffener. Northeast - Daniel Angel, Alex Tiba. Palm Harbor U. Aaron Brecher. St. Petersburg - Robert Klement, John Paul Newfield. Seminole - B.A. Azar, Andrew Ford, Paul Hoffman. Shorecrest - Joshua Gordon, Henry Samuel, Andrei Stetsenko.