February 5, 2017 - If you build It, they will come

If you weren't in Atlanta on Saturday, February 4, 2017, then you missed out on Calhoun High School history!  The CHS swimming and diving team competed in the annual GHSA State Championship, which pits all schools in A-5A classifications against each other.  For those who know the history of CHS swimming and diving, we often will send one or two athletes to proudly compete for their school.  This year was an exception.  This year we sent more than 20 student athletes to swim and dive for a state championship in Atlanta!  After a stellar day of preliminaries, the boys' team was poised to place in the top 5 of all teams competing.  They did not disappoint.  After a photo-finish in the 4x100 freestyle relay, which saw our boys named state champions, the boys' team earned a 4th place overall team finish with only one public school finishing ahead of them.  This confirms what many have believed this year... Calhoun swimming and diving is now a respected name in the state arena and is a part of the conversation when we discuss state championship programs.  It also should be noticed that we witnessed the first female CHS swimmers to earn points at a State meet in school history!

How did we achieve this state championship caliber team?  It all began with a vision and a community that supported that vision.  Superintendent Michele Taylor and the Board of Education recognized that if we were to serve both the students and community members of Calhoun, while providing state championship swim programs, it was necessary to build a facility to support this.  Thus, the Calhoun Aquatic Center was born.  Home to the CHS Swim and Dive Team, NW Georgia Nitros, and numerous community health and wellness programs, the aquatic center has provided a location for our community to celebrate the sport and leisure activity of swimming.  So, thank you to our system leadership and to the board of education!  Thank you to our community who continue to support this facility and our student-athletes.  Most of all, thank you to the students and parents who call Calhoun home, and represent us at the local and state level  Go Jackets!