All-Delco Swimming: States a new experience in different ways for Katya Eruslanova, Shane Eckler
HAVERFORD – Expectations at a meet like the PIAA Championships can be a funny thing.
Katya Eruslanova, for instance, entered her senior year having won three gold medals over the previous two installments of the meet. A burgeoning Delaware County boys contingent entered with a smattering of medals, though no Delco boy had won gold since some of the current group were wearing swimmies in the novice pool.
Over the two days at Bucknell University, the group put on a Central League show. Eruslanova didn’t come home with a gold medal, but she did return with an emphatic Delco record in the 200 free, an event in which she had never competed in the postseason. The boys brought home five gold medals and two silvers in the 3A meet, led by Shane Eckler’s sprint double.
“I definitely expected for it to be a good weekend,” Eckler said. “With the training going into it, I definitely had some expectations, and I think I was pretty close to those, both with place and with time. I’m happy with how that went.”
“Good” proved to be an understatement. And it’s why Eruslanova and Eckler are the 2023 Daily Times Swimmers of the Year.
Joining them on the All-Delco team are the Eckler’s Ridley teammate Jolie Torrens; the Notre Dame trio of Tori Abruzzo, Devyn Sargent and Kaitlyn Kolessar; Springfield’s Jacob Johnson and Jake Kennedy; Haverford School’s AJ Rosenberger and Max Marr; Emma Lunn and Henry Haupt of Episcopal Academy; Garnet Valley’s Zoey Rogers; Jonathan Hoole of Penncrest and Interboro diver Kylie Arnot.
The team runs the gamut in terms of class: Four seniors, six juniors, three sophomores, two freshmen. Almost the entire boys contingent is back from a season ago, yet only Haupt is a senior. Eckler, Haupt, Johnson, Marr, Kennedy and Rosenberger were on the team in 2022, with Kennedy and Rosenberger also there in 2021. Tobi Abruzzo and Sargent are two-time selections. Eruslanova is on the team for the third consecutive year. The All-Delco team is selected in consultation with area coaches.
Eruslanova made a bold decision for her final high school postseason. A two-time state champ in the 200 individual medley, she wanted to change things up this year. The thinking was geared toward her future at Penn: The 500 free and 200 IM, her two preferred high school events, fall on the same day in college championships meets.
So Eruslanova went with a proactive tack, training toward a postseason 200 free school to see what she could do.
“I feel like it was a good decision,” Eruslanova said. “I got a best time at districts. Going into college next year, it’s another event that could be on my resume.”
Eruslanova’s time at the District 1 Championships of 1:48.74 set the Delco record, nearly a second quicker than the 2017 time of Madison Kolessar, then at Garnet Valley (1:49.62). It was one of two golds at districts, also winning the 500 free. She was second in both events at states. Sydney Gring of Muhlenberg won the 200 free, Eruslanova a quarter-second slower in finals than she had been at districts. She was about three seconds off her best time in the 500 free to grab silver.
Eruslanova is still getting faster, which she credits to a new strength-training regimen. She split 50.94 off the front of the 400 free relay at states, a time that would’ve finished fifth in the individual event. It’s within three tenths of the county record, not bad for someone who doesn’t consider herself a sprinter.
Eckler is the opposite, though he’s more than just a splash-and-dasher. He’s as comfortable in the 100, which forces you to swim a little, as the head-down sprint of the 50. “I think I probably prefer the 100 a little bit more because you can mess up a little bit, and I feel like I have a little more endurance that can’t really be shown in the 50,” Eckler said.
Last year’s state meet bore that out: Eckler missed the turn in the 50 free, dooming his chances of making it back and landing him 31st. He forced his way into the B final of the 100 free via a swim-off for the 16th and final spot, then jumped up to 14th in finals.
This year, he was out front, as the District 1 champion in the 50 and runner-up in the 100. Faster, wiser and more confident, he was second to none at states. He set the top time in prelims in the 50, then won at night in 20.14. Ditto the 100 free the following day, from 44.69 in prelims to 44.21 at night.
“I was definitely more confident coming in,” he said. “I think also, just overall ability. I knew there had been a lot of changes in how fast I can swim since last year, and that’s probably what gave me so much confidence.”
The team aspect loomed large for both at states. As a sophomore, Eruslanova was the only Haverford swimmer, boy or girl, at the 2021 PIAA Championships, limited in entries for COVID-19 considerations. This year, the Fords qualified both boys and girls relays, the girls making it back for second swims in both the 200 free and 400 free relays, for a 12-strong traveling party to Bucknell.
Eckler likewise wasn’t by himself, swimming on Green Raiders’ 200 medley relay and 200 free relays, both of which finished 23rd. He cited his fly leg in the medley as a tone-setter for the meet. For Eruslanova, that kind of growth is about the legacy she’ll leave in a storied career, one she hopes is with a team that is growing.
“I’ve become friends with a lot of the younger people on the team, so I want to keep that going,” she said. “You’re not just a swimmer, you’re a person on the team.”
Eckler, with another year left, has a high school future to focus on. He hopes Ridley’s first ever swimming state titles will make a difference in how the program is regarded.
“It means a lot, trying to represent the program, trying to put us on the map a little bit more,” he said. “Ridley’s not very famous for our swimming program, so it’s nice to show what we can do.”
