After a long season that saw the Emmaus boys capture the Lehigh Valley Conference championship, the Emmaus swim teams are gearing up for the District 11 Championships this weekend at Parkland High School.

The boys 100-yard breaststroke could be interesting. Emmaus has four swimmers, all in the final heat for the event, including top-seeded Carter Paules, the only qualifier with a time under one minute.

Paules will be challenged by teammates Marc Primelo, David Larsen and Jordan Frank in the event. Even with his fast qualifying time, it may be tough for Paules to reset the District 11 record of 56.28, which was set last year. To do that, Paules would need to shave 3 1/2 seconds off of his qualifying time.

A similar situation takes place in the boys' 500-yard freestyle, where four Emmaus swimmers are competing in the final heat, with Cody Wimmer being the top seed in the event. Wimmer's time is three tenths of a second ahead of Freedom's Sam Magnan, who will be challenging him for top spot. Robert Bishop, Andrew Bond and John Woltornist are also qualified in the event.

On the girls side, Tori Bingham, Morgan Weigner and Maura Brennan are all among the top eight seeds in the 200-yard IM, with Brennan being seeded second. Brennann is also seeded among the top eight in the girls 100-yard freestyle event. Weigner comes into districts as the top seed in the 100-yard breaststroke, where Claire Frank is also among the top eight.

Natalie Schaeffer is among the top eight in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events, while senior Taylor Iobst is among the top eight seeds in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke.

Coach Tim O'Connor is looking forward to seeing how his swimmers step up to the challenge of the district event.

"I feel that on the boys side our strengths lie in Day Two," said O'Connor. "We should be very competitive in the 500 and breaststroke. If the meet is close those boys have the potential to really step up big for the team and they have done a great job all year, so I expect nothing different."

In relays, both the boys and girls teams are in the top eight seeds in the 200-yard medley and the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

The event won't determine just who the best swimmers and schools are in the district, they'll determine who will advance to the PIAA competition that will be held later in March at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

"In regards to sleepers, the coaching staff and I are really excited to see our kids compete. That has been our mantra all season and it hasn't changed," explained O'Connor. " We are also excited to see which young kids really throw themselves into the competition and do something special to set the tone."