SUNY Potsdam

"I was coached by Coach Carlini for all 4 years I attended and swam for Potsdam and I also had the privilege of working with him for several years at TRIBS which Chris coached for along with Potsdam. I also ran his meets and was his assistant coach briefly. In my time at Potsdam I severely struggled with my mental health and wasn’t always the best athlete or student because of this. Coach Carlini was alway there to lend an ear if I needed to vent, or help talk me through the practice in a fun way so it would make me forget about my problems for the few hours I was at practice. Chris was the energy behind the team, when everyone was tired or sore he was there to hype everyone up so we could be the swimmers we were meant to be. The team culture was a very lively one, lots of fun jokes shared amongst everyone, everyone was a giant family who loved and supported one and other. This energy carried over into TRIBS too, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with him while he shaped the future swimmers of our community. One of my best friends children were coached by him through TRIBS and they adored him. In the nearly 10 years I have known Chris I have never known him to be remotely unprofessional, or ever known him to be too hard on his athletes. I have also never known any of his athletes to feel mistreated by him. Coach Carlini is a very passionate, caring and committed coach who has only ever wanted the best for his team and the program of Potsdam Swim and Dive. I would overall recommend him as a coach and I hope to see him on deck again soon doing what he loves and was made to do"

"In 2020 The program looked like it was going to be cut. No coach was named after a previous coach was let go. Covid happened, and there was a lot of uncertainty for what would happen ahead. Coach Carlini worked at far below the appropriate compensation , and in doing so promised many alumni that his main goal was to not let the program die, and to build a team we could all be proud of. He brought in countless students, to a program that had not seen recruiting numbers like that in a decade. He reorganized the schedule to make NCIS reputable again, when it had not been for years. He moved in a different direction to align us with competition that met our team, as opposed to getting blown out every year against programs had no business facing. As an alumni of this team ( like coach Carlini is), I can first hand say that Coach wanted to his athletes to be the best versions of themselves. He prioritized academics, on a team where that was lacking. I can keep going on about the positives that Coach had done for the team. "

"In 2020 The program looked like it was going to be cut. No coach was named after a previous coach was let go. Covid happened, and there was a lot of uncertainty for what would happen ahead. Coach Carlini worked at far below the appropriate compensation , and in doing so promised many alumni that his main goal was to not let the program die, and to build a team we could all be proud of. He brought in countless students, to a program that had not seen recruiting numbers like that in a decade. He reorganized the schedule to make NCIS reputable again, when it had not been for years. He moved in a different direction to align us with competition that met our team, as opposed to getting blown out every year against programs had no business facing. "