As sports seasons continue here at La Salle, each week the Falconer staff looks for an athlete of the week to showcase their hard work and dedication to their particular sport. Natalie Saltares, a senior on the swim team, has been swimming for La Salle since her sophomore year. Due to her hard work and leadership for the swim team, she has been chosen for Athlete of the Week.

Why did you join the swim team?

“My freshman year I played basketball for La Salle and after that season I just needed a change. A friend of mine encouraged me to join swim team so I gave it a shot and ended up loving it. I stuck with the sport because our team is super close and although it is an extremely hard workout the friendships that we establish are totally worth it.”

What is your favorite part of being on the La Salle swim team?

“My favorite thing would have to be the people because swimming has given me the chance to become friends with people who I know I will be friends with for a long time.”

How do you like the coaches on the swim team?

“Although I do miss our old coaches I absolutely love the new ones. Coach Cutler and Rathmann give us good workouts to prepare us for our meets, but they make practices bearable with their encouragement and humor. I had a great time getting to know them over the course of the season and I will definitely miss them next year.”

What is your role on the swim team?

“I am the captain of the swim team and it was really cool to me that people voted for me to be one of the captains this year. My role is to positively lead the team while maintaining a positive attitude and encouraging all of my teammates.”

What events do you participate in?

“This year my main individual events have been the 500 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, and the 100 backstroke. I am part of multiple relays depending on the meets. I swim fly in the 200 medley relay and I am also a part of the 200 and 400 free relays.”

What are your personal and team goals for the rest of the season?

“My personal goal at the beginning of the season was to improve my 500 time. I was able to improve my time by almost three minutes which I am pretty proud of. As far as the team goals go I hope that as we head to districts we all swim well enough to have some people qualify for state. I know that we have some really strong individual swimmers as well as relay teams and I am excited to watch them compete against the other schools.”

When and where is your next swim meet?

“Our season is coming to a close with districts this Friday and Saturday [Feb 13 and 14]. This year districts are being held at Parkrose High School.”

Will you carry on your swimming career in college?

“Swimming has been a great experience for me, but I do not plan on swimming for a college team because college swimming is an extremely big time commitment and way harder than any training I have ever had. I do plan on continuing to swim in my free time and coming back to practice with the La Salle team during my college breaks like previous La Salle swimmers have done.”