Carmel Olympian Shoots for Gold
Reprinted from “The Crusader,” the
newsmagazine of Salpointe Catholic
High School, Tucson, Arizona, which is
administered by the Carmelites
The color brown was flying high
in Athens as the proud banner
of Olympian graduates from
Salpointe and Mount Carmel High
Schools joined forces with other
Olympians to bring home the Gold
for America.
Colleen Lanne, a tall, Tucson,
Arizona native competed in many
sports growing up as a kid. She was
fond of soccer, gymnastics and swimming.
At eleven her mother told her
she had to choose one, and she chose
to stay in the water.
Colleen never thought of herself
as a spectacular swimmer during her
high school years but after graduation
in 1999 entered Texas University,
where she blossomed under the direction
of Jill Sterkel and currently Dave
Salo with the Irvine Novas, two of the
country’s best-known sprint coaches.
Lanne became the silver medalist
in the 200m free style at the Pan
American Games in 2003. Colleen
qualified for the Olympic team with
her sixth place finish in the 100m free
style at Olympic Trials.
Now, Salpointe High School graduate
Colleen Lanne became only the
second swimmer from a Tucson high
school to win an Olympic medal.
Swimming in the qualifying round of
the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay,
Lanne was one of the seven members
of the silver medal winning team.
When asked if she had plans to train
for four more years Lanne said,—
according to the Arizona Daily Star,
“I need to get out and experience
the real world. It seems like I’ve been
an athlete forever. I’ve really been
fortunate.” |
