Butler sophomore swimmer Laura Goettler believes the pressure is on her — and with good reason.

She may be seeded second in WPIAL Class AAA in the 200-yard individual medley behind North Allegheny's Torie Buerger, but Goettler is the defending champ in the event, setting a district meet record of 2 minutes, 1.78 seconds last year.

The two will be swimming side by side at the WPIAL Championships, scheduled Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

“Being the record-holder, I think the pressure is on me,” she said. “More is expected of me.”

Buerger's top time in the WPIAL this season of 2:02.47 is over four seconds ahead of Goettler's 2:06.99.

“Laura had that time in a meet back in December,” said Butler coach Dave Bocci. “I expect the race to be very close.”

Goettler is seeded first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.64. She placed second in the event last year.

“My goal in the IM is two minutes or under,” she said. “For the breaststroke, it's 1:01. It's been a good season for me and I'm excited about WPIALs.”

Mars freshman Megan Smith hasn't let her youth get in the way of a standout season thus far. She is ranked eighth in the WPIAL in the 200 IM.

“She's a hard-worker and is extremely coachable,” said Mars coach Todd Slobodnyak. “We've worked on pacing her in the IM and she's taken it in stride. She is capable of dropping a lot of time.”

Boys

Owen Blazer has turned in a solid campaign in the pool to this point, but Seneca Valley's sophomore swimmer knows a surefire way to make it a great one later this week.

Blazer is seeded second in the 100 backstroke. His seed time of 51.29 seconds is a career varsity-best effort. North Allegheny senior Andrew Zhang is ranked No. 1 in the district with a time of 50.64.

Blazer does not have a specific time in mind, just a simple goal.

“I'd love to go below 50 (seconds), but whatever time gets me to that top spot on the podium would be good enough for me,” said Blazer, who earned a medal in the event by placing eighth last year. “My coaches (Brian Blackwell and Jeff Gavin) said to not worry about a certain time. If I just focus on hitting that wall first, it can happen for me.”

Blackwell believes Blazer's previous experience will aid him in his quest for a title.

“Last year, everything was new to him,” he said. “But now, he's been to WPIALs and states and I think that puts him in a better place than last year because he can better manage the stress. He knows what's coming down the pike.”

Blazer is also ranked fifth in the butterfly (52.12) and is a member of SV's 200 medley relay team that set a school record of 1:37.54 earlier this season. The quartet also includes Christian Sawyer, Connor Quiggle and Jake Lee.

Blackwell said that he has a few other swimmers eligible to swim the event, but the record-breakers are the favorites to compete at Pitt.

“The other three guys are all seniors,” Blazer said. “I want to give everything I have to help them get to states.”

Butler junior Alex Deemer will be making his third appearance at the district meet, seeded fifth in the 200 freestyle and seventh in the 500 freestyle.

His goals have evolved since his freshman year.

“It's still an exciting thing, competing at WPIALs, but aside from the competition itself, I'm hoping to get looks from colleges,” Deemer said.

Deemer's two older brothers, Ryan and Joe, continued their swimming careers at Ashland University and Shippensburg, respectively. Alex is hoping to do the same.

“I want to be committed to a college by this time next year,” he said.

Butler's star freshmen — David Bocci and Sam Deemer — are both seeded in the top 10.

Bocci is fourth in the 500 freestyle and Deemer is ninth in the butterfly.

“Their goal two years ago was to get to the state meet as freshmen,” said Coach Bocci. “They've worked hard and put themselves in position to do that.”