On Saturday, December 12th, the PSHS swim team competed in their first meet, the 2021 Christmas Invitational.

After a few long and grueling weeks of practices, the team faced their first meet of the season.

The meet took place at CT Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio and started at 8:30 in the morning. Throughout the meet, many of the athletes swam a personal best or close to their all time best times, which is almost unheard of for their first meet.

The first event of the meet, the 200 yard medley relay, consisting of Van Blasko, Derek Dunham, Matthew Matiste, and Christopher Lattanzio, broke the previous school record swimming a 1:46.37, beating the previous record by 0.05 seconds.

This record breaking race set the pace for the rest of the meet. The atmosphere of the meet was electric to say the least, this was due to the fact that the meet consisted of Division I and II teams.

The Christmas Invitational was the team’s first experience of fast racing with an electric atmosphere. It was an incredible way to set the tone for the rest of the swim season.