Swimming & Diving

Pepa’s dedication to helping his athletes improve reveals the life of a swim coach

by Marcus Baker

Michael Pepa is the head coach of the boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving team, his second stint at JHS as a swim coach. For the second stint here, this is his tenth year as well.

He coached for two or three years in the early ‘90s. He has also been a swim coach for 34 years altogether, including college and high school teams on both sides of the Ohio River, as well as club, masters, and age- group teams.

Head coach Michael Pepa watches his team swim during a recent practice. Photo by Marcus Baker.

His favorite aspect of coaching is that the interaction with the student-athletes is fun, and the biggest joy for him is helping other athletes reach their greatest potential, whether that’s at any level or their first year swimming, or whether they’re trying to win a state championship.

Having that student-athlete reach their potential is very rewarding, Pepa said. “Swimming is inherently motivating because you get to see your personal time drop. You see that empirical objective improvement that comes from self-motivation.”

He also said that he thinks it’s one of the joys of swimming. Regardless of what level an athlete is at, everyone’s goals are the same — trying to get a faster time.

He hopes by the end of the season that his Red Devil team is going to certainly improve. He said that his girls’ team is in a bit of a rebuild this season, while his boys’ side has a little more depth than he had in the past.

He expects his group of swimmers to train really hard and expects each one of them to get much much better position in February than they are in December.

Head dive and assistant swim coach Holden Henderson has been coaching for 10 years and has known Pepa since 2015.

Assistant coach Holden Henderson demonstrates correct form for a dive for JHS swimmers as a practice. Photo by Marcus Baker.

Henderson said that coach Pepa always encourages the swimmers to practice like they want to compete. He tries to motivate his team so they can give it their all at practice, so it can be easier at the meets.

Henderson also helps his team out by helping them and supporting them, and wants to help out as much as he can.

Athletic director A.J. Moye met Pepa in the early summer of 2025, going to the Aquatic Center for swimming practice, and from then on, they have had a great relationship.

Moye attends swim practice three times a week to observe and help out. He said he would help the swimming team in any way he could throughout the season.

They have also been building a new place just for the swimming team, which will be an Olympic-level pool just for them.

Senior Litzy Rubio has been swimming since sixth grade and is now in her last year of swimming for JHS.

Rubio describes how she really likes his motivation, and she loves how he’s always supportive and makes her feel good. She said that his coaching style has a great blend of both strict and fun.

After she completes her final season she will miss her family on her team. Her teammates and her coach always supported her along and cheered whether she swam good or bad.

“Always cherish your team; they’re the ones who have seen you at your worst and your best, so don’t take your moments with them for granted,” said Rubio.

Freshman Christian Miller has been swimming since he was 11 years old. He made it to clubs, national states, and other more.

Miller said he likes how Pepa takes care of his swimmers and how much effort he puts into their training.

He said he helps him by breaking down his sets, which is what’s best for the swimmers. He also says his coaching style is unique and that he has a good way of coaching himself and his teammates.

Pepa encourages his student-athletes to become better swimmers and have fun during their season.

“Our goal is the same, to improve, get faster, and have fun.”

Junior Isaac Ramirez competes with Seymour swimmers to beat the competition. Photo by Malachi Conrad.

Junior Stella Siewert swims using the butterfly technique in the 200IM. Photo by Malachi Conrad.

10 Dec 202510 Dec 2025 by jhshyphen

Fast Feature: Red Devil swim season begins

by Liam Turk-Gagel and William Hudgins

The 2025-2026 swim season is something to look forward to this school year, with newcomers like freshmen Christian Miller and Dash Leonard, along with returning faces like seniors Jaga Pagva and Addi Bingham.

The season for girls began Oct. 27 and ends Feb. 7. The season for boys begins Nov. 10 and ends on Feb. 21.

Senior Jaga Pagva swims freestyle in the pool at a swim practice. Photo by Parker McCloskey.

Who is a boys swimmer that fans should look out for?

“Jaga (Pagva) was really good last year, and his international experience in Mongolia is going to help him excel.” – Coach Michael Pepa

Who is a girls swimmer that fans should look out for?

