Both the Boothbay Region High School Seahawks and Lincoln Academy Eagles attended the swim team awards night and ice cream buffet held at the Boothbay Region YMCA on Feb. 26.

Coach Don Strout (who coaches both the Eagles and Seahawks) recognized swimmers from both teams, including brand new freshmen, graduating seniors, and international students on the Lincoln Academy team.

Strout also handed out Most Improved and Coach's awards to a boy and girl from each team. Strout said he does not hand out a Most Valuable Player award because swimming is an individual sport, and it's not just points scored that makes a swimmer good.

For the Seahawks, the most improved swimmer awards went to Chris Groneng and Genevieve Taylor. Coach's awards went to Nicole LaBrecque and Karl Alamo.

For the Lincoln Academy Eagles, the most improved swimmer awards were given to Alejandro Ramos and Jordan Farrin. Coach's awards went to Cassie Leeman and Noah Jordan.

When Strout called up Alejandro for his award, he played Lady Gaga's “Alejandro,” which he said he'd been waiting to do all season long.

Strout also praised many members of both teams, including all the swimmers who made states and the Eagles who did especially well at the KVAC tournament. He joked about this being Kate Laemmle's third season on the swim team for the Eagles, and the first year he pronounced her name right all season. He spoke about spotting Camden Reiss on the highway driving himself up to states at UMO, and the heart attack it caused (going on your own is not OK), but that they got everything sorted out.

He also congratulated Eagle swimmer Cassie Leeman for making the KVAC all-academic team, and Seahawk swimmers Brenna Alley, Nicole LaBrecque and Karl Alamo for being selected for the national all-academic, all-state Maine swim team. In order to qualify, they needed to have qualified for states and hold a GPA of 3.7 or higher.

Strout also said a goodbye to the senior swimmers on both teams. He said how much he would miss having them on the team. For the Seahawks, these swimmers include Karl Alamo, Brenna Alley, Chris Groneng and Nicole LaBrecque. For the Eagles, these swimmers included Nathan Osborne, Kristyna Skyvova, Cassie Leeman, Camden Reiss, Billy Seaman, Rowan Carroll-Christopher and Martin Kuccera.

Strout also thanked his wife and co-coach, Linda Strout.

“She keeps me in line,” Don Strout said. “When the kids start to frustrate me, she calms me down, and I don't know what I'd do without her.”

Strout also thanked Cindy Young, who he has worked with for eight years. Young did a lot of coaching with the swimmers who were new to the sport, helping them learn the different strokes and getting them used to the differences between regular and competitive swimming. Lastly, he thanked parents Mrs. Dumont and Mrs. Carter for all their help with the swimsuits for both teams.