Boys Varsity Swimmers are Fast in the Water and Stronger Together

Spend a few minutes on the pool deck this winter and one thing becomes clear: the United Swim and Dive team that Greenhills leads is enjoying itself. That might seem like a small detail, but it’s really at the core of the team’s identity and the source of its success.

“They’re doing a really good job of coming together as a team and working hard, which is all you can ask for as a coach” says Head Coach Katie Capelli. “Our team record isn’t as good as last year, but I think they’re almost having more fun.”

That joy has come with purpose. From the first day of practice, Capelli noticed a sharper, more focused, and closer knit team than before.

“Day one, they were better than last year,” she says. “They were excited about being there and excited about working hard.”

The results have followed. Although the team is smaller this season, with just 16 swimmers, compared to about 20 last year, the individual performances have been among the strongest in recent memory. School records continue to fall. Greenhills swimmers are posting some of the fastest times in the state. And despite the smaller roster, the team is ranked in the top 10 in the state.

“We’re still swimming quite fast,” Capelli says. “It feels like we’re not winning as many meets, but the 16 kids that we have are doing really, really well.”

The numbers tell part of the story. In dual meets and championship formats, depth matters. Teams can score three swimmers per event, and four at championship meets. With a roster of 16, Greenhills often lacks a third or fourth scorer in certain events.

“It’s just a numbers game,” Capelli explains. “We might win an event, but if we don’t have that third person scoring, it hurts. We have events where we don’t even have four people entered because we just don’t have enough kids.”

And yet, even with fewer swimmers, the team took the same number of athletes to the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) meet this year as it did last season. Capelli expects several first-time state qualifiers, and she believes Catholic League competition will showcase just how strong this group is.

“We built the schedule to swim against the best teams in the state,” she says. “That’s going to prepare them really well for the end of the season.”

If there is a defining strength, it might be freestyle. Senior captain Christopher Gregg anchors that strength and has a real chance to contend for a state title in the 500 freestyle. In the 200 freestyle relay, the combo of Tyler Dillman ’26, Michael Elliott ’27, Jeremiah Green ’27, and Gregg is in the top three in Washtenaw County Schools with their 1:29.87 time; the 400 freestyle squad of Dillman, Green, Gregg and Ethan Hong ’27 is in the top three with a 3:17.26; and Gregg is in the top three in the 200 IM.

But fast times alone don’t make a great team. Capelli credits the leadership of Gregg and fellow captains Elliott and Dillman with shaping the team’s culture. They work hard together, support each other at meets, and enjoy being together.

The result of that culture is visible in swimmers across the roster. The freshmen, though few in number, are working hard and steadily dropping time. And the following veterans posted times fast enough to make the MISCA cut this year:

• Tag Dershimer ’27
• Tyler Dillman
• Michael Elliott
• Jeremiah Green
• Chris Gregg
• Ethan Hong
• Freddie Kibble ’28

“You could name every kid on the team and say they’re doing really well,” Capelli says. “I’m really proud of them. The kids are better, they’re faster, and they’re supporting each other.”

In swimming, team scores matter. But so does culture. So does growth. So does the daily choice to push yourself and the person in the next lane toward something better. This winter, Greenhills is doing all of it.