MONROE - Two sets of sisters are driven by sibling rivalries that have put the Monroe-New Glarus girls swim program on the map.
The pair of sisters from New Glarus - senior Maddie Hammer and freshman Mekenzie Hammer, and junior Nina Schiro and freshman Francesca Schiro - have made a splash with the co-op, which is in its fourth year.
"Now that we both swim in high school it's pretty competitive," Nina said. "We are pretty much the same speed. We try to beat each other a lot. It makes you want to go harder to beat your sister."
Monroe-New Glarus, which is ranked 10th in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Division 2 state poll, is 5-0 overall in dual meets and 3-0 in the Badger South.
"It's definitely very amazing to be ranked that high," Maddie said. "We have been down for so many years. It's great to be recognized for how hard we work and the effort we put in."
The Cheesemakers are looking to stay unbeaten after a dual meet at Stoughton today. After the meet against the Vikings, the Cheesemakers still have duals against Madison Edgewood, ranked No. 1, and McFarland, which is ranked No. 3. Edgewood is the two-time defending Division 2 state champions and McFarland has finished as the state runner-up the last two years.
"We are very surprised, but very happy," Nina said. "Our team has improved a lot. Our seniors this year are good team leaders. I just think being 5-0 will make us push to want to be 6-0. We think we have the skill and drive to be able to beat them (Stoughton)."
Maddie swam with her younger sister Mekenzie, and the Schiro's for many years on the Green County Golden Gators - which are in conjunction with the Green County Family YMCA.
The Hammer sisters have different strengths as swimmers. Maddie excels at the freestyle and Mekenzie's forte is the backstroke.
"We each have a different best stroke," Maddie said. "We can give each other pointers on them. Having her on the team gives you good competition, but we are good sports about it most of the time."
Maddie tied for sixth place in the 100-yard freestyle at the WIAA Division 2 state meet last year (53.70 seconds). She's a two-time state qualifier in the 100 freestyle and three years ago as a freshman qualified for state in the 100 breaststroke. Maddie is in contact with two Division I schools to swim in college - the University of Illinois-Chicago and Valparaiso University. She's planning on making official visits to both Division I schools. She also has been contacted by several Division III schools, including the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire and Ripon College.
"I definitely want to swim in college," Maddie said. "I want to make the visits so I can verbally commit somewhere. I still want to stay with swimming after all of my hard work."
Maddie still has a long list of goals she wants to accomplish before gearing up to swim in college. She is on the brink of breaking three school records: 100-meter freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. She's about one second away from breaking the school record in the 100 freestyle and closing in on the record mark in the 200 freestyle. She swam the 200 freestyle in Gators last year in 1 minute, 57.07 seconds, which would have set the Cheesemakers' school record. She's also about two seconds away from breaking Rachel Root's school record in the 200 IM.
"I really want to break some school records," she said. "My goals are to make it back to state. I want to see where I rank in the different strokes before we set up what I will swim."
Mekenzie Hammer has the second-fastest Division 2 time in the state in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.06), and her best time in the 100-meter freestyle is 59.8 seconds. She's been swimming for seven years with the Sugar River Rapids and the Gators.
"It's really amazing to see all of the hard work pay off," Mekenzie said of her second-best time in the state.
After injuring her shoulder when she was younger swimming the butterfly, Mekenzie was able to get more time to train in the backstroke.
"I like the backstroke because you don't have to breathe as much," she said.
Mekenzie grew up watching older sister Maddie swim and pictured herself in the pool following in her sister's footsteps.
"Maddie really made me want to do it (swimming)," Mekenzie said. "I would always watch her at swim meets and I was really bored and I wanted to get in the water to get started."
Mekenzie has come to count on her sister. She understands Maddie will always be in her corner.
"It's really fun to race her because we train together and we are always in the same lane," Mekenzie said. "Sometimes she gets annoyed with me. It's not super serious when we race each other. It's just a lot of fun."
Swimming has also opened doors for the Schiro sisters. Nina Schiro qualified for state in three events last year. She finished 14th at state in the 100 backstroke (1:02.77) and 16th in the 500 freestyle (5:37.13). She, along with junior Emily Meritt, are back from the Cheesemakers' 400 freestyle relay team that took 12th at state last year with a school record time of 3:45.49.
Nina started swimming competitively at 8-years-old with the Sugar River Rapids summer team in New Glarus. Nina's younger sister, Francesca Schiro started swimming at 6.
