Zimmerman, Dando earn silver

OREFIELD — Day One of the District 11 swimming championship ended with two area swimmers picking up trips to the PIAA state championship meet next month at Bucknell University.

Erika Zimmerman of Panther Valley and Maddi Dando of Marian both came in seeded second in their respective events. Neither disappointed, finishing the day with silver medals around their necks.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Zimmerman — a sophomore — was up against freshman Mimi Norris of Central Catholic in a matchup of two of the better younger swimmers in the district. The two battled to a close finish in their heat, with both beating the qualifying times they set during the regular season.

“Overall, I’m happy with my performance, but I was hoping to swim a little faster than I did,” said Zimmerman. “I felt ready to go coming into the meet, and I knew it was going to be difficult and I felt a little nervous, but I just came in with the mindset to do my best.”

Zimmerman beat her qualifying time by just over three seconds, finishing with a time of 1:59.06 — only 1.08 seconds behind Norris, who took the gold medal. The finish earned Zimmerman a trip to states for the second straight season. Zimmermann also took the silver medal at last year’s district meet.

“I think it will be really fun to go back to states, and I’m excited to race there again,” said Zimmerman. “It will be nice going back with a little experience and knowing a little more about what to expect.”

Dando’s experience was very much like Zimmerman’s in that she also came in seeded second in the 200-yard IM and went home with a silver medal.

With a qualifying time of 2:17.07, Dando swam the event in 2:15.89. The gold medal went to Notre Dame-Green Pond senior Gianna Farina, who won her fourth straight district gold medal in the event.

Dando held a slight lead after 100 yards, but Farina was able to catch her in the second half of the race, finishing with a time of 2:11.46. The sophomore swimmer also finished second at districts last season, earning a trip to Bucknell.

Zimmerman and Dando were the only two area swimmers to pick up medals on the first day of competition. Zimmerman will swim in the 500-yard freestyle today, while Dando will compete in the 100-yard backstroke — where she comes in with the top qualifying time of 59.87 seconds.

The highest finish of the day among relay teams was from the Tamaqua boys in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Brandon Long, Alex Barron, Nathaniel Kovalchick and Zeno Zukovich finished fifth.

In team standings, Blue Mountain leads on both the boys and girls side. Moravian Academy is second and Central Catholic third in the girls standings. Tamaqua is currently seventh among the girls teams. Saucon Valley is second in the boys standings with Central Catholic in third place. The Tamaqua boys are in eighth place.

Saturday will see Panther Valley’s Emily Newton, who finished sixth in the 50-yard freestyle, swim as the top qualifier in the 100-yard breaststroke. Zimmerman, as mentioned above, will compete again in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in seeded fourth.

In boys action, Carson Allen of Palmerton is seeded third in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Jovannie Avila of Northern Lehigh will swim the 100-yard freestyle. Avila comes in with the fourth best qualiftying time in the event.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Northwestern’s Scott Dillon is seeded fourth. Dillon placed sixth in Friday’s 200-yard IM.