MONROE — After 34 years immersed in a life of swimming and dedication to child development, Brenda Ritschard has decided 2018 will be her last at the Green County Family YMCA.

Since her earliest years of life, the Monticello native has been swimming. 

“That’s just what we did in a small town,” Ritschard said.

Then, she became a lifeguard. Ritschard attended Madison Area Technical College to study in human services with an emphasis on juveniles. 

Her future was destined to combine both her career goals and a much enjoyed pastime. 

“I really wanted to work with kids,” Ritschard said. “I loved the message of the Y. It’s more than just teaching or instructing a program.”

By 1984, she was hired as an intern at the local Y, when it was still in the former westside mall of Monroe. 

When the new facility was constructed, then lifeguard Ritschard had the honor of being the first person to jump in the new swimming pool. She said when she was hired to be an instructor at the building, her supervisor gathered their group to begin training in the new pool. Ritschard noted that as the excited “country kid” she enthusiastically volunteered to be the first one, bounding toward the water.

Ritschard filled roles throughout the aquatic department. In 1987, she officially became the aquatic director, but left in 2005 to spend time with family. Five years later, she was asked to return to the post and has been the acting director for eight years.

And with a few roles in between, as well. Ritschard said “you did everything,” from refereeing volleyball to pre-school programs to children’s programs.

For 15 years, Ritschard has also been head coach of the Gators, the Green County Family YMCA swim team.

“It’s one of my favorite things that I’ve done here,” Ritschard said. “You really get to make a difference in their lives.”

Swimming teaches hard work because it’s a “hard sport,” she said. Young people gain a strong work ethic and learn what it is like to be a representative of their community within the scope of sportsmanship.

Ritschard added that swimming provides one-on-one time with young people for weeks at a time, rather than the short-term experience of a program at the Y, so the team develops more of a family bond. 

She added that her children were raised at the facility, noting that the only way to truly ground her son was to threaten that he could no longer go the Y. 

Reflecting on her time, Ritschard noted her children were not the only ones who developed there.

“I’ve grown up here,” she said. “It’s been a great ride.”

Just because she is officially leaving the YMCA does not mean Ritschard plans to give up the passion of her life’s work. She intends to keep teaching swimming lessons and water aerobics privately at the facility through next year. The lessons will be done on a part-time basis.

Retirement means more time with her family, Ritschard said. Quality days with her husband, Daniel, and her four children, Amber, Aaron, Kylie and Brynn, are what she wants to focus on now. Especially when she has two grandchildren, Emmy and X’Zavior, to which she can devote her time.

“I’m done with just being the boss,” Ritschard said.