District 1 Swimming Championships: North Penn boys, girls off to fast start in Class 3A
PHILADELPHIA >> Sean Faikish sent a short but informative text message to his buddy and former teammate, Ryan Hartmann, who now swims for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
“Down went the record…”
North Penn made history in the opening moments of the meet Saturday, breaking its own 200 medley relay record set a season ago, by cranking out a winning time of 1 minute, 32.90 seconds in the very first event of the afternoon.
The foursome of Faikish, Nick Clark, Evan Mancini and Tyler Hall set an unbeatable pace for the day.
“Everyone set the tone for the meet,” Faikish said. “All four of us came together and swam a really fast time. That really set the tone.”
Faikish went on to break a five-year-old record in the 200 IM and the Knights racked up 207 points on Day One to lead District 1-3A at La Salle University. Earlier in the day, the NP girls were equally impressive, surging to the lead in Class 3A.
Faikish swam a 1:48.12 in the 200 IM to replace the previous mark of 1:48.21, set by Hatboro-Horsham’s Michael Thomas.
Said Faikish: “I took it out a little slower than what I wanted but that’s still a good time going to states, a lot of momentum.”
Ryley Fein won the 200 free for the Knights with a 1:39.64 — the Knights went one-two in the event, with Max Bachman earning silver with a 1:41.54.
The Knights capped things off by taking gold in the 200 free relay, a foursome of Luke Schwar, Tyler Hall, Evan Mancini and Fein touching in 1:24.60.
“We have a great group of guys here and it’s just awesome to see,” Faikish said. “As you can tell from my voice, everyone is cheering. Everyone is yelling.
“It’s a great first day. We’ll carry the momentum into Day Two.”
Meanwhile for the NP girls, Claudia Thamm is making some pretty good memories.
“It’s kind of surreal since I’m a senior. It’s the last time I’m here so I just gotta put it all out there,” she said. “And my team has some pretty big goals for this meet.”
Thamm’s two gold medals — as well as her contributions on the bronze-medal 200 medley relay — helped put the Knights in position for a seventh straight district team title.
“That makes it really exciting too and it makes me wanna swim fast for them as well,” said Thamm, bound for Auburn next year. “There’s a lot of competition here and it’s great to see. So tomorrow, we’ll see what happens and hopefully, it works in our favor.
“District One is one of the fastest districts but I love swimming in it because there is so much competition.”
The North Penn girls’ 222 points lead the 144 by second-place Upper Dublin. The Cardinals’ medley foursome of Meghan DiMartile, Aly Breslin, Molly Braun and Abbie Amdor won gold, and Amdor went on to win gold in the 200 free.
Council Rock North (117.5), Downingtown West (91) and Avon Grove (90) round out the top five in the team scoring.
The Knights capped Day One by surging to the gold in the 200 free relay, a team of Caroline Dunigan, Nicole Chiappa, Parker Schulz and Kaelan Daly touching in 1:35.26 to edge CR North (1:35.44).
After joining Daly, Haley Muth and Caroline Dunigan in the medley, Thamm went to work in the 200 IM.
“Honestly, it’s one of my most nerve-racking races so I’m happy it’s over,” she said. “But I felt pretty good in it so it was a good race.”
Thamm touched in 2:01.47, then went 55.13 for first in the fly.
“I was in the end lane for both so it was a little tough but I think that kinda helped me,” she said. “I was just focused on my own race and I could just swim what I knew how to swim.”
Villa Maria leads Gwynedd Mercy 242-181 atop the Class 2A team standings.
The Monarchs had an impressive Day one, powered by the gold-medal medley relay of Annie O’Dare, Aileen Murray, Isabella Kellner and Ella Gross. O’Dare was also fastest in the 200 IM (2:08.09).
Also from the area, Springfield Montco’s Maura Fluehr won the 2A title in the 100 fly, her time of 56.08 setting the standard.
The Lower Moreland boys lead Class 2A, powered by Alex Yoon’s victory in the 200 IM and Tommy Lutter’s win in the 100 fly. Also for the Lions, the 200 medley relay team of Noah Ferker, Yoon, Greg Landis and Jaden Feldman captured gold with a 1:38.42.
Finishing things off in style, the 200 free relay team of Colin Shipp, Yoon, Jaden Feldman and Lutter swam to gold with a 1:28.38.
