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At the beginning of the high school swimming season, Beth Prelgovisk handed out a goal sheet to each Messalonskee/Skowhegan/Nokomis/Lawrence swimmer.

The co-op coach collected the sheets and referred to the desired times throughout the season, checking in on each swimmer’s progress, before returning the papers at the year-end banquet.

Caden LaPlante wasn’t trying to be modest when he wrote down marks he would clear by midseason. The Lawrence freshman didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t three Class A titles, three of Maine’s fastest times of the season and a twice-broken state record.

“I was way off,” LaPlante said. “I did not think I was going to do half as good as I did, and looking back at that paper now, I totally underestimated myself.”

After an impressive rookie season, for which he has been named the Varsity Maine Boys Swimmer of the Year, don’t expect LaPlante to underestimate himself again. His opponents certainly won’t.

The 14-year-old from Fairfield left the KVAC A championship meet in mid-February with four gold medals: in the 200-yard medley relay, 200 freestyle relay (anchor leg split of 21.31 seconds), 100 breaststroke (58.26) and 100 butterfly (49.33). His butterfly time broke the record of 49.92, set by Won Ho Chang of the Hyde School in Bath, which had stood for nearly 16 years.

Nearly three weeks later at Colby College, LaPlante became the first Maine high school swimmer to break 49 seconds in the 100 fly, winning the Class A title in 48.81 seconds. He added another individual state title in the 100 breaststroke (57.37) and helped his team win the medley relay as the third leg. LaPlante also anchored the third-place 200 free relay team, posting a split of 20.92 seconds.

“Thinking of going 48 in my 1-fly wasn’t even — like, I couldn’t have pictured myself doing that in a million years. I mean, maybe way later on, but definitely not freshman year,” he said a week and a half later, still with a tinge of disbelief.

The freshman was named performer of the meet at both postseason championship meets and owned the state’s fastest times of the season in the 50 free, 100 breast and 100 fly, regardless of class.

Prelgovisk has seen LaPlante knock off records since age 7 at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville. A combination of powerful strokes, fine-tuned in-sweeps and great underwater kicks at the start of races and during turns, she said, is why LaPlante is such a strong flyer and breaststroker.

“Watching Caden swim is so enjoyable,” Prelgovisk said. “He is so smooth and glides through the water.”

While his size (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) and extra yardage from twice-daily practices four times a week give him an advantage, LaPlante knows his true edge is his confidence and mental fortitude. His mantra is “Mindset is everything.”

“You got to believe in yourself, and having an open mindset is, I think, definitely a huge part of my success,” he said. “Because if you’re constantly doubting yourself, you’re not going to accomplish the things that you want to. … As much as it is a sport where you need to be strong, you need to be physically capable, you also need to know mentally that you’re capable. You can’t really rely on your body to do everything for you.”

Prelgovisk believes LaPlante has just scratched his potential, and so does he. Weight training is the next step to help reach his goals, which include claiming all eight Lawrence High individual event records.

The other goals? He’ll scribble those down at the start of next season.

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