The last few months have been a blur for Tamaqua’s Lexi Buchala.

Buchala’s crazy schedule and busy days would leave most high school students in a daze.

But Buchala didn’t mind. That’s because the results they produced for the Blue Raider sophomore were clearly impressive.

Competing primarily in the 100 butterfly, the 200 individual medley, and on several relay teams, Buchala was Tamaqua’s top point-earner - among both the boys and girls - during the regular season. She saved her best swims for the postseason, however, grabbing a third-place finish at the Schuylkill League Championships, and then adding a third- and fourth-place finish at the District 11 Championships.

All of those things added up to Buchala capturing the 2021-22 Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Swimmer of the Year Award.

“I tried to work as hard as I could and push myself to keep improving,” said Buchala. “Every day in the pool, I just tried to focus on being the best swimmer I could be. The medals I won, and the Swimmer of the Year Award are validations that hard work really does pay off.”

Between her dedication to both school work and swimming, Buchala didn’t have a lot of free time during the recently completed winter sports season.

Since November, Buchala’s days have had a lather, rinse, repeat type of feel to them.

Four times a week for nearly five months, Buchala’s typical day consisted of school, a pair of two-hour swim practices, a 30-minute drive between practice venues, and late-night homework that usually started in the car and finished in bed. She barely had enough time to squeeze in meals. Her ‘easy’ days were the one weekday where she had a single two-hour practice instead of two, and Saturdays where she competed in either a high school swim meet or one for her club team.

“My swim schedule consisted of a two-hour Tamaqua team practice right after school, and then driving to either North Schuylkill or Minersville for a two-hour practice with the Schuylkill YMCA team,” explained Buchala. “So I basically left my house at 6:30 a.m. for school and wouldn’t get back home until after 9 p.m.

“I would normally eat in the car as my mom or dad drove me from the Tamaqua practice to the YMCA practice. Then I would try to start my homework on the trip home and would usually finish it up in bed. It wasn’t unusual for me to wake up in the morning with index cards and books scattered all over my bed.”

While the days were grueling, they were also productive.

“Lexi worked hard each and every day during the season,” said Tamaqua swim coach Jennifer Paisley. “She was patient with herself and her performances - even on days when she wasn’t her best. That hard work and patience paid dividends, especially during the postseason.

“She dropped a lot of time and was competitive with some of the best swimmers in the district - and even the state - by the end of the year.”

One of the most impressive elements of Buchala’s postseason was that her third-place finish at leagues and her fourth-place finish at districts came in the 500 freestyle - an event she swam just once during the regular season.

“I used to swim the 500 when I was younger, and it was always one of my favorite events,” Buchala said. “But when I got to high school, I started doing other events and the relays.”

A late-season request to her coach brought the 500 back into play for Buchala, however, and set the stage for her postseason success.

“Lexi didn’t swim the 500 for us, because we focus our lineup on where we can earn the most team points,” said Paisley. “But she swam the 500 free the week before leagues with her club team, and was very happy with her time. She asked if she could swim that event at leagues, so I said ‘Sure, why not?’”

Buchala swam the 500 in the Raiders’ final regular season meet to get a qualifying time for leagues and districts.

“I was really happy with my postseason performances,” said Buchala. “My district times in both events I swam were PRs for me. My time in the 200 IM was probably close to 15 seconds better than what I was doing at the start of my freshman year. My time in the 500 free was about 30 seconds faster than it was the last time I consistently swam that event in eighth grade.”

With two years of high school swimming still ahead of her, Buchala doesn’t plan on slowing down.

“There’s no question in my mind that the time I put in this season with the double practice sessions was a huge reason for my improvements,” Buchala said. “But I’m not satisfied. My ultimate goal is to qualify for states before my high school career is over, and I know to accomplish that I’ll need to keep working and keep improving.”

That means Buchala’s days will continue to be a blur during the swim season - which will hopefully lead to her being a blur as she slices through the water.