When swim practice began in November for the Upper Perk teams, coach Brien Kalnoski knew that the success of the season would be determined by individual performances in the postseason. After a District 1 AA meet that produced two State qualifiers, 25 personal bests and two school records, the 2016-17 campaign can be labeled a triumph.

                The headliners for the meet, Noel Fresa and Kyle Kovalenko, will be moving on to States next weekend. Noel qualified in the 100 backstroke and 50 free, Kyle in the 100 breaststroke.

                Fresa shattered an Upper Perk record in the backstroke that has stood for 20 years, finishing sixth in 1:00.24 and dropping more than three-and-a-half seconds from her seed time.

                "I felt really good," Fresa said. "I really wanted to drop time. I haven't dropped all season."

                Noel broke the record established by Sarah Tigar in 1997 setting up an interesting coincidence for Kalnoski.

                "Sarah swam for the Boyertown YMCA back then, and I had the pleasure of coaching her when I was an assistant coach at the Boyertown YMCA," he said.

                After Fresa's race, Kalnoski texted his former swimmer with the news.

                Fresa, only a freshman, also broke the school mark in the 50 freestyle (24.96) set by Kirsten Siwy last year in 25.11. After some scratches from other districts, Noel was a late addition to the event at States.

                Kovalenko, a sophomore, came close to establishing his own record in the breaststroke, falling just .3 short as he finished third on the second day of the meet.

                "I felt really loose that day compared to the day before," Kyle said, "and I felt really confident in what I was doing going up on the block."

                In addition to his State qualifiers, Kalnoski was thrilled with the performance of the teams as a whole.

                "We had an amazing two days of competition. Very proud of all of them," Kalnoski proclaimed.

                The highlights for the rest of the teams were many. The four Upper Perk girls accumulated 130 points and finished sixth, trailing teams that had upwards of 18 swimmers at the meet.

                Among the highlights were Bailey McCausland's swim in the 200 free (2:04.29), where she dropped 3.31 seconds; Jayme Fisher bettering her seed time by more than eight seconds in the 500 free (5:44.43); and the 400 free relay (3:46.63) of McCausland, Maddie Modugno, Fisher and Fresa shaving more than 11 seconds off its time.

                On the boys side, Kevin Himmelwright (1:49.68) took six seconds off his 200 free time.

                "He is my only senior so I was really happy to see him cap off his swimming career by swimming his best in the 200 free and 100 free (50.57)," Kalnoski noted.

                Cameron Junk dropped a whopping 15.24 seconds off his time in the 500 free to set a personal best (5:02.24). Joel Williams took more than nine seconds off his 500 time (5:10.31), and Dan Miller went 2:00.8 in the 200 free, a personal best by 5.64.

                The 400 free relay (3:24.09), composed of Kovalenko, Williams, Junk and Himmelwright, dropped more than 10 seconds.

                Freshmen Trevor Cairns and Joe McGillen each set personal bests in two races apiece.

                Of the 26 swims the Upper Perk teams were in, 25 resulted in best times.

                "Overall, it was a really good time for everybody," Kovalenko said.

                Fresa spoke for all her teammates about the end of season preparation. "I felt really good about the taper. I felt I had a lot of energy."

                Fresa and Kovalenko are looking forward to States next week at Bucknell.

                "I'm only three-tenths away from making it up on the (record) board for breaststroke, and if I could do that during States that would be phenomenal," Kovalenko said.

                "I hope to make the finals," added Fresa. "I really want to break a minute in my 100 backstroke. That's the main goal, to break a minute."