Whitehall’s boys swim team couldn’t have started the season better in their 109-58 home-opening victory over Pocono Mountain West on Dec. 5.

“We saw some really nice times, new best times, and Aaron Stinner’s 200 IM record right off the bat, first meet,” said a happy Whitehall coach Pete Rile. “That was the plan. He’s got a number of records to break, and Ian Thomas has a couple. We’re hoping to do a lot of damage to the record board this year, but you only have so many chances. It was a pleasant surprise, but I can’t say it was an incredible surprise.”

Stinner broke his own school record of 2:02.30 from last year with a time of 2:00.97 on Tuesday, which also broke the Whitehall pool record of 2:01.62 set by Southern Lehigh’s Janik Wing.

“I knew I could definitely go faster, and when I looked up and saw the time and also saw that it was faster than the pool record, I was really happy with that because Whitehall really hasn’t had many of their own swimmers on the pool record board,” Stinner said. “I tried to go all out. I saw I had a good swimmer next to me, so I was like, this is definitely a good sign. He could push me.”

The boys meet opened with a 1:46.25 Whitehall win in the 200 medley relay, comprised of Thomas, Alex Madden, Stinner, and Gabe O’Brien and closed with a 4:05.08 victory in the 400 medley relay, consisting of Andrew Deutsch, Jonathan Stinner, Quinlan Doyle, and Madden, that was a fight to the finish.

“We had a pretty good lead, maybe a lap or so. I felt good on my first two laps, but then our competitors were doing really good and caught up quickly on the last two, so it was a really close race toward the end,” said Madden, the anchor. “I was starting to die out on my last lap, and all the cheers helped me push through that little mental barrier. I was crazy nervous. I knew these competitors from last year, and I knew they were good. When everyone exploded into cheers, I knew we won. This meet is bringing back last season and winning a lot, so we’re happy to compete again.”

The Pocono Mountain West 400 relay team of Eryk Mackowski, Jack Dunham, Dominick Gortych, and Carter Mui placed second in 4:05.59.

“We were up a lap on the last swimmer, and we knew it, and if you saw our boys, they knew that [Pocono Mountain West] had their top guy left, and it was gonna be close,” said Coach Rile. “It was fun to see some of those really good races.”

Thomas, O’Brien, Deutsch, and Aaron Stinner made a strong showing in the 200 free relay with a first-place time of 1:33.98.

“We’re giving that a hard shot and to see what could happen,” Rile said. “That’s one that could do well.”

Deutsch was a winner in the 200 free in 2:10.00, Thomas won the 50 free in 22.33, and Aaron Stinner took first place in the 100 butterfly in 53.43.

“I was happy with the time I went,” Stinner said. “I wanted to go the record time in that because it’s been a huge goal of mine, but I felt fatigued, so it was all right.”

Stinner, a senior, acknowledged the Zephyrs’ strong start to the swim season.

“Honestly, great,” he said. “From today, our two relays were less than a second off both of the records, and it’s only our first meet, and I’m really excited. I think it’s gonna be a great senior year for us.”