OREFIELD - Day one of the District 11 Swimming Championships saw no less than four district records fall, including one being broken by the same swimmer who set the record last season.

Marian's Danny Berlitz set the district record of 1:57.62 in the 200 IM last season and topped that with a very impressive 1:54.02, setting the new standard. Berlitz needed every bit of the record setting performance, since second place finisher Joseph Bozzi of Bethlehem Catholic, also bested Berlitz' previous best at 1:55.21."He was seeded with a 2:04, and I had heard that he swam a 1:56, so that was impressive," said Berlitz. "We pushed each other, which is good. You always need that competition."Berlitz thought coming in that he had a shot at besting his old mark, but didn't anticipate beating the time by as much as he did in Friday's event at Parkland High School."I felt a lot better here than I did at Pottsville. This is my favorite pool, we used to train in it, but it's such a great pool and I felt really good today," Berlitz explained. "I was 1:57 last year, and that was the record that I broke, and I swam 1:55 at Pottsville, so I thought I could swim that time and break the record again. But 1:54 was fast."His Marian schoolmate, Katie Kurzinsky, didn't set any record times, but considering that she spent part of her week in the hospital, she can be forgiven for that. The senior swimmer bounced back to take first in the 50 freestyle, winning the event by just :00.13 in one of the closer events of the day. The top four swimmers were separated by just :00.24."I got really sick last Friday and didn't eat anything or drink anything for about three or four days. I couldn't keep anything down. I never felt so sick in my life, so I ended up in the hospital last weekend," said Kurzinsky. "I came out and had to get myself in the right mental state for this. I'm still not 100 percent and I'm definitely rebuilding."I felt the nerves, definitely. Since it's my senior year, I really want to go out with a bang and do my best. I've trained so hard this season and to see it pay off like that, there's no feeling to describe it."Tamaqua's girls 200 medley relay team of Lexi Kerstetter, Rebecca Kanaskie, Brianna Dumond and Abigail Brickler placed second in the day's first event. Another second place finish went to Marian's Timmy Dando, who took the silver in the 200 freestyle.While the senior was happy with the finish, he also believes that he can improve on his performance."I felt alright going into it, but I thought I would do better," said Dando. "I'm happy with it, but I just definitely feel like I could have done better. I kind of burned out after 125 and just tried to push the rest of the way, so I have to work on that."Combining the scores from last weekend's 2A diving championships and the first of two days of swimming championships, Tamaqua is fourth in the girls teams scores while the boys are in 10th.The District 11 meet continues today to determine representatives from the area who will compete in the PIAA Championships March 15-18 at Bucknell University.Dist. 11 Day 1 Swimming ResultsGirls200 Medley Relay- 1. Moravian Academy 1:52.90, 2. Tamaqua (Lexi Kerstetter, Rebecca Kanaskie, Brianna Dumond, Abigail Brickler) 1:55.05, 3. Blue Mountain 1:57.91, 4. Allentown Central Catholic 1:58.31.200 Freestyle- 1. Mary Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) 1:56.31, 2. Sarah Bobeck (Salisbury) 1:56.57, 3. Sarah Corse-Campion (Pottsville) 1:58.21, 4. Paige Jackett (Notre Dame-ES) 6. Lexi Kerstetter (Tamaqua) 2:05.18.200 IM- 1. Gianna Farina (Notre Dame-GP) 2:11.29, 2. Kaylee Davis (Moravian Academy) 2:14.27, 3. Rebecca Kanaskie (Tamaqua) 2:15.70, 4. Brinn DeAngelo (North Schuylkill) 2:19.43, 9. Sarah Maue (Tamaqua) 2:28.65.50 Freestyle- 1. Katie Kurzinsky (Marian) 24.75, 2. Angela Castano (Central Catholic) 24.87, 3. Amelia O'Brien (Bangor) 24.90, 4. Jill Spirk (Bethlehem Catholic) 24.99, 9. Abigail Brickler (Tamaqua) 26.65, 14. Kayla Sherry (Tamaqua) 27.43, 24. Krista Carlin (Palmerton) 29.15.100 Butterfly- 1. Kyra Manson (Moravian Academy) 55.91, 2. Mia Molnar (Central Catholic) 1:02.14, 3. Erica Donohue (Blue Mountain) 1:02.70, 4. Valentina Lopez (Moravian Academy) 1:03.82, 12. Angelina Krupko (Marian Catholic) 1:08.10, 14. Brianna Dumond (Tamaqua) 1:09.50.200 Freestyle Relay- 1. Central Catholic, 2. Salisbury, 3. Pottsville, 4. Schuylkill Haven, 5. Tamaqua (Abigail Brickler, Brianna Dumond, Rebecca Kanaskie, Lexi Kerstetter) 1:45.87.Boys200 Medley Relay- 1. Salisbury 1:38.16, 2. Allentown Central Catholic 1:40.73, 3. Mahanoy Area 1:42.64, 4. Pottsville 1:43.50 5. Blue Mountain 1:45.64.200 Freestyle- 1. Mahlon Reihman (Salisbury) 1:41.25, 2. Timmy Dando (Marian) 1:47.29, 3. Joseph Antolick (North Schuylkill) 1:48.12, 4. Ben Wiener (Salisbury) 1:48.31.200 IM- 1. Danny Berlitz (Marian) 1:54.02, 2. Joseph Bozzi (Bethlehem Catholic) 1:55.21, 3. Mark Boran (Blue Mountain) 1:59.32, 4. Morgan O'Brien (Bangor) 1:59.49, 9. Wyatt Delans (Northern Lehigh) 2:08.48, 10. Carson Allen (Palmerton) 2:09.65.50 Freestyle- 1. Gabe Castano (Central Catholic) 20.93, 2. Reggie Crawford (North Schuylkill) 21.64, 3. Stephen Johnson (Blue Mountain) 21.72, 4. A.J. Oliver (Salisbury) 22.35, 6. Keith Cullen (Weatherly) 22.78.100 Butterfly- 1. Daniel Bonge (Salisbury) 50.84, 2. Joseph Bozzi (Bethlehem Catholic) 50.88, 3. Brenek Strawn (Bangor) 53.05, 4. Ryan Schreffler (Nativity), 8. Mac Allen (Palmerton) 57.28.200 Freestyle Relay- 1. Blue Mountain 1:28.85, 2. Central Catholic 1:29.39, 3. Pottsville 1:32.04, 4. Mahanoy Area 1:33.59, Tamaqua - DQ (false start).