When the pressure was off, Freedom swimmer, Peter Conzola, turned the heat on and won the gold medal in the 100 backstroke at the Class AAA PIAA State Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at Bucknell University.

"I realized I won when I touched the wall and looked at the opposite corner from where I swam, and I saw everyone from my team and District XI freaking out," Conzola said.

The Patriot junior was seeded seventh after the preliminary swim and was in lane one for the final.

"I went in just kind of thinking I have nothing to lose, being seeded seventh. I just went out and left it all out there," said Conzola.

Although the top seeds were out of Conzola's sight, he did keep Upper St. Clair's Ryan Dudzinski, who was in lane two, in his range of vision.

"I knew I had Ryan Dudzinski next to me, and if I was with Ryan, I could bring it home in the last 25," Conzola said.

Conzola finished the backstroke with a time of 48.80. The silver medalist was Michael Thomas of Hatboro-Horsham, the first seed, who finished with a time of 49.11, and Dudzinski finished in fourth place with a time of 49.69.

Conzola's teammate, Scott DelFranco, also competed in the 100 backstroke in prelims, and finished ninth overall. His time was 51.25.

The top eight swimmers in the backstroke received medals.

"It was an awesome feeling, being on the top podium with my name on the board. I think it all sank in on the van ride back home," Conzola said.