“I’d say either Macyn (Jackson) or Litzy (Rubio). They’ve had a lot of improvement over the years, and I think they’ll definitely be ones to look out for.” – Coach Michael Pepa

Senior Litzy Rubio read the set at a practice. Photo by Parker McCloskey.

Many swimmers believe that compared to last year to this upcoming season, the team is going to be much better.

How do you think the team will do in sectionals compared to last year?

“I think we’ll get better. I think we can get second or even first at sectional; sky’s the limit.” – Junior Isaac Ramirez

“I think we’ll do even better than last year; our freshman class will fill those gaps from last year’s seniors, alongside our talented drivers. It will definitely be the season to look out for the boys’ team.” – Senior Jaga Pagva

What is some advice that you’d give to the upcoming freshmen on the team?

“What you put into it, you get out of it.” -Junior Stella Siewert

“It’s a lot of hard work and dedication, but it comes with a lot of rewards.” – Coach Michael Pepa

31 Oct 2025 by jhshyphen

Red Devils welcome new school year with annual Community Pep Rally

Students, Community come together to collect school supplies and display school spirit

All photos by Magdalene Conrad.

The Jeff High Step Team represents the school at Thursday’s Community Pep Rally. Photo by Magdalene Conrad.

11 Aug 2025 by jhshyphen

Fast Feature: Pagva brothers take on Junior Nationals in Mongolia

by Romier Hunter-Lawrence

Two JHS swimmers will swim in international waters in April.

Senior Margad Pagva and junior Jaga Pagva have been invited to participate in Mongolia’s 18 and Under Junior National Championship Swim Meet from April 9-12.

This swim meet could possibly allow for one or both of the brothers to compete for Mongolia internationally down the road.

Both sat down to answer some questions about the upcoming international experience.

What are you most excited about when swimming in Mongolia?

Margad: “I’m excited about being able to compete with other Mongolian swimmers and to make new friends.”

Jaga: “I’m excited about swimming in a pool on the other side of the world where I can meet new people and make new friends.”

How excited are you to go to your parents home country for the first time?

Margad: “It’s going to be great because my parents have told me many amazing things about Mongolia, so to be able to experience it myself will be great.”

Jaga: “I’m very excited because we have never traveled abroad across the globe before, so it will gives us a new perspective over the sport of swimming and the competition like in Mongolia.”

What events are you swimming and what are your goals?

Margad: “I’m swimming a multitude events from freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and IM. I want to place high and swim well.”

Jaga: “I’m swimming multiple events such as freestyle, IM, and breastroke; my goal is to place high and swim well.”

Have you ever swim short course meters in a meet before?

Margad: “This will be my first short course meters meet.”

Jaga: “Nope, it will be my first SCM meet .”

What are some words of wisdom for people who want to swim at a national level?

Margad: “Train hard and don’t give up.”

Jaga: “Never give up and chase your dreams.”

Senior Margad Pagva and junior Jaga Pagva have been invited to participate in Mongolia’s 18 and Under Junior National Championship Swim Meet from April 9-12. Photo by Sophia Goforth.

13 Mar 202513 Mar 2025 by jhshyphen

Senior swimmer Maggie Nifong competes at state for third consecutive year

by Romier Hunter-Lawrence

A 9-picture photo gallery from varsity senior swimmer Maggie Nifong competing at state for the third year in a row.

Nifong competed in the 200 IM and 100 fly. This was her last high school meet, wrapping up her high school swim career. She will continue to swim at a Division 1 level at Indiana University Indianapolis.

Click on the photographs in the gallery below.

20 Feb 202521 Feb 2025 by jhshyphen

Girls’ swimming and diving team places third in Sectional

The girls’ team placed third overall at the swimming and diving Sectional last Saturday at Highland Hills Middle School.

Senior Maggie Nifong finished first in the 200 IM and the 100 Fly, three-peating in the 100 Fly. Diver Eva Ellis advanced to diving regionals based on a third-place finish.

Click on photo gallery bellow. Photos by Romier Hunter-Lawrence.

Senior Maggie Nifong hugs mother and father, Missy and Brad Nifong, as they hand her the award for winning the 200 IM at sectionals in 2:15.77. Photo by Romier Hunter-Lawrence.

