Calabasas’ Swim Team Buoyed by Title in 1987

If Dave Hershman is ever out of a coaching job he can always make a living writing for a fortune cookie company.

Hershman, the swim coach at Calabasas High, jots down his favorite sayings on the chalkboard during practice at the Calabasas pool. One of the maxims he has used this year is:

Between tomorrow’s dream and yesterday’s regret is today’s opportunity.

The free advice worked so well last season that freestyle swimmer Kenji Bek sought the advice of a professional fortune teller.

He was told something good was going to happen on the same day as the Southern Section 2-A Division finals. Hershman used that prediction as a motivational tool during practices leading up to the championships.

That Saturday, Calabasas won its first swimming championship and became the first Valley-area school to win a title in six years.

Calabasas hopes to prove last year’s championship was no fluke; the Coyotes will bid for another 2-A title when the Southern Section swimming competition begins Thursday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Calabasas is favored to repeat despite finishing second for the second consecutive year to Harvard in the Frontier League finals. The Coyotes qualified at least one swimmer in the 10 events and have the fastest times in three of those races.

If Calabasas does repeat, it will be the first time a Valley-area school has won back-to-back titles since Notre Dame in 1980 and ’81.

“I’m just thanking my lucky stars that we’re healthy and we have a chance to win,” Hershman said.