Carol Lin

The Fox Chapel Girls, led by Coach Todd Clark, swam their way to second place in the WPIAL this Winter. They looked good in the States, too, finishing 10th in the state overall. The 400 Freestyle Relay, made up of Carol Lin, Shannon Dunn, Megan Knox and Katie Leech took 8th place to medal at State. And at WPIALs, the 200 Freestyle Relay, made up of Lin, Dunn, Boyd and Maggie Deiseroth clenched third place with an All-American time, then went to States and along with Katie Leech, nailed down third place there as well.

Said Assistant Coach Sue Marinzel (who swam at the Senior Olympics last Summer,) "My favorite quote is: 'Whether you think you can or can't, you're right.' Lots of kids have God-given talents, but if they don't have the right attitude about practice and life in general, they don't have what it takes to make a champion." But the Foxes had what it takes, she said. "Over Christmas break, the kids had double-practices every day, when they got neck and neck, they said ‘I have worked hard and deserve to win.’"

Senior Co-Captain Katie Leech, daughter of Fred and JoEllen Leech, double-WPIAL Medal winner (Silver-100 backstroke; Bronze-200medley) and anchor on the relays that medaled at States, agrees that the secret was hard work: "I really wanted to do well this year, so I stopped playing soccer in the fall to concentrate on swimming. It was a tough decision. But I knew that if I really wanted to do well this year, I had to make some sacrifices. We all dedicated ourselves to winning, came to morning practice at 5:50am and practice right after school. I think that is how we got better."

The Foxes' WPIAL Gold Medal Champion (200Free) Carol Lin, who also swam on the State relay that took the Bronze, echoed the hard work theme: "We all just wanted to be really good this year. We all worked hard and it paid off. It's going to hurt sometimes but you have to push through it, because you know it's going to pay off." Lin, the daughter of Jennifer Shang and Ted Lin, has three more years for it to pay off. She's a freshman.