Hawks hope land training will pay off in the pool

The growth of the Shawano/Bonduel swim team could pose a challenge for first-year head coach Liz Teetzen.

The Hawks are up to 29 swimmers, from 22 a season ago, and with a six-lane pool, working individually on skills and getting the necessary practice time in the water can be difficult.

“It’s hard to fit everybody in to really work on skill and technique,” Teetzen said.

It’s not like Teetzen is complaining about the growth of the team, though. There were only six athletes on the squad when she swam in 2008.

Teetzen replaced former head coach Sharon Hanson, who remains with the team as an assistant coach.

The Hawks are focusing their mornings on land training, which is meant to help the team stay healthy for the duration of the fall season.

“We just have more dry-land training to hopefully prevent more injuries that we had last year to get them conditioned more for the pool,” Teetzen said.

The athletes have seen a difference.

“I think it’s definitely helping strength-wise both in and out of the pool,” senior captain Emme Quandt said.

Shawano/Bonduel lost five seniors to graduation, including Clare Martell, a four-time state qualifier who is swimming for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay this fall. Other seniors that swam at the WIAA Division 1 sectional meet in Neenah last fall were Alyssa Anker, Lauren Roloff, Charlee Hietpas and Katie West.

In addition to Quandt, returning varsity swimmers include Lydia Colon, Samantha Leiser, Onalee Siegfried, Peyton Hrabik, Nicole Thornock and Brittany Angeli.

The Hawks will open their Bay Conference season Thursday in Sturgeon Bay.