450 Turn Out for Fall Fest Invitational

More than 450 swimmers attended the fifth-annual Fall Festival Invitational swim meet, hosted by the Perkiomen Valley Aquatic Club at the Perk Valley High School on Sunday.

"This is the fifth year that we've had this meet," said Brenda Turner, president of the PVAC.  "This is our biggest fundraiser for the year, and I think we have over 450 swimmers for the day."

The Fall Festival also serves as the largest fundraiser of the year for the PVAC.

"The money we raise goes towards the operation of the PVAC and the Community Education Program," said Turner.  "Since we use the high school pool so much, we also try to help out and make improvements."

Some of the improvements to the pool include new benches which will surround the pool perimeter, and a new speaker system.

This year's invitational consisted of a morning and afternoon session, with ten teams from the Suburban Aquatic League being broken down into different age groups.  All records and times count towards this year's season.

"It's usually a meet where some of the kids swim their fastest times," said Turner.  "They might swim their fastest time today for the entire season."

Indeed, there were quite a few records broken on Sunday, with several coming from local PVAC swimmers.  One of those swimmers, Zach Alderfer,  set new records for the boys eight-and-under 25-yard freestyle and the 50-yard freestyle.

Below you'll find a list of some of the day's other record-setting performances

Mia Abruzzo, of Plymouth Whitemarsh, set records for the Girls Eight and Under 25-yard breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle.

Erin Merke, of the Phoenixville YMCA, set records for the Girls Eight and Under  50-yard breaststroke, 50-yard butterfly, 50-yard freestyle and  100-yard individual medley.

Jenna Johns, of Upper Dublin, set records for the Girls 12 and Under 100-yard freestyle and 50-yard butterfly.

Maddie Cooke, of the Phoenixville YMCA, set records for the Girls 12 and Under 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard individual medley.

Olivia Giampietro, of the Phoenixville YMCA,  set a record for the Girls 12 and Under 50-yard freestyle.

Zach Maher, of the Phoenixville YMCA, set records for the Boys 12 and Under 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard butterfly, 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard individual medley.

Emily Glinecke, of the Pottstown YMCA set a record for the Girls 14 and Under 100-yard breaststroke.

Travis Venables, of Pennsbury, set a record for the Boys 14 and Under 50-yard freestyle.

Caroline Hodgins, of Perk Valley, set record for the Girls 15 and Over 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly and  100-yard freestyle.

Seth Underwood, of Perk Valley, set a record for the Boys 15 and Over 200-yard freestyle.

Will Swiss, of Perk Valley, set records for the Boys 15 and Over 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.