The Breck/Blake Boys Swim & Dive Team (known as the Bearstangs) are in the midst of another intense season in the pool, representing a beacon of cooperation between two rival schools in the competitive world of high-school athletics.
This year seniors, Will Erickson ‘12, Bob Blease ‘12 and John Blake ‘12 lead the team along with Robby Dorn ‘12 and Mitch Foster ‘13 from Breck.
The indispensable Kris Rosenberg continues in his role as head coach, now in his 30th season of training both boys and girls in the aquatic arts.
When asked what his expectations were of this season’s team, he emphasized a unique approach: “We are a process-based team, and we focus on what we can control. When you focus on the process every day, good outcomes will follow.”
This philosophy has proved to be a success, leading the Bearstangs to win two recent state championship titles in 2009 and 2010.
Rosenberg’s favorite part about coaching the team? “Working with motivated individuals to achieve goals.” He also admits that he loves the competitive process, especially racing, which is evident in his enthusiastic pre-meet talks.
There is much debate between the boys’ and girls’ teams as to which one is the coach’s favorite. When faced with this question, Rosenberg insists that “the approach to boys’ and girls’ is different, but I enjoy equally the challenges of both competitive processes.”
…And so it continues. With the dual meet season now over, the boys are looking forward to the 2A Sections meet on Saturday, February 25. With this major competition on the horizon, the Bearstangs need to remember one thing: ‘Pain is just weakness leaving the body.’