Streak Starters

This month at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI at the IHSAA Girls Swimming State Championships, the Carmel High School team will take on two challenges. The competition. And The Streak. The competition is every other girls swim team in the state of Indiana. The Streak is what every other girls team in Indiana has been unable to stop for more than two decades. The Greyhound girls have captured 21 consecutive state championships, believed to be the longest current run in the country. "It's funny, but I remember back in 1988 or '89 when we had really good teams that I told someone, 'I think we can win 25 in a row,' " says Ray Lawrence, who began The Streak, coaching the Carmel girls to their first five titles. He was succeeded by Tony Young, who was poolside for the next nine titles. Ken Stopkotte (three), Tom Burchill (three) and Chris Plumb (one) have continued The Streak but it was Lawrence and Young who laid the foundation. Lawrence, who also coached the Carmel boys to five state championships, retired from coaching in 1994 and eventually moved into administration at Speedway High School. He retired as principal last year but now works part-time for Indiana On Line (a web-based education service) and also as an observer for the Indy Racing League. Young, who also coached the Carmel boys to two state titles, left the Greyhounds in 2000 and is now in his fifth year as Sport Development Director for Indiana Swimming, which oversees club (age-group) swimming in the state. "I serve as a resource for coaches, clubs, boards, parents and athletes," says Young. "I work for them." Young credits Lawrence and former Carmel Swim Club coach Tom Avicius for instilling "an atmosphere of excellence" in Carmel swimming that continues to this day. "Excellence is part of the philosophy there," says Young. "The streak is a result of that. The expectation is always there, whether it's the club or the high school team. It's at every meet, it's at every (individual) swim. From October through June, nothing changes and that is the foundation of why the streak continues." "When I first arrived, I felt like I was pushing and demanding to develop a culture and work ethic," says Lawrence. "But by 1987 (the year The Streak began) even the younger kids coming up through the club program understood the hard work and what it took. "Still, it's amazing that it continues, when you think about it. The kids swimming there now weren't even born when it began." Both Young and Lawrence credit the strength of the Carmel Swim Club for keeping the pipeline to the girls team filled with talent. "You're not rebuilding, but reloading," says Young. "And each successive coach has been able to put his personal stamp on it. That's been a positive. All the different coaches have strengthened the program." Lawrence is a Ben Davis High School and Indiana University graduate who began coaching swimming at the Westwood and Indianapolis (now Swim Indy) swim clubs. He moved to Carmel as an assistant in 1979. Young is a native of New Jersey whose family moved to Illinois. He served as a student-assistant swim coach at Southern Illinois University, became head swim coach at Millikin (Ill.) College after graduation and also learned under Indiana University's legendary James "Doc" Counsilman while earning his master's degree. He came to Carmel in 1989. Both Lawrence and Young left coaching for similar reasons: to be able to spend more time with their families. Lawrence, 59, and his wife, Nancy, have two grown sons, Eric and Andy. Young, 50, and his wife, Christine, have a son, Joe, and a daughter, Anna.