"I didn't want to swim at first," Francesca said. "My mom forced me to because my older sister (Nina) was swimming. I'm glad she did now. It's really a good opportunity to meet new friends and keep in good health."
The Schiro sisters have swam for the Sugar River Rapids summer team and for the Gators for more than seven years. Francesca has used the sibling rivalry to drive her to reach her goals.
"During practice, I like to push Nina so she doesn't beat me," Francesca said. "I always like to beat her. It's really fun having a sister on the team. She can help me and be the leader for me."
The Schiro sisters often will cheer for each other in the pool and offer swimming tips.
"We give each other advice and sometimes she criticizes me," Francesca said of Nina. "I will take it and become better at my swimming. The whole team cheers each other on."
Another advantage of becoming a swimmer is meeting many new competitors.
"I have met a lot of new people and created a lot of friendships I wouldn't have done in a different sport," Francesca said.
Nina served as a lifeguard at the swimming pool in New Glarus this summer and trained twice a week with the Gators.
"I wanted to stay in shape and get ready for high school (season)," she said. "I worked on my endurance."
Nina said her biggest improvement as a swimmer has come in the 100 backstroke.
Her lifetime-best time in the event was 1:01, set at the Baraboo sectional last year. Nina's best time in the 500 freestyle is 5:23, which she set at the Freeport Invitational a year ago. She just started swimming the 500 freestyle last season and was a state qualifier in the event.
"Linda (Moser) just put me in it (500 freestyle) at the Freeport dual last year to see how I could do," Nina said. "I didn't feel tired after it because I was pacing myself so much. After that, I started coming up with strategies and went into it going faster off the wall and on my turns."
Francesca excels at the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Her best time in the 100 freestyle this season is 59 seconds.
"My goal was to get my best times and to make it to state in a relay or individual event," she said.
The Hammer and Schiro sisters are aiming to keep the winning going for the Cheesemakers.
"After each win, the girls are inspired and work even harder after each win," Mekenzie said.
The Schiro sisters missed the season-opening dual meet against Platteville because they were on vacation. Nina also missed the dual meet against Oregon due to illness. Nina has set a high bar and she's shooting to continue exceeding expectations in the pool.
"I definitely want to make it back to state in those two races - (the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle) and a couple of relays," Nina said.
The pair of sisters from New Glarus - senior Maddie Hammer and freshman Mekenzie Hammer, and junior Nina Schiro and freshman Francesca Schiro - have made a splash with the co-op, which is in its fourth year.
"Now that we both swim in high school it's pretty competitive," Nina said. "We are pretty much the same speed. We try to beat each other a lot. It makes you want to go harder to beat your sister."
Monroe-New Glarus, which is ranked 10th in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Division 2 state poll, is 5-0 overall in dual meets and 3-0 in the Badger South.
"It's definitely very amazing to be ranked that high," Maddie said. "We have been down for so many years. It's great to be recognized for how hard we work and the effort we put in."
The Cheesemakers are looking to stay unbeaten after a dual meet at Stoughton today. After the meet against the Vikings, the Cheesemakers still have duals against Madison Edgewood, ranked No. 1, and McFarland, which is ranked No. 3. Edgewood is the two-time defending Division 2 state champions and McFarland has finished as the state runner-up the last two years.
"We are very surprised, but very happy," Nina said. "Our team has improved a lot. Our seniors this year are good team leaders. I just think being 5-0 will make us push to want to be 6-0. We think we have the skill and drive to be able to beat them (Stoughton)."
Maddie swam with her younger sister Mekenzie, and the Schiro's for many years on the Green County Golden Gators - which are in conjunction with the Green County Family YMCA.
The Hammer sisters have different strengths as swimmers. Maddie excels at the freestyle and Mekenzie's forte is the backstroke.
"We each have a different best stroke," Maddie said. "We can give each other pointers on them. Having her on the team gives you good competition, but we are good sports about it most of the time."
Maddie tied for sixth place in the 100-yard freestyle at the WIAA Division 2 state meet last year (53.70 seconds). She's a two-time state qualifier in the 100 freestyle and three years ago as a freshman qualified for state in the 100 breaststroke. Maddie is in contact with two Division I schools to swim in college - the University of Illinois-Chicago and Valparaiso University. She's planning on making official visits to both Division I schools. She also has been contacted by several Division III schools, including the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire and Ripon College.
