After a season of virtual swim meets, the Whitehall swim team got the chance to participate in some old-fashioned, head-to-head competition at the district championships last week.

Every meet they had this year was done in their own natatorium where they were essentially swimming against the clock. It was rare that they had a simultaneous meet. That only happened on two occasions, and head coach Pete Rile said that those meets against Saucon Valley and Pottsville each had their own share of unique glitches.

However, the District XI 3A Swimming and Diving Championships held at Parkland High School last weekend provided the opportunity to swim against their peers. Rile said that it was a weird experience; however, that assessment was reserved for the actual competition where it was eerily quiet compared to past years where it was a raucous venue filled with cheering swimmers and ardent, supportive fans.

“It was definitely quiet, all you heard was splashing,” said Rile.

He said that a lot of that ebullience came through in Parkland’s auxiliary gym where the swimmers were housed as they watched the events unfold. He said that setting had the energy usually associated with a district meet. He also praised Parkland for putting on a championship that was well organized in a challenging environment.

Another wrinkle to this year’s district championship came just a week prior to the meet. They expanded the number of qualifiers, opening the door to a greater pool of swimmers. That gave Whitehall a big boost as they arrived at Parkland with six girls and five boys. That meant a group of hardworking seniors would now get a chance to extend their scholiastic seasons, including Lindsay Solderitch, Lexi Bartosh, Emily Thomas, Matthew Hilbert and Jacob Busch.

The boys finished in ninth place with 92 points, while the girls were eleventh with 47 points.

Rile said that with the district competition now open to their relay teams as well, he felt that they did a good job in those events.

“I thought we fared well as a team,” he said.

Swimming individual events for the boys were Aaron Stinner (200, 500 freestyle) and Ian Thomas (100 breaststroke). Those two also swam the relays along with teammates Busch, Hilbert and Kenny Dai.

Rile said that the boys have had finished among the top 10 before at districts, but considering they have only 11 swimmers on their roster, he felt it was an impressive achievement. He also said that their goal was to move up some spots in the relays from where they were seeded to demonstrate that they belonged in the championships, and that was validated by their times. They put up their best numbers all season.

“Our relay times were excellent,” Rile said.

While none of their swimmers or relays broke into the top four, he applauded all they accomplished throughout the season.

Swimming individually for the girls were Solderitch (100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke), Rachel Dolan (200 IM, 100 butterfly), and Prentice (200, 500 freestyle). Those three paired with Megan Wallitsch, Kelly Wallitsch and Thomas in the relay races.

Rile said that the girls finished the season at 8-7, and their consistent performance all season long was reflected at the district championships. He said that they all swam strong races.

“We’re pretty happy with that,” said Rile.

Rile said that while they had 15 meets this season, they only got into the pool seven times. That was the byproduct of competing against multiple opponents in the new virtual world that unfolded this season. He said it would have been beneficial to get into the pool more often to learn some things about their swimmers, including what relay combinations work the best, but they were limited in their practice schedule per the pandemic.

Still, he felt that they rose to the occasion and made the best out of a tough environment. That all came together in the district championships as they swam some of their best races of the year.

“I think we did exceptionally well, both the boys and the girls,” said Rile.