Marian's Michael Strucko competes in the 100 butterfly during the 2025 Schuylkill League Swimming Championships at the Ned Hampford Natatorium (Photo by David McKeown).

The dual meet season is over, for the most part, for the Schuylkill League’s swimming and diving teams.

It’s on to the postseason.

The first step in the swimming and diving postseason gets underway this weekend when the Schuylkill League holds its swimming and diving championships today and Saturday.

The divers take center stage this afternoon at the Schuylkill League Diving Championships at North Schuylkill’s Donald Bricker Natatorium. Action begins at 4 p.m.

Blue Mountain’s Hailey Scheuer and Pottsville’s Adam Klinger are two-time defending league champions and are heavy favorites to win for a third straight year.  A field of eight girls and four boys are scheduled to compete.

The Schuylkill League Swimming Championships follow Saturday at Pottsville’s Ned Hampford Natatorium. Action gets underway at 11 a.m. The league meet follows the same pattern as the District 11 and PIAA championship meets — the normal dual-meet events with the 200-yard freestyle relay moved up to the sixth event, right after the 100 butterfly.

Tickets for both diving and swimming will cost $6 for adults/senior citizens, $3 for students, and will be all cash sales at the door. T102 Sports Now will run a live results link on the website for you to follow, plus provide live updates on X and Facebook.

You can follow me on X at @pubsportsboss and follow T102 Sports Now on Facebook for videos and updates.

Let’s break down this weekend’s championships and, as in previous years, give you the top five races to watch Saturday.

Diving Dandies

Klinger has dazzled every time he’s stepped on the board this season, breaking school and pool records on a regular basis.

He’s the current Pottsville school and Ned Hampford Natatorium pool record-holder in both the 6-dive (338.50) and 11-dive (501.30) events and holds the area record in both of those competitions. He also holds the Donald Bricker Natatorium record of 444.60 set at last year’s league diving meet.

There are two records he doesn’t have — the overall Schuylkill League and Schuylkill League meet marks. Those belong to Tamaqua’s Dane DeWire, who won the league title in 2011 with a score of 494.50.

On the boys’ side, that’s the thing to watch Friday — can Klinger break the record?

On the girls’ side, Scheuer won the past two league crowns, scoring 306.3 as a freshman and a Bricker Natatorium pool record 363.30 last year. Her top total in the 11-dive so far this year is 344.45, set at the Pottsville Invitational on Jan. 16.

Scheuer’s toughest competition will come from her teammates, Shyanna White and Anna Oettl. White edged Scheuer 222.95 to 203.95 in Thursday’s six-dive event against Tamaqua. Scheuer’s routine is usually back-loaded, however, so we’ll see how things shake out later today.

Record watch

Only one record was broken at last year’s Schuylkill League Swimming Championships, as Blue Mountain’s Noah Powers posted a 20.88 in the 50 freestyle to break his own mark of 21.56 set in 2023.

Will any records be broken this year? Maybe.

At Thursday’s dual meet against Tamaqua, Blue Mountain’s quartet of Aidan Varney, Porter Sarnes, Gabe Kamarousky and Brody Moyer broke the Schuylkill League record in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:22.10. The previous mark was 3:22.15 set by Pottsville’s Jordan Young, Evan Lecher, Zaidian Van Orden and Zach Turnitza in 2019.

The Tide’s time of 3:22.15 is also the league meet record. Can the Eagles go that fast again Saturday? We’ll see.

One other boys’ candidate: Watch Marian’s Michael Strucko in the 100 backstroke. Strucko’s best time this season is 52.84, although he was fifth at states in that event last year with a time of 51.49. The Schuylkill League and league championships records in that event are both 52.13 set by Powers in 2024.

Can he go that fast? Probably. Is he tapered to go that fast? Probably not yet.

On the girls’ side, keep an eye on Tamaqua’s Savannah Wilson in the 100 breaststroke. Already the Tamaqua school record-holder, Wilson broke Samantha Vavra’s league record of 1:07.50 set in 2008 last year by being clocked in 1:07.34.

This year’s she seeded at 1:07.05. Can she break it again?

Races to Watch

Here’s a look at five races to pay close attention to Saturday. Plan your trips to the great food spread put together by the Pottsville Swimming Boosters in the DHH Lengel Middle School cafeteria accordingly.

1 & 2) Relay rematches — Tamaqua and Blue Mountain have been the two fastest girls’ 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays all season, trading times on the Schuylkill League Top Times list week to week.

