Senior Sophia Steffensmeier is finishing up her last year of competitive swim as a captain of the Manhattan High School girls swim team. Starting her season off strong as she placed first in her 100-butterfly, first in her 400-freestyle relay, first in the 500-freestyle and second in the 200-medley relay. 

“I would like to keep training and keep a positive attitude towards league and state.” Steffensmeier said. “I am really going to be pushing this next month’s training.” 

Through her captain position, Steffensmeier looks to keep a fun and energetic mood for her teammates as the season continues to move along. Encouraging her teammates to show support for each other through cheering loudly during each race and hyping each other up before. 

“I’ve noticed a lot of the girls have gotten closer and it’s been really fun to see our team grow due to the high number of freshmen,” Steffensmeier said. 

“Our biggest strength is how close we are as a team and I push for our teammates to cheer for each other at the meets,” Steffenmeier said. “I can proudly say MHS almost always has the largest amount of girls cheering our swimmers at the meets.” 

Continuing to place well, Steffenmeier looks to improve her times and push to get better as League and State approach. 

“I’m optimistic for this year’s League and State and I look to keep improving and bettering myself and have a good end to my swimming career,” she said.