In Swimming there’s competition, hard training, and the stress of winning the meets, but the Mayo Girls Swim and Dive team make it look easy. From the amazing head coach Juliette Parlettle to the amazing captains that make the team a fun and encouraging place to be, the challenges, the work, the stress all seem to be overcome in a happy, unified way.
Juliet Parlette has been coaching the Spartans for 15 years.
Head Coach Juliet Parlette has had a long history coaching girls swim and dive here at Mayo. Born and raised in Pennsylvania and having been a swimmer in high school, she went to the University of Pittsburgh where her old high school swim coach offered her a spot as his assistant coach. Then she continued with coaching wherever she lived. For a time, she was in Long Island, New York, where she taught swim lessons. She then coached in Pennsylvania when she moved back. Then when she moved to Rochester in 2010, Parlette immediately started coaching here at Mayo while teaching English at Century. Two years ago, Parlette retired from coaching the Rochester Swim Club which had brought her great joy for many seasons.
In her personal life, Coach Parlette is married and has two sons, Tomson who is a freshman in college and Grafton who just got married a couple weeks ago! She enjoys hiking, taking pictures to use to make Shutterfly books, and hanging out with her dog. When it comes to this year’s season Coach Parlette believes it is going well. She’s very happy with how the captains are making everyone feel included and making practices fun and encouraging for everyone there. She also likes how the team is very hard working; each person is there to do their job, and they get it done.
Sayuri Magambo is equally at home on the diving board or in a swimming lane.
Born in California but raised in Rochester, Sayuri Magambo is one of the sensational diving captains. She says this season is going good and that the most challenging thing this season to do is to face new dives. Magambo, a senior, has four people in her family, and her hobbies include swimming, track, and flag football. After high school she plans on going into the medical field and doing ultrasound. Although Sayuri is one of two diving captains, her favorite event is to swim the 50 freestyle.
Zia Rauker’s favorite event is the 100 breaststroke.
Zia Rauker, one of the swimming captains, is very involved in Mayo life and the community. From participating in Swimming, Speech, BPA, Student Government, Honors Society, Lacrosse, and the Make a Wish Club, Rauker breathes a lot of life into this school. Originally from Rhode Island, Rauker has four people in her family. After high school she plans to attend a university then become a politician. She believes this season is going well and that the team is really fun. Some of the challenges she says they have faced involve the team’s smaller size and speed. Then too, at first she says it was hard to get people involved in the team.
Elizabeth Carlsen takes her role as captain seriously because she cares so much about her teammates.
Elizabeth Carlsen is another amazing captain. She was born here in Rochester and has three siblings along with her parents. After high school she plans on going to college to become a kindergarten teacher. In her free time she enjoys volunteering at Paws and Claws, hanging out with friends, going for runs, and spending time outdoors. Outside of swimming she is involved in Mayo Track and Field, the Honor Society, and Spartan 300. Her favorite event is the 100 breaststroke. Carlsen believes that this season is going really well; “the girls on the team are so unified and close it feels like I’m swimming with my best friends every day!” She went on to say that, “I’m sad that the season is coming to a close, but I am so proud of the girls and have high hopes for them in years to come!” The thing that has challenged her the most this year had to be adjusting to her role as captain, because of the leadership and tremendous responsibility that’s involved in being a captain.
As a captain, Madeline Gau concentrates on getting the team focused and fired-up for each meet.
Born in Rochester and one of seven in her family, Madeline Gau is phenomenal. After high school she is committed to Columbia to swim and is going to study psychology. She likes to read, bake, build with Legos, and make collages. Aside from swimming, Gau is captain of the Debate Team. Beyond that, she is in model UN, Spartan 300, the Honor Society, and the Spanish Honor Society. On top of all that, she has two jobs outside of school. Her favorite event to swim is the 100 backstroke. Gau thinks the season is going well, but it’s harder with the smaller team, although the captains are doing really a great job, along with a new coach who is helping to improve the racing speed. However, something that she finds challenging is getting people pumped up for meets.
The Mayo Girls Swim and Dive Team are a happy family.
As for the season, the team has won every meet except the Century vs. Mayo meet, which is a kind of an ongoing tradition. The number of meets they have won is impressive; it shows how much everyone cares about each other in and out of the pool, and this, as always, helps the Spartans prevail!
Photos courtesy of Juliet Parlette
