Seven swimmers from Emmaus High School will compete in individual events at this week’s PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships being held at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

The seven, along with two relay teams on both the boys and girls teams, all qualified for spots at the recent District 11 Championships, where the Emmaus boys were crowned district champions.

“I’m very happy with how both of our teams performed at districts and now we can focus on getting even faster between now and the state meet, and we’ll see what happens,” said coach Tim O’Connor after the District 11 Championships.

On the boys side, senior Tom Schlechter will compete in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle. Schlechter comes in with the 22nd fastest time in the freestyle and 32nd fastest in the butterfly event. The lone senior on the boys team, Schlechter will also swim on the 200-yard medley relay team with juniors Ethan Carr and Connor DeJohn and sophomore Patrick McAllister. The same four will team up on the 400-yard freestyle relay. Emmaus is listed 14th in the 200 medley and 22nd in the 400 freestyle.

“I’m really looking forward to this, not just for me, but for my teammates,” said McAllister. “It’s great that Tom is going as a senior and it’s great experience for the rest of us.”

Carr also qualified for two individual events, including the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 yard backstroke. The junior swimmer has the 12th fastest qualifying times in both events. DeJohn has the 31st fastest time in the 200 yard freestyle event and McAllister is 21st in the 100 yard freestyle.

The girls team didn’t have any state qualifiers last year, but have three individual and two relay teams in this year’s event.

“All of our swimmers really worked their butts off this year, and you can see it in the swimmers who are going to states,” said O’Connor. “I think a lot of them are now seeing why we’ve worked them so hard in practice and stressed all of the little things. It really does pay off and I’m excited for them whether they’re a senior, a freshman or anywhere in between.”

Senior Casey Young has the 23rd fastest time in the 500-yard freestyle and is the only Hornet girls senior to qualify in an individual event. Freshman swimmers, Katie Champagne and Chelsea Gravereaux are also qualified, with Champagne swimming in the 200-yard IM and Gravereaux competing in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Gravereaux is the highest-seeded Emmaus swimmer, having the eighth fastest time in both of her events, while Champagne is 18th in the 200 IM.

“I think it’s going to be a great experience and it’s going to help to have Chelsea along and to get to swim in the relays, because we’ll be sharing it all together and have each other to lean on,” said Champagne.

In relays, the girls will have teams in both the 200 and 400 freestyle events. Young teamed with three freshmen - Champagne, Gravereaux and Abby Heilenman - in districts to finish second in the event and qualify with the 11th best time in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The same four swimmers are coming in 10th in the 400-yard freestyle relay after winning the event at districts.

“Obviously, you go in wanting them all to do their best and you have high hopes for all of them,” said O’Connor. “It’s a different experience for Tom and Casey [the seniors] than it will be for the young swimmers. The seniors get to enjoy it a little more and know that they’ve had a great high school career. For the younger swimmers, it’s going to be invaluable to get the experience under their belts so they know more about what to expect if they keep working hard and make it back again.”