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| Contributed photo/jMavor Photography Darren Newbegin of the Caribou Vikings shows good form while competing in the 100-yard butterfly at Saturday afternoon’s meet against Old Town, which was held at the Limestone Community School pool. |
CARIBOU — The Caribou High School swim team is once again making a splash in the water. After not fielding a team in 2011-12 due to low numbers, the Vikings will be back in the pool for the upcoming season.
Coach Erin Tateishi-Ouellette is very pleased to have her team back after a year off, but she also realizes she has her work cut out for her.
“We are in a unique situation,” she explained. “Besides a little bit of summer recreation department swimming, most of these athletes have never competed in swim races.”
With no formal feeder program, the Caribou swim team has a different set of challenges than many of the teams they are competing against.
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| Contributed photo/jMavor Photography Members of the Caribou varsity swim team are, in front from left, Rachel Wasson, Alexis McLean, Andromeda Grondin and Laura Doucette. Second row, Krsna Johnson, Laksmis Johnson, Kate Pelletier and Lindsey Cote. Third, Jensen Jones, Victoria Dunn and Olivia Engstrom. Back, Tom McLean, Darren Newbegin, Grant Bennett, Austin Scott, Seth Paddleford. Absent when photo was taken were Megan Duplessie, Ron Lund, Brenan Page and managers Lauren Pierce and Destiny Berz. |
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| Contributed photo/jMavor Photography Grant Bennett gets ready for his leg of the 200-yard medley relay during Saturday’s meet against Old Town held in Limestone. |
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| Contributed photo/jMavor Photography Laksmis Johnson of the Caribou swim team gives it her all in the 200-yard individual medley during a meet held at Limestone Saturday. |
“They (the swimmers) quickly find out that this is a lot different than recreational swimming. I have to spend a significant amount of time teaching them the basics of the sport — proper stroke technique, turns, touches and even the best ways to swim a particular race,” she said. “With the size of the team (21 swimmers), it is a challenge every day to meet all of the needs.”
Fortunately, Tateishi-Ouellette has an eager and enthused group of swimmers who are excited about learning and working at improving. Throughout the season, the athletes will work to perfect each of the strokes – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, while at the same time trying to find what their particular best strokes are.
“We will get better every time we get in the water,” continued Tateishi-Ouellette, “as long as they continue to work hard.”
Leading the way for this fairly young squad will be seniors Grant Bennett, Laksmis Johnson, Ron Lund, Darren Newbegin and Rachel Wasson. All will do freestyle events, while Bennett will also focus on back, Johnson the individual medley (all four strokes), Newbegin the back and fly and Wasson distance events and the fly.
The junior representatives on the team are Tom McLean, who is a freestyler, and Vickie Dunn, who does the freestyle and back. The sophomore class includes Courtney Cote (freestyle and back), Katie Pelletier (freestyle and back), Krsna Johnson (freestyle and breast) and Andromeda Grondin (freestyle).
A large freshman class to go along with the large group of sophomores bodes well for the future of the program. The ninth-graders are Megan Duplessie, a freestyler; Laura Doucette, free and back; Olivia Engstrom, freestyle and breast; Alexis McLean, freestyle; Jensen Jones, freestyle and back; Seth Paddleford, freestyle and breast, Brenan Page, freestyle and Austin Scott, IM and freestyle.
All of the team members will find themselves in the various relays as Coach Tateishi-Ouellette continues to work to find her best combinations. The managers for the team are Destiny Berz and Lauren Pierce, both freshmen as well.
Caribou uses the indoor pool at Limestone Community School as its home base, and hosted a meet with Old Town Dec. 15. They will also host meets with Foxcroft Academy and Presque Isle on Dec. 29 and Feb. 2, as well as Washington Academy on Jan. 12. The Vikes will travel to Mount Desert Island on Dec. 21, Ellsworth on Jan. 4 and Hampden Academy on Jan. 19.
“This should be an exciting season,” said Tateishi-Ouellette. “With an eager and willing group of athletes, it will be interesting to see just how far they can come.”
