The girls swimming and diving player of the moment is junior Cai Kuivila for her great improvement and hard work throughout the season. Kuivila shared that this is her first year swimming for KO, but she has been swimming recreationally her whole life. “I have never swum competitively on a serious team,” Kuivila said. “I swam with a youth club team for two seasons when I was eight, but I have no other experience on a swim team.”
Kuivila said that the highlight of her season was the Founder’s League meet where she won three out of four of her events and achieved a personal record in the 50 free. “This was a personal goal of mine and was exhilarating to achieve that goal at such an important meet,” Kuivila said.
Coach Baker said that Kuivila is tough in the water, and she has high hopes for Kuivila. “I feel like she will end the season well because she sees races as an opportunity and is not nervous,” Coach Baker said. Kuivila said that the Founder’s League meet was a great bonding experience and was a celebration of how far everyone has come.
“It was a great opportunity to swim against a variety of competition in preparation for New England’s,” Kuivila said. “The heats are organized by seed times, so you are swimming against people with similar times allowing for a very competitive race with equal opportunity to win.” Kuivila truly enjoys being on the team. “We always cheer each other on, regardless of time or place, and it has made the season go by extremely quickly,” Kuivila said. “We celebrate each other for taking risks and trying our best and I think that it makes KOSD truly unique.”
Despite some shoulder problems throughout the season, Kuivila has fought through this adversity with the help of her teammates and is resilient. “I just want to say thanks to the entire team for being so supportive the whole season,” Kuivila said. “I doubt that I would have stuck with the sport nor become so passionate for it without the never-ending support for my achievements, both big and small, and progress.”
Kuivila mentioned that her swimming role model isn’t any of the great Olympians, but someone on the team, freshman Allie Wildstein. Kuivila said that Wildstein always holds herself to a high standard, both in the pool and out, and has been a huge part of the team.
“When she was injured, she came to every meet to cheer on her teammates and she has so much passion for the sport and the team that it inspires every one of us,” Kuivila said. “Although I am two years older than she is, and she is like a little sister to me, I admire her endlessly for being so hardworking and a leader on the team.”
