This winter, Whitehall's swimming program appears to be ready to take the next step on both their boys' and girls' fronts.

Veteran coach Pete Rile will have 23 girls back in the fold, several of them being either district or state qualifiers.

Even though the boys' team only has eight swimmers back, seven of them are returning from last year's squad.

"It's nice to have so many swimmers back," said Rile. "We have a pretty solid group. We have a number of girls who have been swimming for a while and a large chunk of district qualifiers. Our boys' numbers might hurt us. But these boys also have experience and they should be in a number of meets."

Seniors Nina Feyrer and Alexis Merkert will lead a talented group of girls, as the duo will be looking to get back to states.

Having his girls' unit post a 12-4 record last winter, Rile sees his female unit ready to challenge for the top spots in the new East Penn Conference.

"I expect our girls team to post the same kind of record they had last season, and look like they can get to another level," noted Rile. "They are very solid and we have good numbers. They have looked very good and they are ready to get going."

On the boys' side, junior Felix Figueroa and sophomore Jack Yadush both will look to keep their team in the forefront. Senior Anthony Fragnito also provides experience to the unit.

"Felix (Figueroa) really improved last year, and he is looking good this year," said Rile. "Yadush has a lot of experience, and he should be able to step up another notch. Anthony (Fragnito) has been with us over the years and he will continue to improve."

Rile is confident his boys' team can raise their 6-10 record from last season.

"We can compete with our boys' team, but we end up losing points because of our numbers. If there is diving involved, we could be down as many as 20 points to begin the meet. But I believe these guys will improve individually as well as a team."

Rile also will deal with the new league alignments, as his team will not swim against some of their perennial teams this season. The Zephyrs open their season against East Stroudsburg North, Allen, and Nazareth.

In their season opener, Feyrer set a new WHS pool record in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5.26.39, and Fragnito was a double-winner in the 50 and 100 freestyle races. Overall, the girls swept all of the events in a 132-37 victory, while the boys were nearly equally as dominant in a 95-73 victory.

"We should have about five girls who can get to states," said Rile. "We got off to a good start, and we have already lowered some times. We just need to keep it going."