Liberty swimmer Malcolm Collins was crowned the District XI Class 3A champion in the 200 individual medley, winning the event more than two seconds ahead of Emmaus’s Andrew Taylor on March 3 at Parkland High School. “I knew it was gonna be a good race,” Collins said. “My strengths were definitely my backstroke and breaststroke. I’ve been practicing my backstroke which is usually my weakest, but I really came back in the breaststroke and then finished with the freestyle.”

Liberty coaches Reik Foust, Evan Kocon, and Jeff Matyus watched closely as the two top seeds fought for district gold.

“You know, when he was within the same stroke or half a stroke as Taylor from Emmaus, I knew,” Foust said. “I thought, you know what, there’s nobody gonna stick with Malcolm in breaststroke, and he’s got a great finish. Just hang with Taylor for 25 and the race is yours. I was not surprised at all. We were thankful because that’s what we were hoping for. That’s what we wanted the race to be, and it came to us. It was good that way.”

While Collins was confident, the Hurricane junior was somewhat surprised that his time (1:56.67) was well ahead of Taylor’s (1:59.14).

“When I touched in my 50 backstroke and pushed off for my breaststroke, and I didn’t see him next to me, I was like, oh he’s not there, so I pushed myself even further,” Collins said. “I think I was more prepared mentally, and he kept me going in the first half, and then I just pushed off and left him there.”

On March 4, Collins won the silver medal in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.41, and Pocono Mountain West’s Carter Mui won the gold with a time of 57.31.

“Malcolm’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he approaches it the right way,” said Foust. “He made some mistakes in [breaststroke], and we’re gonna talk about that and make it better. You want to swim the perfect race, but it doesn’t exist, but you can make your race better each time. Hopefully, that carries over so when he’s ready to pop off another good one at states, we’re ready to go.”

Collins was part of the 200 medley relay team, along with Wade Wu, David Gabrielle, and Corbin Eisenhardt, that clinched the silver medal with a time of 1:37.30.

Missing from that team but watching from the pool deck was Hurricane senior Danny Lehr, the district’s top seed in the 50 free and the 100 backstroke.

“Just thinking about him not being there, I was worried, but I knew we’d pull together,” said Eisenhardt. “I knew with me being anchor, I really had to put forth the effort and show what we had and what we brought. I didn’t want to let my team down, but I knew that as long as I fought for it, which is something I love doing, I’d be able to pull it off, and that’s what happened. It felt really clean. I had no problems with my turns, breakouts, anything.”

Lehr was sick and had barely been in the water since the Last Chance Meet in February, although the Hurricane sprinter gave it a go in the district 200 free relay, winning the bronze medal along with Tim Wetmore, Collins, and Eisenhardt with a time of 1:27.99.

“I think Danny would’ve had a really good 50, and he would’ve been great in backstroke,” Foust said.

“Those four (200 medley relay) guys, fantastic. Fantastic 200 free relay. I couldn’t ask more from them. They were great.”

Wetmore, Wu, Gabrielle, and Eisenhardt were also bronze medalists in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:20.19.

In team results, Liberty’s boys placed fourth, and Liberty’s girls placed fifth.

Hurricane junior Natalie Brezinsky captured district silver in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.16, and Parkland’s Kelsey McPeek took district gold with her time of 1:06.04.

“I was really excited,” Brezinsky said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it behind the blocks, but I just went in and swam it and swam my best time. I was practicing my turns and the little things before the meet started, and I think it helped me. Everything was really good. It was the best I could do, and I’m really happy with how I swam, not just the placement.”

Brezinsky also won a fourth-place medal in the 50 free with a time of 25.01.

“Natalie’s been swimming for awhile, but it’s her first year with us, and she took to the girls, the girls loved her, and things worked out great,” said Foust. “She became a team leader by her actions and did everything the right way. She swam gang busters.”

Liberty’s Lilah McClarin, Brezinsky, Audrey Bloss-Ferry, and Chelsea Hearn medaled in the meet’s first event of the day, posting a fourth-place time of 1:53.76 in the 200 medley relay.

Morgan Muller, Sophia O’Hara, Hearn, and Brezinsky came in fifth in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:42.21.

The PIAA Class 3A Swimming and Diving Championships are scheduled for March 16-18 at Bucknell University where Collins, Wetmore, Eisenhardt, Wu, Gabrielle, Lehr, and diver Keller Pooley will represent Liberty. Brezinsky is second alternate for breaststroke.