{"id":176165,"date":"2016-01-08T21:05:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T04:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=176165"},"modified":"2016-01-08T21:05:19","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T04:05:19","slug":"world-champion-megan-romano-moving-to-south-florida-aquatics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-champion-megan-romano-moving-to-south-florida-aquatics\/","title":{"rendered":"World Champion Megan Romano Moving to South Florida Aquatics"},"content":{"rendered":"

World champion Megan Romano<\/strong> will be heading home in her leadup to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials as the clutch anchor will now call the South Florida Aquatic Club’s ProFlo Group home, the club announced tonight.<\/p>\n

Romano joins a burgeoning women’s pro group that includes Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson<\/strong> and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Claire Donahue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Romano, a graduate of the University of Georgia who has been a bit of a nomad since having a tremendous 2013 that including a pair of relay world titles in Barcelona, is headed back to the state she was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really excited to be here and training outside,\u201d\u00a0Romano said in the announcement.\u00a0\u201cI grew up in Florida and I love being outdoors. I love the girls and the guys. It\u2019s such a great group of people. They are my age and we are all training for the same goal. And, this is such a beautiful area down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romano was born in Tampa, grew up in St. Petersburg and first began swimming when she was 6 years old in Florida. \u00a0She swam at St. Petersburg Aquatics before heading on to Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recently got a fire under me and I want to give it another shot,\u201d Romano said. \u201cI really want to make the team. I have goals I want to accomplish. I am having fun with it again. I am going to give it everything I have. I already feel way more better in the water than I have in a long time.\u00a0My goal now is to make the [Olympic] team. I am not going to get too specific with my goals. I want to make the team and medal in whatever it is.”<\/p>\n

Romano has made several international teams, but just missed the Olympic squad in 2012 by one place when she took seventh in the 200-meter freestyle and did not gain a place on the 800 free relay squad.<\/p>\n

According to the SoFlo release”<\/p>\n

Three weeks after the 2012 U.S. Trials at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis, Romano won the 100-meter freestyle in a meet record 53.92, 200-meter backstroke in 2:09.08 and 200-meter freestyle in another meet record of 1:57.54. With those swims she would have made the Olympic team in all three events and won the 100 freestyle at Trials.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With that close call behind her, Romano is ready for another step in her swimming journey.<\/p>\n

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U.S. Olympic Hopeful Megan Romano Joins South Florida Aquatic Club\u2019s ProFlo Group<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n