When athletes join the boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams, they arrive with vastly different experience levels. What keeps them going through the season is the camaraderie and support of their teammates, assistant coach Jamie LaRochelle says.
“Somehow, in spite of the different levels of talent and accomplishment, it works. The team has a fabulous culture, where everyone on the team feels supported,” Jamie says.
The athletes bond on bus rides to Milton’s home pool, located at UMass Boston, and cheer for one another at meets. Swimming can be a solitary experience, says Jamie, but the team’s closeness helps the athletes feel part of something bigger than themselves.
Jamie joined his first winter swim league in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, and swam throughout high school at Deerfield Academy and college at both the University of Florida and the University of Maine. He “appreciated the challenge of trying to perfect his stroke technique and race strategy.” His efforts were rewarded with faster times, so it was easy to stay engaged.
Jamie started teaching in 1986, and has been at Milton for 22 years, where he now teaches human anatomy and physiology, and chemistry. At one of his first schools, Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, Jamie coached swimming along with Milton’s head coach and fellow science faculty member, Bob Tyler.
After a successful stint coaching at a Catholic School in Texas, Jamie moved back north. He and his wife have four children, all of whom graduated from Milton—three of whom were swim team captains. Jamie also works as the assistant coach and goalie coach for the girls’ soccer team, a team, like swimming, that has a strong sense of community and culture.
“Milton provided my children with an excellent education,” Jamie says. “The School is intentional in its efforts to have students be open-minded and thoughtful, both in regards to their academic work as well as the community around them. Milton not only wants students to recognize difference and diversity, it also encourages students to understand where people are coming from and what it means to be different.”
Milton’s swim teams compete with schools beyond the Independent School League, which means that they often face very strong competitors, such as Exeter and Deerfield, who have bigger swim programs than Milton. Realistic expectations help Milton’s swimmers stay focused on self-improvement and supporting their teammates.
The boys’ team is rebuilding after five strong swimmers graduated in 2017, while some standout competitors are emerging on the girls’ team: Caroline Magann (I), Mary Howley (III), Ledyn MacEvoy (III), Thandi McDonald (IV) and Madeline Fitzgibbon (IV) have had strong seasons. Wenli Wang (I),Lily Wright (II), Kelly Han (II), and Dylan Brown (III) have also been instrumental to the success of this year’s team.
“We generally know which teams we can beat, and which teams are going to beat us, but nobody seems to really care much about that,” Jamie says. “In practice, Bob and I try to create sets that are going to stretch their ability and challenge them, and they’re game to try. If I think they can do repeat 50s on an interval they have never tried before, they don’t say they can’t. They try, which is one of the reasons I enjoy coaching the Milton team so much.
I love working with Bob and (assistant coaches) Suzanne DeBuhr and Scott Nobles. We’re all interested in seeing the kids improve. We often talk about people not appreciating the process, but instead judging the value of an experience by the outcome or record. The Milton swimming and diving team is a group of swimmers, divers, and coaches who genuinely embrace the value in the process, which is why the team has a fabulous culture.”