Tim O'Toole was never a swimmer himself. But he sure can coach the sport.

His own children are testament to that.

Patrick O'Toole, 14, and his 10-year-old sister Stephanie compete for their father's SEBCO squad in the A-K Valley Swim League. They also compete for the University of Pittsburgh's summer swim club.

And they're making major strides in both.

With SEBCO, Stephanie O'Toole has broken at least 12 pool records this season and owns SEBCO's pool record in every event in her age group. Patrick O'Toole has broken team records this year.

"I want to break every record there is in every event there is," Stephanie said. "I like winning … I love competition."

Both competed in the Allegheny Mountain Long Course Swimming Championships recently at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool. Stephanie placed first in four events - 200-meter individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 breast stroke and 50 breast stroke - and second in two others.

"I like the 100 breast stroke the best - because I'm good at it," she said.

Her brother placed second in the 400 IM and sixth in the 1,500 freestyle. He only switched to long distance swimming during the past year.

"I enjoy trying different stuff and I wanted to see what (distance swimming) was like," Patrick said. "I tried it, liked it and decided to stay with it."

The O'Toole siblings have qualified for the US Swimming Long Course Championships - a 12-state Eastern zone tournament - slated Aug. 10-14 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Stephanie O'Toole placed fourth in the 100 breast stroke there last year.

"All I want to do is swim my best times out there and see what happens," she said.

Stephanie O'Toole has swam the 200 IM in 2 minutes, 47.05 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 1:08.3 this year. Both marks are fractions of a second off being among the top 16 in the nation for her age group.

"U.S. Swimming keeps those top 16 times," her father said. "It's safe to say Stephanie's among the top 30 right now."

She has already qualified for the long course championships in every event she swims - 10 in all - and must select six in which to compete.

"I don't know if any swimmer has ever done that," her father said of qualifying in every event. "That's a phenomenal achievement.

"I'm not just saying this because she's my daughter. Stephanie is the best swimmer I've ever coached. She's not a big girl who relies on power. Technically, she's very sound."

Patrick's not doing too badly, either. He has already shaved 31 seconds off his time in the 1,500-meter freestyle, going from 18 minutes, 39 seconds to 18:08.

A former soccer and basketball player who was also involved in Tae Kwon Do, he is solely a swimmer now.

"It's the first sport I ever did and it's the sport I want to focus on," he said.

Both O'Toole siblings began swimming competitively at age 5. Their father had them in the water before they turned 2.

O'Toole was never a swimmer himself. He was a national champion roller skater, yet he has been Knoch High School's and SEBCO's swim coach for four years now.

"I became interested in swimming because of my kids," he said. "I went to coaching clinics on my own and began watching videos.

"I enjoy working with kids. I see what they're doing wrong in the water and help them to get better. Both of my kids are diligent, hard workers.

"They've earned everything they've gotten," he added.