Once again, the St. Clair Country Club swim team saved the best for last.
With contributions from five last-year swimmers, St. Clair placed fifth among nine teams at the Midwest Swim Conference Meet, held July 23 in O'Fallon. Coach Bob Kaiser's squad, which dominated the conference in the 1980s and 1990s, was seeded sixth coming into the meet.
"It's incredible what these kids do," said Kaiser, in his 38th season. "They're known for going to the conference meet and swimming out of their heads. Almost every kid on the team got a best time in almost every event they swam and we placed fifth, so that's a real credit to them."
Last-year swimmers for St. Clair were Kylee Sachtleben, Lindsey Mandeville, Jana St. Eve, Wylie Bott and James Leopold.
A 2010 graduate of Notre Dame High School in St. Louis, Bott recently finished her freshman year at the University of Kansas.
"Wylie has been a really good swimmer for all these years and started swimming for us when she was 4 years old," Kaiser said. "This year she was seeded 13th in the breaststroke and took five seconds off her time and got 11th. In the IM, she was seeded 21st and took four seconds off her best time and went down to 20th. In backstroke she was seeded 12th and got 14th, but she took three seconds off her best time. You can't ask for much more than that."
For Bott, the conference meet was something she won't forget.
"It was my last race at conference and Bob does this whole thing where he gives us a big pep talk like ‘alright girls, best times, let's do this.' " Bott said. "One of the girls that used to swim for us came up to me and ‘this is the last time you'll ever do this' and I started tearing up, which is kind of embarrassing.
"But swim team for St. Clair is a really amazing thing - we're all family and it means so much to us. It's a big deal. The little kids are so adorable and we want to keep them into it and keep them excited. I hope they all stay with it just like we did.
"The best thing in the world is when you finish a race and you hear Bob saying ‘best time.' We want to do it for him, that's for sure."
Sachtleben, who will be a sophomore at Kansas, is a 2010 Belleville East graduate.
"Kylee only swam in two events at conference, but she's very good in the breaststroke and always places high, and this year she also placed in fly," Kaiser said. "In breaststroke she was seeded 11th and took three seconds off her best time and moved up to ninth. In fly she was seeded 21st and moved all the way up to 15th.
"Like Wylie and Lindsey, she's been so consistent for this team. When they're not working, they always come to practices and meets and they also come to our team functions. If we have a movie and pasta night, they'll be here for it. These are really special kids."
Sachtleben wasn't surprised by St. Clair's showing at the conference meet.
"It's a St. Clair thing - everyone gets their best times at conference," she said. "We never let Bob down.
"I started swimming when I was 4, so it's going to be weird not doing it anymore. But I have a little sister (Sydnee, 15) who is on the team, so I'll still come to all of the meets. This year all of us had jobs, so it was harder to work swimming into our schedules, but we did our best."
Among the four girls, St. Eve is the only one with year-round swimming experience. A recent Notre Dame graduate, she will be a freshman at the University of Missouri.
"She didn't swim winter this past year, but she did swim for her high school team," Kaiser said. "She's a really special swimmer and very talented. In the IM, she was seeded fourth and got fourth with her best time, and in the IM she was seeded fourth and got a best time and moved up to third. In the fly she was seeded third and got fourth, but again she had a best time.
"She's been a solid swimmer for many years and I can count on her being at the meets. She's a Lane One instructor (working with beginning swimmers) as Wylie and Kylee were last year. They've all been part of this program for years and they're among the reasons why it's been so successful."
St. Eve was MVP of the swim team at Notre Dame for all four years and also swam year-round for Sugar Creek and Clayton Shaw Park.
"I quit year-round swimming after high school season my junior year," she said. "I'm not going to do competitive swimming in college, but I'll probably join the club swim team at Mizzou.
"I wasn't in as good a shape as in other years because I haven't swam as much, but I still had my best times at conference. If it wasn't for Bob, I wouldn't still be doing it this year. He gives you the energy to make you want to come back and swim for him. He really gets you fired up at conference.
"When I was really little, I always looked up to the big kids. With me being a big kid myself this year, they were all looking up to me this year and you don't realize it. As a Lane One coach, I got to work with them first-hand, which was pretty cool. James also worked with them and between the two of us, we got to be good role models and teachers for the kids."
Every year, the St. Clair swimmers wear a Kaiser-themed T-shirt to the conference meet. This year's slogan was "100 years of excellence, 38 years of striped shirts and tube socks."
"Bob makes it easy to come up with slogans. He has a pretty predictable wardrobe," St. Eve said, grinning.
"Once you get to know Bob, he's super-competitive, but he cares more about the individual person we are and he wants to see us improve," said Mandeville, who played volleyball and basketball at Belleville East.
"For me as a last-year swimmer, it was hard coming back from college and being on the swim team, especially working, so we didn't get to practice every time.
"But Bob is an amazing coach. He calls us to check up on his and he was always at my volleyball games whenever we played (Belleville) West. It's going to be weird not coming back and swimming here because you form good relationships with so many people."
Mandeville, a 2010 East graduate, will be a sophomore at Missouri.
"Lindsey has not dedicated her life to swimming, but she likes it and she continues to come out here," Kaiser said. "She was a volleyball player at East for four years and that limited what she's been able to do in swimming, but she practices all summer and that's what St. Clair swimming is all about. She's part of a group and wants to stay in it.
"She hasn't been a big point producer at conference - this year in one event she was seeded 28th and got 29th, but she dropped her time by three seconds. She came back after her freshman year of college to swim for us and that says a lot about her."
Leopold, meanwhile, swam 14 years for St. Clair.
"It's going to be a change - I don't know what to expect without St. Clair swim team in the summer," Leopold said. "We've always been a little short of older guys and I've always tried to be a leader, but this year being the only last-year swimmer, it was a little different. I really had to step up to the plate and do everything the older guys did last year.
"The season went well. I came from behind to get a few wins. Freestyle and butterfly are my best events and at conference I had my best times of the year in every event. It was a nice way to go out."
Leopold, a 2011 Althoff graduate, competed in tennis, golf and swimming for the Crusaders. He will attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
"Up until now, golf has taken a lot of his time during the summer," Kaiser said. "This year he didn't play as much and he made it to all of our meets except for one. In freestyle he was seeded eighth and moved up to fifth with a best time. In IM he was seeded 12th and moved up to ninth with a best time. In fly he had a best time and was seeded seventh and moved up to fifth.
"He's been a strong swimmer for all these years and this year he was also a Lane One instructor. These kids not only swim for us, but they care enough about the program that they're developing young kids at the same time."
