Doug Dietrich knew his appearance in the PIAA Class AAA swimming championships would be the last time he would compete as a high school swimmer.

He wanted to make sure it also was his best time.

Dietrich, a senior at Central Catholic, accomplished that goal in the 100 butterfly when he won his second consecutive PIAA championship in the event. Dietrich won the race at Bucknell University in 49.94 seconds to beat second place Kevin Brazitis of Manheim Township, who finished in 50.62 seconds.

"I definitely knew I had to get out fast because I knew the two guys next to me were going to go out fast," Dietrich said. "I was pushed a little bit, but I knew if I got off to a good start, I could win at the end. I knew I would finish it well."

Dietrich, a former Plum resident who resides in Aspinwall, could say the same thing about his entire high school career. In addition to the gold medal in the 100 butterfly, he took the PIAA silver medal in the 500 freestyle. Those wins came a couple weeks after he took both titles in the WPIAL championship meet.

Add in the fact that he was a four-tine PIAA qualifier in his career and finished second in the 100 butterfly as a sophomore. He won both the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle titles in the WPIAL meet as a junior as well.

"It meant a lot more to me to be out there [at the state championship meet] this year since it was my senior year and I knew it would be the last time for me," he said. "I felt like I was having a lot more fun being out there with the other seniors from our team."

So did a few other WPIAL competitors. Mark Waugh of North Allegheny, Peter Edwards of North Hills and Luis Rodriguez of North Allegheny finished fourth through sixth, respectively, in the 100 butterfly at the PIAA championships. Dietrich's Central Catholic teammate Chuck Destro finished third in the 50 freestyle and Jonathon Buerger of North Allegheny finished fourth in the 500 freestyle.

Dietrich's championship time in the 100 butterfly this year was a little more than a full second faster than his winning performance a year ago when he took the title in 50.94 seconds. Dietrich credits that improvement to a focus on swimming.

"Last year I played hockey and was in swimming," he said. "This year I just concentrated on swimming. I think that made a big difference for me. I had a different mindset this year than I had last year.

"It was really important to me to do well at states as a senior. I didn't want to go out there and lose my title in the 100 fly. I wanted to improve on what I had done before."

He did, at the same time adding to the Dietrich family swimming legacy. His older sisters, Diana and Mallory, both swim at the U.S. Naval Academy. Diana is completing her senior year and Mallory is a junior. Mallory won 14 WPIAL and 12 PIAA championships in her high school career at Oakland Catholic.

Dietrich's entire family traveled to Bucknell for the PIAA championships to root him on in his final high school meet.

"All three of my sisters were there, and that was great," he said. "They've always been supportive of me and they wanted to come out and see my last race. That was important to me, too."

Dietrich has accepted a swimming scholarship to Louisville and will compete as a Division I swimmer next season. He intends to try to compete in the 200 butterfly in college and also wants to swim some freestyle events, but will let the coaching staff decide where he can most help the team.

He chose Louisville because the head coach, Arthur Albiero, is a colleague of Don Wagner from their days at Alabama. Wagner, head coach of Mt. Lebanon's high school swim team, is Dietrich's coach with the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club.

"I wanted to go to Louisville because I'm used to that kind of coaching style," Dietrich said. "I just kind of wanted to stay with that structure."

Dietrich will enroll at Louisville in later summer, but hopes to take a significant side trip as well. He intends to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June and early July in Omaha, Neb., where he hopes to land a berth on the Olympic team for the Beijing Games later this year in the 200 butterfly.

"I know it's going to take a lot of work to get there," Dietrich said. "I think I can do it."