Don’t Mess with the Best: A Swim Season Recap

Photos submitted by Quast

Evi Quast

Swimming is arguably one of the most difficult sports, taking a full-body effort and hours of swimming laps to achieve not only speed but technique and strength. From every lap to every stroke to hour-long practices not only in the pool but in the weight room, the MFHAM team achieved numerous accomplishments this year. Menomonee Falls and Sussex Hamilton, while already holding many very impressive standings, outdid themselves in the 2024 season with numerous school records and titles to their name. However, it all takes a season of work and effort from all the swimmers and coaches to achieve the best. In this article, we will dive into how Head Coaches Mandie Ehrett and Juile Van Cleave built up the team to perform at such a high level, along with swimmers' opinions on the tough season and how they pushed through it all to achieve the best.

 Both coaches put in numerous amounts of work to try and work around roadblocks throughout the swim season, and despite it all, they managed to build an extraordinary team. This year, MFHAM had a total of 40 swimmers and five divers, which roughly put 6-8 swimmers per lane. This is not only difficult for swimmers with that many people per lane, but it is also difficult for the coaches to try to work with the limited space, making sure every swimmer gets their reps. When Head Coach Mandie Ehrett was asked about how she worked around this problem, she focused on the benefits of having multiple swimmers, reflecting her positive attitude towards the challenges. “I think that all of the girls mixed in training very well together and were able to push and encourage each other to be their best or even better. That is the major benefit of having multiple swimmers in each lane.” Coach Mandie marked these benefits and then further explained how when the space seemed limited, that’s all we needed. 

We also asked Assistant Coach Julie Van Cleave about her thoughts on the lanes. In charge of lanes 1-3, she said that it was not an easy task with plenty of new swimmers added into the mix. Coach Julie’s response to the question was very similar in positivity. “Fortunately, we had swimmers leading each lane who helped to organize their lanes, and the swimmers did a good job of following directions and keeping their speed in line with others in the lane.” Again, the great mindset that coaches had in order to work around this difficulty was not only reflected in their interviews but throughout the season and how each of the swimmers were able to progress in their swims. 

However, what both coaches noticed undoubtedly was the amazing progress each swimmer made over the season, coupled with their approaches to get swimmers to that level. When both coaches were asked how they approached the practices and wanted swimmers to progress in the 2024 season, they had words of wisdom. “I believed that we were going to have a very strong and talented team this year, so my goals were definitely to win as many dual meets as possible and make a run at the Greater Metro Conference title.” Already confident in her team's abilities to push through obstacles and win meets, Mandie incorporated that into planning the practices, pushing the team to be the best. Coach Julie also had fantastic things to say when asked about her goals for the season. “It would be easy to spend all your time as a coach on technique, but it needs to be much more than this. I always say that swimming is the only sport that can save your life, so building these skills can mean each girl can enjoy swimming as a lifetime sport.” She brought this lifting mindset to practice with her everyday, pushing the girls to swim their best and progress as much as possible. 

Now, one thing that truly made the season possible was the swimmers themselves. Swimmers responded with great outlook on the season despite the incredible effort and hardwork it took to get to those points. When swimmer Mollie Westfhal was interviewed about her mindset throughout the season, she had some inspiring remarks. “I told myself that all the hard work will pay off and it will all be worth it. That’s also how I got through some tough practices: by telling myself that even if it’s difficult, I’ll be able to finish it and improve. Overall, I’m really proud of us as a team and myself individually. Everyone has improved a lot, and it has been a team I am proud to be on.” She complimented the tough but progressive season and how mindset was important but so was the team. Swimmer Keira Joecks also commented on how the season overall affected her, proving the team atmosphere. “My overall thoughts on the season was [that] I had a lot of improvement and dropped time in a lot of my events. I also had so much fun with my friends and making new friends.” Making friends and improving times was a lot of the mindset as well, making long practices easier and difficult reps more fun. And fun it was. 

Finally, both swimmers were asked about their most memorable practice, and each responded with the same practice. “My favorite practice was when Coach Mandie announced that she was pregnant through a game of hangman,” said Keira J. “My most memorable practice was playing hangman when Mandie revealed her pregnancy,” agreed Mollie W. This practice was memorable to say the least as it showed the family atmosphere the team had outside of just swim practice. Mandie had made a game of hangman, and every letter guessed wrong resulted in swimming a fast 25, which initially not everyone was thrilled about. But the closer we got to the answer, the fewer letters left, someone screamed out “Mandie’s pregnant!” Immediately everyone ran to hug her with happy tears, smiling faces, and tons of congratulations. It was truly beautiful, representing that we were not only a team in the pool but outside as well. 

Overall, the 2024 swim season was incredible to say the least. Accompanied with difficult reps, strategic practices from coaches, and fun atmosphere's between swimmers, it all made for a great season in more ways than one. MFHAM JV swimmers defended and won their 4th Conference Title, and Varsity won their Conference Title and progressed onto State, claiming more titles and school records. New friendships were built and developed between Coaches and swimmers over the season as well to make great memories. Although sad to see the season end, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they had made their mark and completed the 2024 season. As our cheer says, "Don't mess with the best because the best don’t mess,” and we don’t mess.