Tarpons fittingly win boys’, girls’ 8-5A titles

It’s only fitting that a team whose mascot is a fish is the dominant team in the water.

Last week, both the South Lafourche Tarpons boys’ and girls’ swim teams swam away with their seventh and fifth consecutive 8-5A district titles respectively.

The boys’ team finished with 401 points, outscoring South Terrebonne (314), Thibodaux (268) and Terrebonne (266)

H.L. Bourgeois (193), which finished sixth, seventh-place Central Lafourche (114) and 10th-place Ellender (seven) were the other local teams to participate in the event at the Cut Off Youth Center.

“I am just so proud of the way the kids came out and swam,” Tarpons’ coach Corey Callais said. “We had to fight through some very tough elements, but I think we just clicked at the right time.”

Four first place finishes teamed with nearly all South Lafourche swimmers finishing near the top made the boys’ repeat possible.

Relay-wise, two Tarpon teams finished first: the 200-yard medley relay team with a time of 1:53.70 and the 400-yard freestyle relay team with a time of 3:49.66.

Charles Berthelot (2:25.67) in the 200-yard individual medley and Tyler Eymard (1:05.40 in the 100-yard back stroke) were the Tarpons’ two individual winners.

“Winning this district title was the most exciting because it is my senior year and I wanted to end my high school career on top,” Berthelot said.

Junior Lee Callais, who has been a member of three Tarpons’ district championship teams, said winning those titles “makes me want to work harder next year so we can make it four.”

The girls’ team looked a little more dominant on their side, winning six events.

The team finished with 543 points, winning their seventh district title.

Terrebonne (486.5) finished second followed by South Terrebonne (299.5) and Thibodaux (155) and H.L. Bourgeois (135). Central Lafourche (101) was seventh and Ellender (36) finished ninth.

Callais credited his team for picking up their pace as the district continues to improve.

“The competition in this district is getting more and more exciting every year,” he said. “Swimming in this area has been always big, but I think people are finally realizing the sacrifices these young men and women are making having to swim in outdoor, non-heated pools where you have to deal with the weather.”

The team competes next on Nov. 20-21 at the LHSAA/State Farm Swimming State Meet. The event takes place at the SPAR Aquatic Center in Sulphur and features swimmers from across the state that qualified at meets throughout the season.

In his coaching career, Callais said this is probably the toughest qualifying times he has seen. Because his team only competes three months in a year, it is tougher for swimmers to achieve qualifying times.

“It is very difficult for many of my swimmers to make a state qualifying time because a great deal of them do not belong to a year round program,” he explained. “I find that the state meet is geared more to these swimmers who are in a pool all year long, not just the three months of our swimming season.

“I’m still proud of my teams and what they’ve accomplished,” Callais boasted. “They earned it.”