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Carrying The Banner

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Not having an established swim team at her school didn't stop Caitlen Smaga from pursuing the high school sports experience.

As the charter member of the Bishop McLaughlin swim team, which is now a two-person team, Smaga was determined to represent her school, even though it didn't happen for a year after she came from Ohio.

'My dad brought it up to them, and I asked a few times,' Smaga said. 'We went to the school knowing they weren't going to have a team that year, but they led me to believe that it's going to happen, and it did.'

At first, Bishop McLaughlin was looking to go all out for the swim team, but there wasn't enough interest to go through the trouble.

'When they first wanted a team they wanted the whole thing - a coach, a pool - and they couldn't find that,' Smaga said. 'And there wasn't much student motivation except me. I mean, there were kids that were like 'Yeah I'll come out there and do it' but how serious were they? They weren't.

'So they didn't have enough people, they couldn't get a coach, and the people at the school before didn't know much about swimming. It was just kind of a bad matchup.'

In the meantime, Smaga swam for the TBay club team that met at the Veterans Memorial Pool in Hudson, and that's where she met Hudson coach Julie Heise.

With Heise's help, that included contacting the Florida High School Athletic Association and getting the proper forms, Smaga was eligible to represent Bishop McLaughlin by the beginning of this season.

'My dad and Coach Heise from Hudson and my TBay coach Kevin Rumble were able to get stuff done with the school and the principal and the athletic director all got on board,' Smaga said. 'She's got all these meets planned. She's been great through the whole thing so it's been really nice.

'I like it. I've been having a lot more fun this season. High school meets are a good experience. USA meets are huge. It's nice to be in a meet that's only three hours.'

Smaga must compete in four regular-season meets in order to participate in postseason meets and be eligible for the state meet if her times allow.

She swam at Hudson and had a meet in St. Pete with Pinellas teams. Bishop McLaughlin athletic director Michael Zelenka has scheduled an all-Catholic school meet in Orlando.

At the Hudson meet with River Ridge, Smaga felt right at home with those swimmers because she knew most of them from club swimming.

'It was kind of nice because I knew everyone,' Smaga said. 'The last team I swam against in St. Pete, they were a little larger and it was kind of weird being there by myself.'

But the goal is and always has been the state meet. So far, Smaga has posted the best times in the county in the 100 fly at 1:06.50.

'That's the one I really want to go for,' Smaga said.

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