Every high school swimmer wants to be at their best this time of the year.

Judging from their latest performance, Tukker Uniatowski and Abby Parsons are there.

Both juniors, Uniatowski of Butler and Parsons of Seneca Valley set a program record in the breaststroke and backstroke, respectively, at the WPIAL Class AAA Championship Meet last month.

Uniatowski earned his first WPIAL medal by placing seventh with a time of 59.61 seconds, breaking the previous Golden Tornado standard of 59.72, set by Mathew Jeffers in 1997.

“I’ve been staring at that record for the last two years and I finally got it,” Uniatowski said. “It felt really nice. The back half of my breaststroke could have been better. I tightened up a little bit. I need to pull out wider with my arms, but I was happy with how I did.”

His previous best time in the event was 1:00.93, but Butler coach Dave Bocci was not surprised Uniatowski raised the bar.

“He’s been working toward it since May,” he said. “Whether it’s in the weight room or in the pool, Tukker pushes it to the next level. Every year, he has continued to improve his mechanics. I’m very proud of him.”

With a school record to his credit, Uniatowski is hoping to better his time at the PIAA Championships, to be held Friday and Saturday at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.

“I want to go faster, a 58.5,” he said. “That could get me eligible for finals (top eight).”

Parsons was a newcomer to Seneca Valley this season. She made the PIAA Class AA meet as a freshman and sophomore while at Slippery Rock High School before moving to Harmony last year. She found her niche with the Raiders before long.

“I swam for the Seneca Valley Swim Club for two and a half years, so I knew a lot of the other swimmers from that,” Parsons said. “Things are a lot more competitive here.”

Parsons finished fifth in the backstroke at WPIALs with an effort of 57.02 seconds. The performance shattered Amanda Smith’s school record of 58.78.

“Breaking the record was a goal that we had since midway through the season,” said SV coach Brian Blackwell. “That’s when we thought she had a chance.”

Parsons began swimming at age five for the Slippery Rock Eels community team.

“When I was young, I swam basically everything,” she said. “It was when I was about 12 that I started to improve my time in the backstroke more than any other event.”

With experience at the state meet already under her belt, Parsons is hoping to make waves in the Class AAA event this time around.

“It will be her first time in Class AAA,” said Blackwell. “It’s going to be different competition for her. It will be a good experience on that end.

“She really finished well the last 10 meters at WPIALs,” he added. “To break a school record by more than a second, that’s saying something. We’re hoping she can go 56 (seconds) at states.”