Rochester swimming preview: Seuferer, Steininger lead experienced Zebras boys

Val T.
Nov 22, 2023
4 min read

Girls: Seniors Moore, Shook to lead Lady Zs

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The experience level of the Rochester girls swimming team versus the Rochester boys has flip-flopped from last year to this.

The days of Melody Hisey, Molly Vance-Gruss, Araceli Ochoa, Lola Brady, Maddy Brouyette, Bella Riffle and Kendyll Bradley leading the girls team ended when that group of seven graduated in the spring.

The only remaining seniors are Payton Moore and Kaedra Shook.

Meanwhile, the boys welcome back a cast that includes seniors Jake Seuferer, Wes Steininger, Lane Shank, Noah Riffle, Tanner Reese and diver Peyton Brooks

as well as juniors Seth Flenar and Reece Johnson.

There are 12 girls and 14 boys.

“We graduated a lot of girls last year, so with the 12 girls, only four of them were previously on the team,” Rochester coach Stephanie Brown said. “So two-thirds of the girls team is new, and the boys is almost opposite of that where I have two-thirds of the team was on the team at least last year, and for some of them, this is their fourth year, and I’ve got five new boys on the team.”

Girls

Moore is in her second year on the team. Her strengths are the freestyle events as well as the backstroke, according to Brown.

Shook is one of the team’s more versatile swimmers.

“Kaedra is strong in the breaststroke, and she’s a fairly well-rounded swimmer in that she can do all four of the swimming strokes legally,” Brown said. “I would say the breaststroke is probably her strongest event.”

Ava Thomas and Skyla Mitchell are the two juniors. Thomas is in her third year on the team, and Mitchell is in her second.

“Ava’s strength is probably the backstroke, and Skyla’s pretty strong in all four,” Brown said.

Newcomers include sophomores Seanna Gudas and Aubrey Miller and freshmen Lily Chipps, Kylie Haselby, Jenna Seuferer, Audrey Tobin, Riley Vessels and Audrey Widman.

Brown said Widman, Seuferer, Haselby and Gudas have previous experience swimming at the club level.

“The lineups are like a puzzle, and when we don’t have a ton of experience, the puzzle becomes a little more difficult,” Brown said. “We’re learning, and the new kids are doing great. It’s a lot to learn when it’s brand new, and they’re really doing great with it.”

All three girls divers from last year are gone: Brouyette and Bradley graduated, and foreign exchange student Simona Faoro has returned to Italy.

Haselby, Chipps, Miller and Widman are trying both swimming and diving.

“Some of the girls on the team are right now trying both and trying to figure out which one they want to do,” Brown said.

Boys

Seuferer finished third in the 200 freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle at last year’s Warsaw sectional. Combined with his relay swims, he was partially or completely responsible for 93 of the 197 points Rochester scored at the sectional.

“Jake does a lot of work outside of the pool in other sports and in the weight room to get stronger and just become a better athlete,” Brown said. “He’s definitely progressed over his four years in strength and what he can do and how fast he can swim.”

Shank excels in the breaststroke while Steininger stars in the butterfly and 200 individual medley.

Reese has experience in both the distance freestyle events, and Brown added that he has one of the better 100 butterfly times on the team.

“Just in his time on the team, he has really developed as a well-rounded swimmer that can not only swim all four strokes legally but competitively,” Brown said.

Brooks is a diver who will also swim the 50 freestyle “every once in awhile,” according to Brown.

“I believe his goals for this year would be to make it to regionals,” Brown said.

Riffle is in his second year on the team. Brown said he’s pretty strong at the freestyle events, and he got better at the distance events as the season progressed last year. Now that he has a year of experience, he does not have to spend so much time learning strokes and can focus more on conditioning.

Johnson is another versatile swimmer.

“He’s kind of like Wes,” Brown said. “He’s a pretty well-rounded swimmer. He’s going to be competitive in whatever he swims. He’s been swimming for a long time, so he definitely does a good job.”

Flenar’s strengths are the freestyle and backstroke. Newcomers include Rabuor Tindi and David Smith. Smith is a move-in from Concord who will dive.

Spencer Backus and Grant Bailey are the sophomores with different backgrounds in swimming. Backus is a club veteran who has excelled in the backstroke, but Brown said he can excel in any event she puts him in. Bailey is a first-time swimmer.

Elliot Miller and Brevin Nicholson are the freshmen. Nicholson has previous club experience. Miller has “a little” experience, though not as much as Nicholson, according to Brown.

Schedule

Nov. 14 – at Plymouth, 5:30 p.m. (girls only)

Nov. 21 – at Goshen DecaDuels, 5 p.m.

Nov. 28 – vs. Lewis Cass, 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 – at Warsaw Invitational, 10 a.m.

Dec. 5 – vs. Wabash, 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 7 – at Manchester, 5 p.m.

Dec. 11 – vs. Culver Academy, 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 – vs. Kokomo/Logansport, 10 a.m.

Dec. 18 – vs. Culver, 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 4 – at Maconaquah, 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 – vs. Tippecanoe Valley, 5 p.m.