As the swimming season quickly approaches the New Year, both the Emmaus boys and girls sit atop the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at 4-0 in dual meets. The girls defeated Easton in their latest meet, 102-75, while the boys breezed to a 103-75 victory.

But while the records are unblemished at this point in the season, head coach Tim O’Connor knows there is certainly room for improvement. With the key part of the season coming up and the postseason still weeks away, there is plenty of time to work on those issues.

“So far there have been some good swims and some not-so-good swims,” O’Connor said. “With only four meets in, what I look for now is for those good swims to improve and the not so good ones to not happen again in hopes the kids correct the things that did not make them a good swim.”

O’Connor understands that depth on both sides would be key, as well as meshing that with its top athletes. So far the girls are providing that instrumental depth across a wide range of events.

Seniors Mirando O’Donald, Casey Young, Kayla Apostolico, Maura Beuttel and Sam Mull are an experienced group of upperclassmen that can swim multiple events and has put the Hornet girls atop the league favorites once again.

“Right now our girls depth is showing to be really solid, and I believe that to be true because of the upperclassmen who truly want the team to succeed and have helped in a positive culture,” O’Connor said.

“Miranda is a butterfly swimmer and sprinter who is just a spitfire of a girl, who is a multi-sport athlete, and who simply trusts me and goes for it,” O’Connor said. “Casey has really improved her mental game to assist her physical attributes over the past year...Across these five girls, I can fill every individual event in a dual meet before I even look at any other class, which is a real luxury.”

But those other classes are talented in their own right, particularly a group of freshmen girls that have impressed O’Connor in the early going. Chelsea Gravereaux, Katie Champagne and Abby Heilenman lead a group of nine freshmen girls that have complemented the upperclassmen well.

“They work very hard and have been working within the framework I provide by competing in every aspect of our program that I ask of all of our swimmers,” O’Connor said. “The other freshmen in the class are doing very well and have also been able to show improvement over the first six weeks of the season.”

While the girls team has nine seniors, Tom Schlechter is the only senior boy. He’s been a constant leader and a well-rounded athlete in the pool.

“On the boys’ side with only one senior, we need to look to fill our depth from all groups and right now that depth has been spotty,” O’Connor said. “Many kids are given opportunities, but we will need a good handful to continue to improve over the next month if they plan on competing for a district championship.”

Juniors Ethan Carr and Connor DeJohn, as well as sophomore Patrick McAllister, are a few names on the boys’ side that figure to play key roles in making the team’s district title aspirations come to fruition.

Junior Andrew Vanim and sophomore Jess Hurlburt have been consistent divers for the Hornets, providing key points on both sides.

Emmaus will swim in the New Years Invitational on Saturday at Bucknell University. The Hornets follow that up with a meet at Dieruff on Tuesday.