Waite to swim with D1s Golden Grizzlies

Tecumseh High School swimming standout Rachel Waite signed a letter of intent to attend Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., Wednesday. After a sterling career at THS, she will be moving on to swim for the Golden Grizzlies, a powerhouse among NCAA Division 1 teams.Waite signed in the THS Team Room with her father, Jack, and mother, Joan, looking on. She will report to Hamlin Hall dormitory on the Oakland campus next fall on a full-ride scholarship. She plans to pursue a nursing degree, when she is not in the pool working on her breaststroke, which earned her many honors as an Indian swimmer.Her THS coach, Sarah Eubanks, was not surprised that Oakland snapped up Waite for the Golden Grizzlies team. “She started with the Tigersharks [the swim club for young swimmers at the Tecumseh Community Memorial Pool] when she was nine years old and has been swimming ever since,” Eubanks said.Eubanks, who is also the director of the pool and coaches the Tigersharks, said that she was happy that Waite was going to Oakland. “That’s my alma mater,” she said. “It also happens to be her mother’s alma mater, too. We went there at the same time, but we didn’t know each other.”At a later press conference, she was asked what athletic honors she had accrued lately. Waite modestly paused to recall. “I was named All-SEC [All-Southeastern Conference] and took two firsts in the SMISL. [Southern Michigan Independent Swimming League], and I was also named Swimmer of the Meet at SMISL.” At the meet, she swam the 200 IM in 2:13.13 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:08.03And that was only in recent months. She has received a string of awards and honors in her prep career.When asked what course she was looking forward to in her freshman year at Oakland, she quickly replied “science,” which is one of the first prerequisites for obtaining her R.N. certificate.She will be used to a grueling Golden Grizzlies practice schedule. Former Grizzly Eubanks makes sure her team is fit with seven hours in the pool per week.