Staff Writer
CARIBOU – What the varsity Viking swimmers lack in numbers this year, they make up for in effort and positive thinking. The Caribou roster features only 12 girls and four boys, which often means they can’t compete at the team-level with opponents boasting 50 or more participants. However, the CHS athletes don’t let their small numbers stop them from striving for individual excellence.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson Caribou’s varsity swim team are, from left in front, Robin Knoll, Nicole Nadeau, Hannah Holmes, Tulsi Johnson, Sara Ouellette, Rachel Jordan, Macenzie Flannery and Janelle Jordan and, in back, Paige Bradstreet, John Forbes, Amanda Guerrette, head coach Erin Tateishi, assistant coach Kyle Damboise, Ian Connelley, David Desilets, Annie Burgess and Sam Cross.
The 2007-08 roster features seniors Janelle Gagnon and Nicole Nadeau; juniors Paige Bradstreet, Sam Cross, Mackenzie Flannery and Robin Knoll; sophomores Annie Burgess, Amanda Guerrette, Rachel Jordan and Sara Ouellette; and freshmen Hannah Holmes and Tulsi Johnson. The boys’ swimmers include John Forbes, Zach Corriveau, David Desilets and Ian Connelley.
“This year we have a variety of swimmers so we’re able to cover all of the events,” said head coach Erin Tateishi.
The squad has also impressed Tateishi with their athletic discipline and determination. “They’ve become faster as the season has progressed, some by as much as 30 seconds.”
Forbes, Nadeau and Cross continue to strive toward qualifying for state competition this season. Forbes takes the lanes in distance and sprint freestyle events. His last distance time is less than one second off of the state marker. Nadeau posts the best times in sprint freestyle races. She needs to push two seconds off her time to make the state meet. Cross excels in distance freestyle, and is also two seconds from the cutoff.
Swimmers likely to participate in the state relay competitions are Knoll, Nadeau, Bradstreet, Johnson, Cross and Jordan.
Last year, the individual swimmers could not attend the meet due to illness. Therefore, returning athletes have a special motivation to push their muscles and strokes to a quicker tempo. Their motivation has inspired the younger inductees.
“I strive for personal bests as opposed to team wins,” said Tateishi.
