Swim team size makes a splash

It hasn’t had a meet yet, but one of goals of the Port Washington High School girls’ swim team has already been met.
The number of swimmers has more than doubled from last season. The Pirates have 18 members on the team.
“That’s a big goal of mine, to get the team bigger and bigger,” co-coach Danielle Peiffer said.
More than half the team is either new to swimming or are freshmen, she said.
Among the returning letterwinners are Erin Grisar, Hannert, Sarah Howell, Allison Schmutzler and Elaina Wichmann.
Schmutzler will specialize in the breast stroke, and Wichmann will swim backstroke and freestyle. Grisar will handle the long-distance events.
Freshman Kamryn Lapacek is slated for freestyle, and sophomore Sydney Hannert will swim the individual medley.
Freshmen Caroline Hadacek and Leah Sheriff are expected to contribute as well.
“It’s early in the season, so we know there will be more people who will contribute,” Peiffer said.
Wichmann and Olyvia Marinez are the team captains.
Freshman Ava Mrozek is the Pirates’ only diver.
Not to be outdone by the increasing number of swimmers, the number of coaches on the team tripled this season.
Peiffer is working with fellow first-year coaches Laura Grisar and Erica McConahy, splitting up practices they can attend.
Peiffer is a triathlete who just qualified for world competition in Switzerland next year. She swam at Port High and in college and has coached youth and adult swimming for 10 years. She helped start a youth swim program in Port and started coaches adults in swimming for triathlons.
Peiffer recruited Grisar, who swam with her in high school. She is new to coaching but already has a great rapport with the swimmers, Peiffer said.
McConahy has more than 15 years of experience coaching in Port, West Bend, Kentucky and Lithuania. She was nearly an Olympic-level swimmer, Peiffer said.
Team goals have been kept simple.
“We’re going to focus on team building this year, hard work and having fun and just growing the team,” Peiffer said.
The more swimmers, Peiffer said, the more fun the girls will have.
“When Laura and I swam we had 30 girls on the team. It was a really positive experience for us,” she said.
More swimmers also translates to a more competitive team.
“Depth is important. If you’re going to build a team and have fun, you’re going to get quality from that,” Peiffer said.
The Pirates are slated to start the season at home against Kohler at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23.