Before he was even in the water, Peter Tarling had an entire section of the crowd chanting his name. By the time his race was underway, the second-graders from Cape Elizabeth’s Pond Cove School were cheering wildly for the eight-year-old.
Tarling competed Friday in the Special Olympics Cumberland County Area Meet, and his classmates carried signs with the boy’s face on them and shouted, “Who do we want? Peter! When do we want him? Now!” starting on their walk over from the school.
“They think the world of (Peter),” said the group’s teacher, Sara Carroll. “He’s an important part of our class and we want to support him.”
Tarling was one of dozens who took part in the meet at Cape’s Donald L. Richards Pool, with high school students on hand to help out and the stands filled with enthusiastic supporters. Athletes from 17 schools participated, attempting to qualify for the state meet at Bates College on April 28 or just enjoying the thrill of competition.
“He loves it,” said Charlie Tarling, Peter’s dad, who looked on from the stands with his wife, Maryellen. “He wakes up on the mornings of swim meets all ready to go. I think it’s good for his self-confidence, and it’s good for the kids (in Peter’s class) to come down and see this, too.”
Cape’s Shawn Hall had an excellent meet, winning the 50-yard backstroke and the 50-yard freestyle among 12-15 year olds. He also joined Chase Gaston, Ben Schclair and Marcus Danie on the victorious 100-yard freestyle relay foursome.
Gaston won the 11 and under 25-yard breast stroke and was runner-up in his age group’s 25-yard freestyle. Schclair took third in the 12-15 year old 25-yard freestyle and fifth in his group’s 25-yard backstroke. Danie was second in the 12-15 year old 25-yard backstroke and fourth in that division’s 50-yard freestyle.
The Capers also had a good meet from Joel Spadinger, who won the 16-21 year old 25-yard breast stroke, finished third in that group’s 50-yard freestyle and was part of a relay quartet that finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle relay, along with Jake Fields, Eric Johnson and Abby Theriault.
Fields also took second in both the 12-15 year old 25-yard freestyle and breast stroke, while Johnson was fourth in the 16-21 year old 25-yard breast stroke and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and Theriault finished second in the 16-21 year old 50-yard freestyle and third in the 25-yard breast stroke.
Other Cape participants included Ray Creed, Greg Gulino, Nolan Dorrance, Thomas Bordeaux, Aphrodite Makrides, Gabe Brewington, Bobby DeMarco, Sabrina Holmes and Kent Thatcher.
Mark Capano, vice president of programming for Special Olympics Maine, had praise for the Cape Elizabeth residents who organized the meet.
“Sally Caras runs this meet and she’s excellent,” said Capano, himself a 1972 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School. “Karen Johnson and Kim Hanlon run a terrific program, and they have the total support of the Cape school system.”
Ali Howe, one of the Cape students volunteering at the meet, said that she likes the feeling that she’s “a part of something” when she helps out.
“It gives the kids and adults a chance to do something that’s important to them,” Howe said, “and to have a place that they can achieve.”
Capano noted that the students helping out benefit greatly from the experience, even if they don’t immediately realize it.
“They’re getting life skills they’ve never even dreamed about.”
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