Lane 6 Legend Commits To Lindsey-Wilson College

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Courtesy: Tyler Montgomery

Mid-distance specialist and deep thinker Carson Caldwell has officially committed to continue his swimming and academic career at Lindsey-Wilson College.

Caldwell brings championship experience to the Blue Raiders as well as a robust vocabulary. Once, after an event in high school, I noticed he had a look of disappointment on his face and asked what he was thinking. He looked at me with a straight face and said, “I’m just kerfuffled.” Not only did we win that meet, but I also went on to crush my grandmother in Scrabble that weekend. Thanks, Carson.

With Caldwell, Lindsey-Wilson is also getting a relentless competitor who will never admit defeat. He and I once faced off in a game of chess on the way to a meet in his sophomore season. From the first few moves, I was absolutely wrecking him, and as the bus pulled into the parking lot, I was one or two moves from checkmate. Since Carson had a roughly 0% chance of winning, I asked if he wanted to go ahead and concede or finish the game inside. He responded with the trademarked Carson Caldwell straight face, “Let’s call it a draw.”

Of all the legendary Carson tales, the best is his swimming origin story. Carson had the misfortune of joining the Rockvale Middle School Swim Team as a 7th grader in a season where I had the incredible idea of taking in 49 swimmers on a team that practiced twice a week in a six-lane, 25-yard pool.

I made it clear to kids and parents that the best swimmers would be given room to improve at practices, which meant the remaining 20 or so kids would get to enjoy a full-contact swimming experience in Lane 6. Unfortunately, this new kid named Carson swam like the Tasmanian Devil on Red Bull and was doomed to the madhouse lane to start the season.

After a few practices in the splash zone, this four-foot-something 7th grader with horrendous technique had the stones to walk up to his 6’1” (6’2” with heels on) coach and tell me he needed to be in a better lane. The confidence was elite, but the technique still was not. So, back to the mosh pit Carson went.

At some point amidst the chlorinated chaos, Carson flipped a switch and started dropping major time every meet until it was undeniable he was ready for the big kid lanes, where he only continued to improve every week. Fast forward to the week of our county championship meet, it was fairly obvious who our A relay swimmers were going to be, but there were a handful of guys who had a case for the last spot on our 400 relay. Even though Carson had the best split time of the possible candidates, I still didn’t think he was ready for an A relay at our biggest meet of the season. He had never swum on an ‘A’ relay and we had a couple of more experienced swimmers who were safer picks.

Going into our last practice the night before the meet, I still hadn’t made up my mind about who would get the last spot on that relay, but decided if Carson could pass one more test we would have to go with him.

Halfway through the practice, I lined everyone up for starts. Every time Carson got up on the blocks, I stood over him and stretched out the gap between “take your mark” and “go!” like a quarterback trying to draw the defense offsides. Other swimmers would look up at me or lose their balance and fall in, but Carson was stone-cold locked in. After about five rounds and zero flinching from Carson, I looked at our assistant coach, shrugged my shoulders and said, “I guess it’s Carson.” The next morning, Carson led off a school record-shattering 400 free relay, and our boys won the school’s first-ever county championship.

Here are some of Carson’s top times:

• Playing into an unwinnable position in chess: 23.85
• Almost getting us kicked out of a BBQ restaurant in Knoxville: 52.19
• Walking to the blocks before a 500 final: Longer than the actual 500

My favorite thing about coaching Carson is that he’s never given up on himself and he’s never been afraid to fail. He didn’t accomplish everything he set out to in high school, but he didn’t set out to do anything small either. The same grit that propelled him from a non-factor to an A relay swimmer on a championship team in his first season also put him in position to be a major contributor to a handful of high school county relay titles and his school’s first-ever state finals appearance in a relay earlier this year. Considering he’s also an Eagle Scout and a model student, I’d be willing to bet the massive fortune I’ve amassed as a swim coach that we’ve not yet seen the best of Carson Caldwell as a swimmer, a scholar and a positive contributor to society.

ABOUT TYLER MONTGOMERY

Tyler Montgomery had a four-year swimming career, all with the Riverdale High School Water Warriors in Murfreesboro, TN. He also had the privilege of coaching an amazing group of kids at Rockvale Middle and Rockvale High School between 2017 and 2023. He lives with his family in Murfreesboro and works in the publishing industry to make ends meet after giving up the fame and fortune of being a middle and high school swim coach.

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