BY JEREMY KOVARIK
For the Republic-Times

Once again, the Waterloo swim team is off to a strong start. On Saturday, the Piranhas hosted their only home meet of the year against Greenville at the YMCA and defeated the Clippers by a score of 344-171 to improve their record to 3-0 on the season.

It was Waterloo’s second win over Greenville this summer, with the other victory coming against Sparta Country Club.

The Piranhas were boosted by spectacular performances in the medley and freestyle relays, events that they have dominated throughout the season. Waterloo was also augmented by Connor Flack, who is having an outstanding season so far. With a time of 1:09.91, Flack broke his own record—set earlier this season—in the 13-14 boys backstroke.

Flack, who also set the record in the 13-14 boys individual medley this summer, is one of several Piranhas in the midst of a stellar season.

Waterloo coach Bart Jones acknowledged Samantha Otten, Grant Higgerson, Grace Busch, Joseph Hooser, Kiera Lenhardt, Janie Kehrer, Andy Bennett, Cameron Rubemeyer, Gabby Schmitz, and Kennedy Moehrs as some of the major contributors to the Piranhas’ success.

“I’m extremely pleased with how we’ve swam as a team this year,” Jones said. “We’ve done as well as expected.”

Jones—along with several Piranha parents—also expressed happiness with how efficiently the meets have been run this summer. Swim meets can be notoriously long, sometimes lasting up to four or five hours. This year, the Kaskaskia Swim Conference dropped diving, and the move has tremendously increased the speed of meets. That includes Saturday’s contest, which was finished in “record time.”

Waterloo looks to extend their unblemished record as they take on Trenton and Sparta Country Club next week on the road to end their regular season schedule.

The Piranhas will then begin the post-season conference meet in Trenton, with the preliminary round on July 18, and the finals July 20.