Saturday, Tamaqua is seeded No. 1 in both events, 1:49.54 to 1:49.95 in the 200 freestyle relay and 4:00.40 to 4:00.72 in the 400 freestyle relay.

Relay races at leagues and districts are tough to predict because you’re not sure who swam on that relay when the fast time was posted and who is slated to swim on that relay in the actual league meet competition Saturday.

Blue Mountain won both events in Thursday’s dual meet at the Eagles’ home pool. We’ll see if Tamaqua can rebound Saturday.

3) Girls’ 100 butterfly — Three of the league’s best girls’ swimmers — Marian’s Lydia Strucko, Schuylkill Haven’s Hope Stauffer and Tamaqua’s Wilson — are all in this event. Strucko’s seed time of 58.99 is much faster than both Stauffer (1:04.03) and Wilson (1:04.41), but put all three side-by-side in the pool and you never know what will happen.

4) Boys’ 200 freestyle — Blue Mountain’s Porter Sarnes (1:49.70) is the top seed, followed by North Schuylkill freshman Brendan Fetterolf (1:53.86) and Sarnes’ Blue Mountain teammates Gabe Kamarousky (1:54.42) and Liam Magdeburg (1:57.33).

I’m anxious to see how North Schuylkill’s Kiddie Korps of freshmen handle their first Schuylkill League meet. There’s a lot of talent there.

5) Boys’ relays — I grouped a couple of events into one here, but hear me out. Anytime the Blue Mountain and Pottsville boys tangle in relay races, the intensity is turned up a notch.

The Eagles and Tide are seeded 1-2 in all three boys’ relays for Saturday. How much of a factor is Killian Bressler’s return from injury for the Tide? Which swimmers compete in which relay? Regardless, they should be fun to watch.

Schuylkill Seeds

Here are the top six seeds in each event for Saturday’s Schuylkill League Swimming Championships. See you Saturday.

Schuylkill League Swimming Championships

Saturday, Jan. 31, 11 a.m.

Ned Hampford Natatorium, Pottsville

Top 6 Seeds

GIRLS

200 medley relay — 1. Tamaqua A 2:01.66, 2. Blue Mountain A 2:05.43, 3. Mahanoy Area A 2:05.87, 4. Pottsville A 2:11.22, 5. Schuylkill Haven A 2:11.80, 6. Marian A 2:18.77

200 freestyle — 1. Hope Stauffer (SH) 2:06.95, 2. Gianna Laselva (Potts) 2:07.50, 3. Kamryn Wolfe (NS) 2:12.00, 4. Isabella Lafko (BM) 2:12.71, 5. Ella Crossen (BM) 2:14.98, 6. Caitlyn Seidel (BM) 2:16.34

200 IM — 1. Alayna Hensel (BM) 2:23.62, 2. Tatiana Salefski (NS) 2:34.09, 3. Keira Blozousky (NS) 2:36.55, 4. Lyla Clemson (Tam) 2:38.43, 5. Molly Stone (BM) 2:38.98, 6. Savannah Grabowski (BM) 2:44.08

50 freestyle — 1. Shaylee Gormley (Tam) 25.50, 2. Cali Stauffer (SH) 26.63, 3. Anna Kaplafka (BM) 27.14, 4. Janna Brown (Tam) 27.24, 5. Lola Machamer (BM) 27.44, 6. Hailey Scheuer (BM) 28.12

100 butterfly — 1. Lydia Strucko (Mar) 58.99, 2. Hope Stauffer (SH) 1:04.03, 3. Savannah Wilson (Tam) 1:04.41, 4. Keira Blozousky (NS) 1:07.27, 5. Audrey Nattress (Tam) 1:08.49, 6. Caitlyn Seidel (BM) 1:11.78

200 freestyle relay — 1. Tamaqua A 1:49.54, 2. Blue Mountain A 1:49.95, 3. Mahanoy Area A 1:53.18, 4. North Schuylkill A 1:53.42, 5. Schuylkill Haven A 1:54.69, 6. Pottsville A 1:57.83

100 freestyle — 1. Kamryn Wolfe (NS) 56.49, 2. Shaylee Gormley (Tam) 57.03, 3. Cali Stauffer (SH) 59.51, 4. Janna Brown (Tam) 1:00.19, 5. Anna Kaplafka (BM) 1:00.39, 6. Tatiana Salefski (NS) 1:01.35

500 freestyle — 1. Lily Brown (Mah) 5:34.37, 2. Gianna Laselva (Potts) 5:35.03, 3. Isabella Lafko (BM) 5:50.97, 4. Kate Behun (Tam) 5:55.36, 5. Ella Crossen (BM) 5:57.46, 6. Emma Daynorovicz (BM) 6:04.08

