Girls Swim Team Rises Up the Ranks

The Greenhills girls swim team—a co-op that competes with athletes from Whitmore Lake High School and St. Catherine of Siena Academy—is now in its third year and already becoming the team to beat in the Catholic High School League (CHSL). As many as seven swimmers are expected to qualify for states this year—a staggering amount, considering most teams only send one or two athletes—and one swimmer has already qualified for the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) meet, which is similar to qualifying for states.

This is a record-breaking team. In the first half of the 2024 season, the school record for the 200-yard medley relay was broken by Ryen Mahoney ’28, Payton Mathis ’27, Viv Simon ’28, and Sadie Skiles ’28 with a time of 2:02:91. And Libby Schuster ’27 broke the school record for the 1-meter dive with a score of 199.5.

Participation and hard work have been the keys to the team’s success. The program has continued to grow each year. For the 2024 season, there are 23 swimmers on the team—most of them just beginning their athletic careers.

“All of the athletes who we expect will qualify for states are freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, which means they will be returning team members next year,” says Head Coach Ethan Drouillard.

There are 12 events that swimmers can compete in, and athletes typically participate in two individual events and two relays. For most meets, Drouillard chooses the events athletes will compete in, and he likes to explore different line-up options as the season progresses.

“Many of the girls compete on teams outside of school, so I’m able to pull up the results from their past meets and figure out where their strengths lie,” says Drouillard. “It’s also helpful that I was the assistant coach last year and already have a familiarity with returning swimmers.”

Though swimming has a lot of inherently individual elements, the Gryphon swimmers pride themselves on their team mentality. They’re willing to follow Drouillard’s lead and try new events if it will help the team.

“Just recently, we had a senior who was selected to participate in the 200-yard individual medley, which she had never done before,” says Drouillard. “She was open to trying it out and ended up scoring in that event.”

As the season has progressed, so have the team’s swimmers. They’ve gone from basic strength-building to incorporating sprints with shorter yardage at high intensity. In the final five to six weeks, swimmers will start to focus their training on the specific events they will compete in. No matter what they’re working on in practice, Drouillard says the girls work hard and veteran players have eagerly stepped into their leadership roles.

“I’ve been reminding them that every sophomore, junior, and senior is in a leadership position and setting an example for our freshmen,” said Drouillard. “They’ve created a cohesive team and every day they’re taking it up a notch—that has been big for us.”

That hard work and team mentality is paying off. On September 24, the Greenhills co-op team in their first CHSL meet of the year against Warren Regina and Lutheran North, placing first in every event. They look to carry that momentum into their big upcoming events, including the Wayne Memorial Invitational on October 11 and 12 and the CHSL championships on November 15 and 16.

“We expect that our team will score the most points we’ve ever scored at the league meet later this season,” says Drouillard.

If you get the chance, attend the next Greenhills girls swim team meet—you just might witness a record-breaking swim or dive in real-time.