The odds of having not one, but two student-athletes in the PIAA Swimming and Diving championships when a school does not even have a swimming and diving team are not very high.

Such was the case with Northwestern Lehigh, who had brother duo performing at states with junior Hunter Slaski competing in two swimming events and younger brother Hayden, a freshman, competing in the 2A diving competition.

Hunter Slaski won gold in the 100-yard butterfly at districts and came in second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time good enough to qualify for the event at states. In the PIAA meet at Bucknell University, Slaski finished near to his time at districts with a 54.56 in the butterfly but finished 21st. In the 200-freestyle, the junior swimmer turned in a 1:51.14 and finished 25th.

Swimming in states at Bucknell University can be a daunting task because of the size of the venue and the noise that is generated by a full set of bleachers. Plus, you’re going against the best in the state.

“It was an experience and I’m glad I was able to come. Hopefully, I’ll be back next year,” said Slaski. “If I get back here, I don’t think I’ll be so stressed and nervous.

“The end result is that I didn’t drop time and that’s kind of where I’m at. I was looking to drop time and not really worry too much about where I was in the standings or where I finished because of where I was seeded and how good everybody else is.

“Looking back, I did drop time at districts, so I’m proud of that and it’s tough to drop more time just a couple weeks later.”

Hayden Slaski competed in the 2A diving portion of the championships after taking gold at districts. At states, Slaski made it through all three rounds of the competition to finish 15th with a final score of 306.20 for the 11 dive competition.

The brothers train and compete with the team from Parkland High School during the dual meet season. Their times and scores do not count for the Parkland team, but they are used to qualify for districts and their finishes there qualify them to compete at states. Both had coaches from Parkland accompanying them at Bucknell.