Each season brings excitement for Tamaqua swimming coach Jen Paisley.

And the 2021-22 campaign is no different.

“We have a pretty full roster this year,” Paisley said. “We have 13 boys and 19 girls so our numbers have really not decreased from year to year, so that’s always a positive sign, to see kids continuing to come out for the team, seeing brand new kids come out.

“We have some freshmen that came up through the youth program, the feeder program and then we also have some brand new swimmers who never swam before and just wanted to kind of try it out and see what swimming was all about. So that’s just good to see how they grow and learn and develop into swimmers as the season progresses, too.”

Being able to maintain that depth has been vital to the success of the Blue Raiders program. And Paisley’s athletes usually share the same enthusiasm for their squad with others to keep that going.

“I feel like the kids to a really great job of kind of recruiting within the high school itself,” said Paisley. “And we also realize that because we’re not a large school, we don’t really have the luxury to commit to one thing; we kind of have to share our kids.

“So I have kids that are participating in other sports, I have kids that are participating in the drama club and chorus and band, so it’s definitely a cooperative atmosphere that every group leader is kind of working together and realizing that these kids are going to be interested in a whole lot of things, and really allowing them to explore those other interests and still participate in everything. So that’s definitely one benefit that the group leaders really work together to make sure that these kids can be involved in lots of different things.”

At last year’s District 11 meet, Tamaqua’s 200 freestyle relay team picked up a medal with a fourth-place finish. The foursome of Nathaniel Kovalchick, Jack Tharp, Brandon Long and Ethan Amershek swam the event in 1:41.87.

That same foursome also swam to fifth place in two other relays. Amershek, a senior sprinter competing in his final district meet, swam the anchor leg of both freestyle relays.

Amershek (individual medley) and Long (backstroke) both took ninth place in individual events, while Tharp (individual medley) finished 10th in his only event.

“We only have one senior boy this year, so I’m really going count on our depth,” said Paisley. “My sophomore boys class is probably the strongest group of core swimmers, and they’ve kind of been swimming together since they were in the youth program. So I’m really going to look to them to kind of step into different roles and swim some different events because the newer kids are mainly going to be backstroke and freestyle just because right now we’re going to focus on learning those strokes, get them competition ready, so those more veteran boys are going to have to be more specialty swimmers in the IM, and the 500 free, and distance freestyle, and things like that.”

“I’m expecting Brandon Long to do really well in the backstroke, Stephen Behun is likely going to be in the IM, backstroke, breaststroke kind of anywhere that I need him. Jathan Krall is another distance/freestyler; he’s really strong in the 200 and the 500 freestyle, and Jack Tharp for butterfly events.”

The Tamaqua girls team put together a solid performance at the district meet. Four of its swimmers finished higher than they were seeded coming into districts.

Rylee Wenzel and Maura Walker both finished higher than their seeding in the 50-yard freestyle, with Wenzel finishing 11th and Walker 12th. Madelyn Jones and Lily McNutt both moved up over their seeding in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“Mia Jones will be back on the diving board so we’re expecting that she’ll perform well there,” said Paisley. “Our seniors this year, I’m really going to depend on them to kind of fall into those leadership roles because we had a very core group of seniors that were strong leaders in the pool, so I’m kind of looking for those senior kids to step up into that role and takeover for those that graduated.

“Rylee Wenzel is one of our sprinters. She’s a strong sprinter, fast freestyler. Maura Walker is a good mid-distance, 200IM, 100 butterfly. Lexi Buchala is a very strong swimmer, she’s very versatile, too, so I can kind of move her around the lineup as well as Gabby Blasko. So we have a lot of options as far as events to kind of fill in some of the empty spots that we have in certain areas. They are solid no matter where I put them in the lineup.”

The numbers on both sides will also help in the relay events, and make Tamaqua a formidable opponent in the Schuylkill League and beyond.

“Anytime you can get two strong relays together, those are huge points during a meet,” said Paisley. “For both the boys and girls we should be able to get two solid relay teams in all three relay events. So I feel like that’s going to be a big advantage for us.” program. So I’m really going to look to them to kind of step into different roles and swim some different events because the newer kids are mainly going to be backstroke and freestyle just because right now we’re going to focus on learning those strokes, get them competition ready, so those more veteran boys are going to have to be more specialty swimmers in the IM, and the 500 free, and distance freestyle, and things like that.”

“I’m expecting Brandon Long to do really well in the backstroke, Stephen Behun is likely going to be in the IM, backstroke, breaststroke kind of anywhere that I need him. Jathan Krall is another distance/freestyler; he’s really strong in the 200 and the 500 freestyle, and Jack Tharp for butterfly events.”

The Tamaqua girls team put together a solid performance at the district meet. Four of its swimmers finished higher than they were seeded coming into districts.

Rylee Wenzel and Maura Walker both finished higher than their seeding in the 50-yard freestyle, with Wenzel finishing 11th and Walker 12th. Madelyn Jones and Lily McNutt both moved up over their seeding in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“Mia Jones will be back on the diving board so we’re expecting that she’ll perform well there,” said Paisley. “Our seniors this year, I’m really going to depend on them to kind of fall into those leadership roles because we had a very core group of seniors that were strong leaders in the pool, so I’m kind of looking for those senior kids to step up into that role and takeover for those that graduated.

“Rylee Wenzel is one of our sprinters. She’s a strong sprinter, fast freestyler. Maura Walker is a good mid-distance, 200IM, 100 butterfly. Lexi Buchala is a very strong swimmer, she’s very versatile, too, so I can kind of move her around the lineup as well as Gabby Blasko. So we have a lot of options as far as events to kind of fill in some of the empty spots that we have in certain areas. They are solid no matter where I put them in the lineup.”

The numbers on both sides will also help in the relay events, and make Tamaqua a formidable opponent in the Schuylkill League and beyond.

“Anytime you can get two strong relays together, those are huge points during a meet,” said Paisley. “For both the boys and girls we should be able to get two solid relay teams in all three relay events. So I feel like that’s going to be a big advantage for us.”