"I definitely want to swim in college," Maddie said. "I want to make the visits so I can verbally commit somewhere. I still want to stay with swimming after all of my hard work."
Maddie still has a long list of goals she wants to accomplish before gearing up to swim in college. She is on the brink of breaking three school records: 100-meter freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. She's about one second away from breaking the school record in the 100 freestyle and closing in on the record mark in the 200 freestyle. She swam the 200 freestyle in Gators last year in 1 minute, 57.07 seconds, which would have set the Cheesemakers' school record. She's also about two seconds away from breaking Rachel Root's school record in the 200 IM.
"I really want to break some school records," she said. "My goals are to make it back to state. I want to see where I rank in the different strokes before we set up what I will swim."
Mekenzie Hammer has the second-fastest Division 2 time in the state in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.06), and her best time in the 100-meter freestyle is 59.8 seconds. She's been swimming for seven years with the Sugar River Rapids and the Gators.
"It's really amazing to see all of the hard work pay off," Mekenzie said of her second-best time in the state.
After injuring her shoulder when she was younger swimming the butterfly, Mekenzie was able to get more time to train in the backstroke.
"I like the backstroke because you don't have to breathe as much," she said.
Mekenzie grew up watching older sister Maddie swim and pictured herself in the pool following in her sister's footsteps.
"Maddie really made me want to do it (swimming)," Mekenzie said. "I would always watch her at swim meets and I was really bored and I wanted to get in the water to get started."
Mekenzie has come to count on her sister. She understands Maddie will always be in her corner.
"It's really fun to race her because we train together and we are always in the same lane," Mekenzie said. "Sometimes she gets annoyed with me. It's not super serious when we race each other. It's just a lot of fun."
Swimming has also opened doors for the Schiro sisters. Nina Schiro qualified for state in three events last year. She finished 14th at state in the 100 backstroke (1:02.77) and 16th in the 500 freestyle (5:37.13). She, along with junior Emily Meritt, are back from the Cheesemakers' 400 freestyle relay team that took 12th at state last year with a school record time of 3:45.49.
Nina started swimming competitively at 8-years-old with the Sugar River Rapids summer team in New Glarus. Nina's younger sister, Francesca Schiro started swimming at 6.
"I didn't want to swim at first," Francesca said. "My mom forced me to because my older sister (Nina) was swimming. I'm glad she did now. It's really a good opportunity to meet new friends and keep in good health."
The Schiro sisters have swam for the Sugar River Rapids summer team and for the Gators for more than seven years. Francesca has used the sibling rivalry to drive her to reach her goals.
"During practice, I like to push Nina so she doesn't beat me," Francesca said. "I always like to beat her. It's really fun having a sister on the team. She can help me and be the leader for me."
The Schiro sisters often will cheer for each other in the pool and offer swimming tips.
"We give each other advice and sometimes she criticizes me," Francesca said of Nina. "I will take it and become better at my swimming. The whole team cheers each other on."
Another advantage of becoming a swimmer is meeting many new competitors.
"I have met a lot of new people and created a lot of friendships I wouldn't have done in a different sport," Francesca said.
Nina served as a lifeguard at the swimming pool in New Glarus this summer and trained twice a week with the Gators.
"I wanted to stay in shape and get ready for high school (season)," she said. "I worked on my endurance."
Nina said her biggest improvement as a swimmer has come in the 100 backstroke.
Her lifetime-best time in the event was 1:01, set at the Baraboo sectional last year. Nina's best time in the 500 freestyle is 5:23, which she set at the Freeport Invitational a year ago. She just started swimming the 500 freestyle last season and was a state qualifier in the event.
"Linda (Moser) just put me in it (500 freestyle) at the Freeport dual last year to see how I could do," Nina said. "I didn't feel tired after it because I was pacing myself so much. After that, I started coming up with strategies and went into it going faster off the wall and on my turns."
Francesca excels at the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Her best time in the 100 freestyle this season is 59 seconds.
"My goal was to get my best times and to make it to state in a relay or individual event," she said.
The Hammer and Schiro sisters are aiming to keep the winning going for the Cheesemakers.
"After each win, the girls are inspired and work even harder after each win," Mekenzie said.
The Schiro sisters missed the season-opening dual meet against Platteville because they were on vacation. Nina also missed the dual meet against Oregon due to illness. Nina has set a high bar and she's shooting to continue exceeding expectations in the pool.
"I definitely want to make it back to state in those two races - (the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle) and a couple of relays," Nina said.
