Already one of the best swimmers in western Massachusetts, Holyoke Catholic swimmer Meriza Werenski found success on a national level.

Werenski, 15, won three events and took third in another at the YMCA Long Course Swimming National Championship in Atlanta, Ga. late last month.

"It was really nice to go down there and compete," Werenski said. "We all went down there with a lot of expectations, and we all came out of it with really positive feelings about our performances. I'm really proud of how our team, as a whole competed."

The South Hadley-native's first-place finish in the 200-meter Individual Medley of 2:18.02 was also an Olympic trials qualifying time. She hasn't decided whether or not she'll compete in the trials which are next summer in Nebraska.

Werenski won the 400-meter IM (4:57.09) and the 200-meter breaststroke (2:63.27). Her time of 1:14.61 in the 100-meter breast was good enough to grab 3rd place.

"I've been doing all the events that I competed in since I was very young," Werenski said. "I've changed a little bit on how I go about preparing and training for events like the medley and breast, but I've been doing them ever since I was little."

Werenski started swimming around six years old, when her parents brought her to the Holyoke YMCA for lessons. After seeing that she picked up swimming quickly, YMCA instructor and coach Randy Smith convinced her to start competing in race events.

"Randy and I have been working together for about 10 years now," Werenski said. "He's been really great to me and he really knows what he's doing. He teaches a lot about working hard and supporting everyone on a team, because one of your teammate's performances can lift your energy up, so we really listen to him."

Going into her junior year this fall, Werenski is excited to start the fall swim season. "We all have a lot of fun during the fall and work hard for race days," Werenski said.

With college coming up on the horizon, the junior has ambitions to continue swimming at the next level and compete against some of the best that collegiate swimming has to offer.

"It's been a serious goal of mine for a long time now to swim in college," Werenski said. "I know it's still a couple years away, but it'll be here before you know it, so I'm trying hard to get better and better all the time."