Coming into the season, Whitehall swimming coach Pete Rile wasn't sure what was going to happen with his team. He expected the girls side to be pretty strong, but with only 10 boys on the team, he had concerns about being able to realistically compete. The girls have been true to form and thankfully, Rile has found himself with a number of young swimmers on the boys side who have stepped up to make the season a success.

"Coming into tonight [Tuesday], the girls had a 5-2 record, which is what we kind of expected. The boys though had a 4-3 record and we weren't even sure we were going to be able to pull off a meet this year, because of the low numbers. We're down to ten boys and half of them, or more, are new, so overall, I would say the boys season is already a success," admitted Rile.

Unfortunately, those numbers took a hit Tuesday night when Parkland grabbed wins on both the boys and girls side in a dual meet with the Zephyrs.

The good news on both the boys and girls sides is that there have been a number of young swimmers who are putting in impressive performances even though they don't have a great amount of experience.

"The new swimmers coming in are coming in as novices and they're wide-eyed and learning a lot fast and, they're retaining it, which doesn't always happen. I'm going to say that the new people coming in are a big help, because they're learning fast and we have a couple of freshmen without experience, who look like they have experience," said Rile. "Certainly, our experienced kids that have gotten into districts, they look good and I have to say that I can't really single out any one or two swimmers, because we have a lot of girls and boys that are really picking it up."

Rile wasn't sure how many district qualifiers the team would have this season, but they've already seen a number of swimmers qualify for districts and there are some swimmers on the girls side that are showing the potential to go to states.

Another bright spot for the program came this past weekend from the team's lone diver, Kailyn Beil, who finished fourth in the Lehigh Valley Conference Diving Championships, which were held at Emmaus. Beil, who also competes as a swimmer, does her diving training with a club team at Lafayette College and admits that being Whitehall's only diver can be lonely at times, but she's making the best of the situation.

After placing ninth in the LVC Championships last season, Beil was pleasantly surprised with her performance at this year's event.

"I was very happy with my finish. That wasn't what I was expecting at all, because last year I was ninth, so I just expected to get just a place or two higher," said Beil, who is hoping for further success in districts. "I just see myself doing better than I've done before in other meets."

While some divers struggle with the extra dives for championship meets, Beil is somewhat of an exception and sees the extra dives as more of an opportunity.

"I actually think it's easier to do 11-dive meets and you get a higher score, which helps you a lot more than just doing six dives," said Beil.

The LVC title went to Central Catholic's Nicole Sagl, who was followed by Easton's Kelsey Jehl and Parkland's Maddy Hain in the top three finishes. Beil was sixth after eight dives Saturday, but turned in strong performances in her final three dives to move up in the standings.