100 backstroke — 1. Lydia Strucko (Mar) 58.21, 2. Lily Brown (Mah) 1:01.52, 3. Kate Behun (Tam) 1:07.55, 4. Lola Machamer (BM) 1:09.90, 5. Audrey Nattress (Tam) 1:11.44, 6. McKenzie Scully (Mah) 1:14.63

100 breaststroke — 1. Savannah Wilson (Tam) 1:07.05, 2. Alayna Hensel (BM) 1:12.66, 3. Kendall Kardisco (Mah) 1:20.82, 4. Kahmaya Van Orden (Potts) 1:22.64, 5. Ella Bones (Mar) 1:24.44, 6. Ava Jones (Tam) 1:28.41

400 freestyle relay — 1. Tamaqua A 4:00.40, 2. Blue Mountain A 4:00.72, 3. North Schuylkill A 4:22.27, 4. Pottsville A 4:35.40, 5. Marian A 5:01.53, 6. North Schuylkill B 5:04.17

BOYS

200 medley relay — 1. Blue Mountain A 1:44.86, 2. Pottsville A 1:47.85, 3. Marian A 1:57.92, 4. Schuylkill Haven A 2:01.98

200 freestyle — 1. Porter Sarnes (BM) 1:49.70, 2. Brendan Fetterolf (NS) 1:53.86, 3. Gabe Kamarousky (BM) 1:54.42, 4. Liam Magdeburg (BM) 1:57.33, 5. Reece Steibler (Mar) 2:04.45, 6. Logan Strauss (Potts) 2:08.29

200 IM — 1. Ethan Miller (SH) 2:06.95, 2. Seth Nester (BM) 2:14.62, 3. Evan Varney (BM) 2:22.74, 4. Andrew Metters (Mar) 2:23.37, 5. David Luna (NS) 2:24.41

50 freestyle — 1. Michael Strucko (Mar) 21.85, 2. Noah Bevan (Potts) 23.27, 3. Zach Scala (BM) 23.42, 4. Aidan Varney (BM) 23.56, 5. Owen Mentzer (NS) 24.01, 6. Killian Bressler (Potts) 24.18

100 butterfly — 1. Brody Moyer (BM) 53.87, 2. John Mohl (Potts) 59.30, 3. Seth Nester (BM) 1:00.02, 4. David Luna (NS) 1:05.16, 5. Tyler Hayes (NS) 1:12.18, 6. Max Hart (BM) 1:12.39

200 freestyle relay — 1. Blue Mountain A 1:34.10, 2. Pottsville A 1:34.75, 3. North Schuylkill A 1:36.76, 4. Schuylkill Haven A 1:43.20, 5. Tamaqua A 1:46.48, 6. North Schuylkill B 1:49.62

100 freestyle — 1. Aidan Varney (BM) 51.09, 2. Noah Bevan (Potts) 51.31, 3. Gabe Kamarousky (BM) 51.77, 4. Fabrizio Mangianello (NS) 53.55, 5. John Mohl (Potts) 54.18, 6. Killian Bressler (Potts) 55.17

500 freestyle — 1. Porter Sarnes (BM) 4:52.90, 2. Brendan Fetterolf (NS) 5:13.55, 3. Liam Magdeburg (BM) 5:18.54, 4. Lukas Frantz (BM) 5:45.36, 5. Logan Strauss (Potts) 5:54.21, 6. Luciano Keck (BMM) 6:03.67

100 backstroke — 1. Michael Strucko (Mar) 52.84, 2. Brody Moyer (BM) 54.88, 3. Owen Mentzer (NS) 59.80, 4. Evan Varney (BM) 1:02.71, 5. Ashton Maroukis (Potts) 1:03.14, 6. Tyler Heidelbaugh (NS) 1:06.06

100 breaststroke — 1. Ethan Miller (SH) 1:03.59, 2. Zach Scala (BM) 1:08.02, 3. Brandon Temarantz (Tam) 1:11.75, 4. Jamison Walsh (Potts) 1:12.00, 5. Elliot Wehr (SH) 1:24.93, 6. Jay Tang (Potts) 1:26.49

400 freestyle relay — 1. Blue Mountain A 3:32.67, 2. Pottsville A 3:34.27, 3. North Schuylkill A 3:35.15, 4. Marian A 3:50.18, 5. Blue Mountain B 3:51.46, 6. North Schuylkill B 4:1043