JACKSON TWP — It was far more than a summer dip in the pool for Peri Gaguzis.

The member of the Seneca Valley Swim Club set four club records in the 10-and-under girls division at the Allegheny Mountain Championship Meet, held at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool in late July.

Gaguzis took down previous standards in the 400-yard freestyle (third place), 50 breaststroke (second place), 100 breaststroke (second place) and 200 individual medley (first place).

The event included swimmers from all over western Pennsylvania and parts of New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

“Peri joined the club four years ago and just had fun with it for the first two years,” said Melissa Gaguzis, Peri's mother. “She started taking it seriously when she was eight.”

“I thought I did well,” Peri Gaguzis said of her effort at Pitt. “I was nervous. I have improved, but there was a lot of good competition.”

Peri then went to the Eastern Zone Championships, which includes swimmers from Maine to Virginia, and broke the 50 breaststroke record again, swimming the event in 40.42 seconds and placing sixth.

SV Swim Club coach Brian Blackwell has seen Peri's hard work pay off.

“This was definitely a breakout season for her,” he said. “She saw her older sister, Sophia (an incoming sophomore at Seneca), qualify for the WPIAL meet last winter and that ignited a fire in her. I think she doesn't quite know the magnitude of what she has done, but she knows she is improving and she's striving for the next level.”

Peri, who is entering the fifth grade, doesn't just excel in the water. She is also in the gifted program in school and hasn't let the heavy workload get to her. Practices in the pool run an hour and a half every day Monday through Friday.

“Swimmers are so disciplined,” said Melissa Gaguzis. “Peri's schedule is so regimented. She has some time between getting home from school and going to swimming practice. I don't have to tell her to do her homework, she just does it.”

Part of Peri's success is due to the fact that she relishes doing what it takes to get better.

“I enjoy swimming practice,” she said. “It pushes me like nothing else can. My favorite events are the 200 IM and 50 breaststroke.”

But she has obviously excelled at other events, which is a good sign for Blackwell.

“Young kids often will become good in one area, but we focus on them getting good at everything,” Blackwell said. “If they have a good foundation in all four strokes, they can work on progression later.”

Peri Gaguzis was not the only SVSC member to shine at Pitt. Sarah Doncevic, Arabella Stefanowicz, Hannah Fernandes, Haihan Xu, Jonathan Simoes, Owen Blazer and Connor Quiggle each set at least one club record. Forty SVSC swimmers competed at the event.

“Overall, we are a young team,” said Blackwell. “A lot of the young kids made it to Pitt and that is impressive. It says a lot about our future.”

Aside from Peri Gaguzis, 12 other SVSC members qualified for the Eastern Zone Championships in Richmond, Va. Stefanowicz also set a pair of club records there, in the 11-12 Girls 50 breaststroke (38.63) and 100 breaststroke (1:25.13).