SouthtownStar girls swimming preview

After swimming at the state meet as a freshman and sophomore, Sandburg’s Tara Capouch knew what to expect her third time around: the claustrophobic deck packed with swimmers and coaches, the enthusiastic fans surrounding the pool and, of course, the butterflies.

Knowing what was coming, the junior wasn’t going to let the nerves get to her.

“The nerves set in and you’re OK with it,” Capouch said. “Coach Jane (Caliendo) always says the state meet is 99 percent mental and 1 percent physical. You know what you have to do and you understand what’s going to happen.”

Capouch and the Eagles put aside the nerves last season, finishing 17th in the state.

This season, Sandburg, which opens Sept. 7 against Oak Park-River Forest, is poised for bigger and better things. Led by Capouch and Brittany Kamper, the Eagles return 13 of their 14 swimmers who made it to state last year.

“I was so excited about the start of the season,” Caliendo said. “I enjoy coming to practice and challenging them. They’re knocking it out of the park right now, and they’ve handled everything I’ve thrown at them.”

Sandburg’s performance at state last season came after relatively disappointing back-to-back showings the previous two years. The 2010 effort had everything coming together for the Eagles, both individually and in the relays.

According to Caliendo, the performance rolled over into the club season that wrapped up in early August. The returns have been nothing but positive through the first weeks of practice.

Coming off a ninth-place finish at state in the 200-yard freestyle, Capouch is looking to close out her high school career on a high note. Kamper swam in three of the final four events at state, finishing 12th in the 100 backstroke.

“It was tiring, but the adrenaline helps you perform,” Kamper said. “As a team, we hope we can do better in the team rankings.”

The Eagles also will look to Caitlin Krull and Kim Katner, who were the other members of the 400 freestyle relay team that took seventh at state.

Caliendo is confident in the depth of her team.

“This is a team approach, and we’re only as good as our weakest swimmer,” Caliendo said. “If everyone lives up to expectations, we have that many more options and we’re that much better.”

As usual, the schedule is loaded. Sandburg will go to Niles West, Fenwick, St. Charles and Stevenson for weekend invitationals while also hosting its own invitational. There also are SouthWest Suburban duals against Lockport, Homewood-Flossmoor, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way Central.

With three months to go before the postseason, Capouch and her teammates are trying not to think too far ahead.

“It is more get through every meet, every practice because you don’t want to psych yourself out thinking about November and it’s the beginning of August,” Capouch said.

The taste of state success lingers, though, and the goals are higher.

“I don’t want to jinx myself, but I want another state medal,” Capouch said with a smile. “We want top 10 as a team, and basically everyone is back. We know we can.”

Caliendo thinks so, too.

“This can be the most talented team we’ve ever had here,” Caliendo said. “I’m never comfortable comparing teams, but I know this is the hardest training team that’s been here, which usually leads to success. That’s the one thing I can predict. We focus and work hard, there could be some exciting things happening in November.”

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