12 Feb 202512 Feb 2025 by jhshyphen

Girls’ swim and dive team competes at first meet of season

All photos by Romier Hunter-Lawrence and Maggie Nifong.

The Red Devil girls’ swimming and diving team pose before they swim at the New Albany Relays Girls’ Swim Meet on Tuesday, Nov. 19. JHS placed second to Floyd Central, beating out several local teams., winning the 200 butterfly relay and the 200 backstroke relay. Photo by Romier Hunter-Lawrence.

21 Nov 202422 Nov 2024 by jhshyphen

Disney Mullins Dabbles in Diving and Drama

disney-mullins-by-max-fisher One week she’s auditioning for the school play, the next week she’s diving headfirst off the diving board. Sophomore Disney Mullins is a busy girl with many interests, which can sometimes be rough, especially on a high schooler. Even with the stress it may come with, she manages to make things work in her favor.

Mullins has been diving since the eighth grade and even though she is three years into the sport, she has managed to achieve a notably high score. In her first year of diving at Jeffersonville High School, she received an MVP award for scoring the most points out of all of her team’s divers.

“I think diving is unique… it’s different from all the other sports out there, and I think that’s what makes it cool and exciting,” she says. “Plus it’s fun to do flips and stuff.”

In addition, Mullins has been doing theater since the age of three. So far, she has
managed to land a total of five leads by age 14, including Oliver Twist from “Oliver! the musical”, Gertrude McFuzz from “Seussical Jr.”, and Tinkerbell in “Peter Pan Jr.” “I really liked Peter Pan,” she states. “It was fun throwing glitter into the audience and into people’s faces.”

One of the biggest issues she has faced is timing. Diving season starts in the fall and
concludes in late winter. Meanwhile, the plays are scattered throughout the year. With the two activities occurring at the same time, Mullins thought she would have to choose one or the other. To her surprise, the coach and theater director were very considerate and helped her figure out a way to do both.

For example, during last year’s diving season, the theater department was rehearsing for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. “I would go to the most important rehearsals and when there was a dive meet, I’d go to that,” Mullins comments.

Although diving and theater might seem very different, they have one thing in common: Mullins always has an audience. And as long as she has one, she will continue to thrive in what she enjoys.

25 Jan 202024 Jan 2020 by chloeytrinkle

Boys/Girls Swimming and Diving

BOYS

After an impressive runner-up finish at sectionals last year, the Jeffersonville High School Boys swim team lost 5 varsity seniors. This year the team is low on numbers, but head coach Michael Pepa says the team is doing “better than I thought.”

With the smaller team, they have had to make some changes, such as having divers swim some events. Something Junior diver, Max Cathey described as challenging, yet helpful to the team. While it can be frustrating for the divers, Head Diving Coach, Holden Henderson says it pays off, “The net benefit is worth it,” he says. While the small numbers cost the team at dual meets, their strong individual performances will should pay off in the State tournament. The small numbers also have helped with team comradery. Senior co-captain, Jonas Gillam says, “we’re a lot closer because of it.” With all the hard work this season, especially over Christmas break the team is ready for a strong postseason.

Looking forward, the team is primarily focused on getting as many people to state as possible. Freshman, Evan Dickson says if they “keep at it, and show up every day,” he believes they can achieve those goals.

GIRLS

The Jeffersonville High School girls swimming and diving team is coming off an impressive second-place finish at Sectionals last year. And this year with strong senior leadership, they believe they have a shot to take back the sectional title. Their goal this year is simple, “Win sectionals,” says freshman Samantha Elsner.

Head coach Michael Pepa says they have been training really well as a group, and he noted the team’s cohesiveness and positive attitudes as reasons for success. Pepa credits the work ethic to the senior leadership, saying,“They’re setting expectations a little higher this year.” Looking towards the postseason, the team has ramped up training, especially over winter break. “We’ve been training really hard, and the work is paying off,” says Senior Bonnie Dixon.

The team is also counting on a strong performance from Sophomore diver, Disney Mullins. This year with two years of diving experience under her belt, