Upper St. Clair Swimming End-of-Year Results

The girls and boys swim teams both accomplished many things this year in their AAA division. One was the hunt for first place in the WPIAL early March and the second was an exceptional, formidable showing at the PIAA meet later that month.

The girls' team took the section title this year in regular season play, while the boys' team placed second. Both teams ended their respective seasons with 8-2 records overall.

On the heels of achieving , the boys' team still performed well with a WPIAL runner-up finish, out of 23 scoring teams.

The girls' team placed third in the WPIAL out of 26 scoring teams, after having placed dead last three years ago.

Natalie Johnsen took first place in the 100-yard butterfly and Brittany Dudzinski placed first in the 100-yard backstroke.

The boys placed a record high fifth in the state meet out of 55 teams that scored, while the girls followed with sixth place out of 58 teams.

Most Upper St. Clair High School swimmers are also members of Upper St. Clair Swim Club, the community’s age group swim team.

Both the high school team and the club team have come a long way under skipper Tom Donati, who is head coach for both entities.

“Tom has done for the high school program what he has done for USC’s age group competitive swim program since he has been in charge for the past three years,” stated Doug Shaffer, Upper St. Clair Swim Club president.

In addition to becoming increasingly competitive, the club has also grown in size, currently reaching its maximum of 150 club swimmers and its active alumni group who compete at the Division 1 and Division 3 collegiate levels and come back to train over the summer months.

“We realize that Upper St. Clair Swim Club is a feeder program to a competitive high school team,” said Donati. “But the club program is successful in and of itself, with many of our age group swimmers accomplishing feats not seen in many years.”

Again this year, USC swimmers will compete as a group in and march in on May 19. While not necessarily landlubbers, the swimmers and coaches see this as a great way to connect with the many other youth groups represented in USC.

Most importantly to USC aquatics, a team approach is emphasized, from the swimmers’ performances all the way down to the nine assistant coaches under Donati, some for high school and some for club.

“Our coaches have done and continue to do a marvelous job with our swimmers. Each of them brings something special to the table, and I am very grateful and lucky to have them in our program,” Donati said.

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