Baily Trettel is looking for continued success while Katelyn Reott is eyeing a good first impression.

Both will represent Moniteau at the District 9 Class 2A Swimming Championships Friday and Saturday at Saint Marys High School.

Trettel is the defending champion in the girls 100-yard butterfly and backstroke and is seeded No. 1 in both events entering the district meet.

Reott, a freshman, has the best time in all of District 9 in the 50 freestyle and breaststroke.

Moniteau does not have a swimming team, so both swimmers compete independently.

Trettel practices at Deer Lakes High School and competes at home meets there and at Butler High School. Reott trains with Butler's YMCA team and saw action this season at Slippery Rock High School's home meets.

“I'm swimming about three hours every day, so I'm getting the same work in that a swimmer on a team does,” Trettel said. “I felt pressure (to repeat as champion) at the start of the season, but I have confidence in my training.”

That vigorous workload has revealed itself in dramatic fashion in the District 9 rankings. Trettel's best time in the butterfly (1:01.57) is more than five seconds faster than anyone else in the district. In the backstroke (1:02.49), the margin is over six seconds.

With that kind of separation between Trettel and her competitors, it may seem easy for complacency to set in, but she is driven by a sturdy ambition to improve.

“I'm not happy with my seed times,” she said. “I made the state meet last year, but was nervous and didn't do my best. That motivated me to push harder. If I make the state meet again, I feel I'll do better.”

To guarantee a spot at the PIAA meet, scheduled next month at Bucknell University, a swimmer must win at their district meet.

Reott, despite being in her first year of varsity swimming, is one strong swim away from getting there.

She's ranked first in the 50 freestyle by .05 seconds, but in the breaststroke, the gap is nearly 3½ seconds.

“Getting to states is my main aim,” said Reott, whose sister, Sydney, will be swimming the 50 and 100 freestyles at Saint Marys. “I did well in the meets I swam in at Slippery Rock. Sometimes, the girls heats were filled up, so I swam with the boys and won some of those events.”

Deborah Reott, Katelyn and Sydney's mother, serves as their coach.

“There's a rule that to be on deck at the district meet, you have to be a certified coach,” said Deborah. “I took a course online and it took many hours to complete.

“Katelyn swims for the Butler YMCA team, but I was at the meets at Slippery Rock and you can see, between the boys and girls, there's a camaraderie that comes from being on a high school team. These girls don't have a team and they are missing out on that.”