The Southern Lehigh swim team opened up their season with meets against William Allen and Tamaqua High School. Both the girls and boys teams handled the competition and started the season with a pair of victories.

“All the swimmers have been working extremely hard so far this season to get off to this great start and they deserve the wins,” senior Arden Stayer said.

Last year, the boys team finished with a record of 7-3, and the girls completed their season at 8-2. Since then, the team has lost 11 seniors to graduation and are looking for the seasoned seniors along with 14 freshmen to be a key part of the team this year.

“Losing all [of last year’s] seniors made me upset because I looked up to all of them,” senior Tori Touzeau said. “It’s different not seeing them in the halls and the pool, but as each year goes on more people join the team and more friendships are made.”

Led by Coach John Neumann, the team has a history of success and will lean on swimmers such as three-time district champions seniors Jenna Forrester and Raechel Rodriguez for the girls team. As for the boys team, seniors Drew Schell and Trevor DeCastro, as well as juniors Chris Schell and Nico Kreider, have all competed into the swimming postseason.

“Along with the whole team, we have been very successful at the past district competitions,” Drew Schell said. “Knowing I am reliable in a big meet situation gives me confidence that I will continue to succeed, and I feel the same way about everyone on the team.”

Unknown to some students, since there is not a swimming pool at the high school, the swimmers’ “home” pool is at the Upper Bucks YMCA. The swim teams have also moved up to competition in the AAA league where they will compete with bigger schools.

“Now that we are moving up to AAA, we are really going to have to step it up.” senior Drew Schell said.