The Columbia-Troy-Averill Park (CTAP) Girls Swim team started the season off hot, with a 2-1 record in September.
After finishing fifth in sectionals last season, the Columbia-Troy-Averill Park Girls’ Swim team is looking to continue its success in the pool with another strong postseason run this year. The team has started the season with a 2-1 record, defeating Shaker and Bethlehem but falling to Saratoga. According to Swimcloud.com, they are currently ranked sixth in Section II and fifth in Division I.
With a significant number of returning swimmers from Troy and Averill Park, along with several new swimmers from Columbia (which officially merged with the Troy-AP team this year), the team is poised for a standout season under Head Coach Emily Caboot, who took over in the 2020-2021 school year.
“Every single dual meet, they put their best foot forward. I’ve been impressed as a coach by how this program has grown from the last four years to now my fifth year with this team,” Caboot says.
Senior Eve Oathout says the mentality of the team serves as motivation to always work harder.
“I just look around at all the girls around me and just see how they’re all working so hard and swimming hard, and it pushes me to swim better.”
Sophomore Angelina MacLeod agreed, noting the positive impact of team camaraderie.
“We have a really good team, a good group of people that have been together for a while. And I think that helps when you have a good team that can push you,” says Sophomore Angelina MacLeod.
MacLeod has had a dominant start to the season and is currently ranked the 6th best swimmer in Section 2, according to Swimcloud.com. She finished first in both the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM against Shaker on Sept. 11. Her accomplishments extend beyond high school meets, including an impressive first place in the 1500 L Free finals at the NE CLIP Memorial Day Weekend LCM Finals in Springfield, MA in May and a second-place finish in the 1650 free at the Boys and Girls Club National Championships in St. Petersburg, Florida in April.
MacLeod has been on the varsity team since she was in seventh grade, and she’s been swimming since she was three years old. Now in her fourth varsity season (with two more to go), she continues to strive for excellence.
“I love the ups and downs of swimming, the hard practices, because once you complete them, you feel accomplished and proud. Last year was really it was a little hard at some points, but I’m glad that I did so good at sectionals and I placed top four in all my events. And then this year I’m really hoping to go for that state’s cut and break a couple records at the pool,” MacLeod says.
Columbia-Troy-AP defeated Bethlehem 50-44 on Wednesday, September 25.
Her ambitions extend beyond Section II. MacLeod competed at an AAU meet in Brazil for Team USA, and in October, she will travel to Bahrain to compete again for the USA team. Her biggest goal? Qualifying for the 2028 Olympic trials.
Despite MacLeod’s personal achievements, Caboot ensures the team stays focused on collective success.
“I want to make sure we keep that momentum going. So that’s one thing we started with at the beginning of the season, discussing how well we did last year, but having that discussion that that doesn’t come just because we did last year. We have to continue working. Everybody else is going to be after us to try to beat us because we are such a strong team,” Caboot says.
Coach Caboot’s pride in her team is evident. Beyond their success in the pool, she values the team’s growth as a unit.
“I’m just so proud of all of them. So as you get, over the last 4 or 5 years, you get to know them each individually and get to know each one of their goals and just seeing them come together and have those such great moments, it just makes me so happy. Makes me also like, remember my times as a swimmer and, just like you build relationships here that you’ll hang on to.”
Her support, both in and out of the pool, isn’t lost on her swimmers.
“She really pushes me, like she pushes us during the swims. When we get to harder sets, she’ll be encouraging. And then when we’re, like, doing dryland, she’s always like, being supportive and telling us what like, it’s beneficial for,” says MacLeod.
Columbia-Troy-AP defeated Bethlehem 50-44 on Wednesday, September 25.
“She gives a lot of great advice. She’s very positive which helps you improve and has a lot of technical advice to help improve your strokes, says Oathout.
Caboot’s history as a swimmer provides an important perspective not only in the way she coaches, but the way she connects with her team.
“Because she’s a swimmer too, she can relate to what we’re working towards she can talk to us and help us through hard things,” said senior Charlize DeLair.
The team will face Niskayuna and Schenectady on the road before competing in an invitational at Shenendehowa on Oct. 5. They will return home for a triangular meet on Oct. 8 and then face Albany in a dual meet on Oct. 16. The season’s last home meet is set for Oct. 23 against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, with the season finale on the road at Shenendehowa on Oct. 29.