Swimming, A Lifetime Sport for Carbaugh

Kirsten Carbaugh, a Lewis Cass senior, is a great student and an outstanding athlete. She participates on our swimming and tennis team. Kirsten excels at both sports, but in this interview I focused on swimming.

Kirsten’s family was a huge influence on her wanting to swim. Growing up with a pool in her backyard, Kirsten loved swimming. What started out as a fun recreational way to cool off on humid summer days, turned into her favorite competitive sport. Kirsten didn’t start competitive swimming until the age of six, and that was at a summer swim team here at Cass. Since then, Kirsten has become an outstanding competitive swimmer. This is proven by the fact that she has swam Varsity for three years, not including her senior year. Kirsten’s goals for this swim season are to beat the 500 record, which is five minutes thirty-six point two seconds. She has great sportsmanship and wants to be a great and inspiring senior leader for this swim season.

Kirsten’s proudest accomplishment took place when she was in the eighth grade. Kirsten had a one minute time for the hundred free style, which for her age was a good time. Another eighth grader, a cocky boy, told Kirsten that the time wasn’t impressive and that he was going to beat her. His statement made Kirsten irate and determined to beat the cocky boy. Naturally, when Kirsten beat him, she felt extremely proud of herself. Her elation in her accomplishment increased when she heard the boy’s parents tell her own parents that he had been undefeated the whole time he was a junior high swimmer, until then.

Kirsten said, “What girl doesn’t want to beat a boy, no matter the sport?”

Kirsten surprised me with the answer she gave me to the next question, “Who is your favorite swimmer?” I was expecting her to say Michael Phelps or Missy Franklin, but she gave me a very different answer. Kirsten told me about a girl she sees at sectionals every year. The girl doesn’t score high enough to move onto regionals, but how quick she swims has nothing to do with Kirsten’s admiration for her. Kirsten has given her the spot of her favorite swimmer because that girl comes to sectionals and competes every year despite that fact that she has no use of her legs. Kirsten told me the girl comes in a wheelchair but still participates every year. Kirsten admires her for her dedication and perseverance.

Kirsten is a great person to be around and is always encouraging teammates and others around her. She strives to always do her best in everything that she does. Kirsten wants to go to Indiana Wesleyan University to become a nurse.