Packers and Warriors join forces
for new middle school swim team

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | April 2025

Students and head swim coaches from South St. Paul Public Schools and School District 197 have temporarily put their neighborhood rivalry aside to help build up the next wave of high school swimmers. In mid-March, South St. Paul middle school teacher and Two Rivers girls head swim coach Chris Sjogren launched a Packer-Warrior swim team for students in grades 5-8. Operated through TriDistrict Community Education and using the 8-lane pool at Two Rivers High School, it runs through April 17 and culminates in two meets against the Hastings middle school swim team.

“When I started with the Two Rivers program, it was by far one of the largest teams in our conference in Metro East,” Sjogren said. “We’ve lost a lot of seniors to graduation and our numbers for seventh graders joining the program are much lower than our high school seniors graduating…. I want to see both programs build up and be successful. When both programs are doing well, it’s good for the conference.”

Going into the 2024-2025 season, the Two Rivers girls program had dropped from about 40 to 20 and the South St. Paul girls program was wavering in the low teens, and both boys programs were even lower. As such, the South St. Paul girls team became a cooperative program with Minnehaha Academy and Cristo Rey, and the boys swim teams at South St. Paul Secondary and Two Rivers joined.

The 6-week program consists of practices held 4-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with a week off for spring break. Students are introduced to a variety of strokes, swimming techniques and racing strategies but there’s no overarching goal other than to have fun and become acquainted with competitive swimming. All 35 spots were filled this year, so Sjogren hopes to expand capacity to around 45 next year. He’s joined by South St. Paul/Two Rivers boys’ head swim coach Spencer Heino, and high school athletes also volunteer at some practices.

Ideally, this program will grow enough to spark an official middle school swim team for both schools.

“They [school leaders] weren’t entirely sure if the numbers would make sense to make it part of the official athletics programs for South St. Paul and Two Rivers, so we decided to run it through community ed for this first year and kind of go from there,” said Sjogren. “We’re also working with the other Metro East schools in North St. Paul, trying to get them doing a team, too, so we can expand and build up this middle school program.”

Sjogren said one of the reasons the swim programs have been running dry in recent years is because students don’t typically get involved until seventh grade. Whether it’s a matter of access to a pool or something else, it’s what he’s always seen as a coach and even as a high school swimmer himself. He has been a South St. Paul middle school teacher for two years and involved in the Two Rivers girls swim program for five seasons, including the past four as head coach. He swam competitively at Gustavus Adolphus College.

“Swimming is a great way for kids to get in shape for whatever [sport] they’re doing in the spring,” he said. “It’s one of the best cross-training sports because it’s lighter on the body than running is, and the cardio capacity that you grow is huge…. I really enjoy watching where some of the new swimmers are at the start of the season and then seeing how they progress and finish the season, both in time but also just in their technique, ability and their confidence.”

The high school girls’ swimming season runs from August to November and the boys’ December to March. Registration for the Packer-Warrior Swim Team program through TriDistrict Community Education was $175 per participant, and did not include swimsuit or goggles.

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