Northwestern Lehigh swimmer Aiden Braadt made his first trip to the PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships at Bucknell University last week.

Braadt who won gold at the District 11 meet in the 200-yard individual medley.

In his first trip to states, Braadt turned in a time of 2:09.35 in the IM, finishing 30th.

“I didn’t have a very good swim, in fact, I added three seconds to my time from districts,” said Braadt. “It was a little disappointing, but it was a good experience.”

In the next two seasons, Braadt is confident that he can return to states in both years. Northwestern does not have a swimming team, so the sophomore trains with the Parkland Aquatic Club and can swim at Allen High School home meets to set times to qualify for districts and states.

“It wasn’t as loud as districts, but there were a lot of kids there, and that surprised me a little. I wasn’t expecting that many swimmers. It was really packed,” said Braadt. “I think next time it will be a little easier because I will be more familiar with everything, and have a better idea of what to expect.”

Braadt’s performance at districts was impressive in that not only did he have to battle Pen Argyl’s Jake Hauff for the top spot, he edged Hauff by .11 to take gold.

That was the difference between a trip to states and staying home, as Hauff’s time was just off the qualifying times from across the state.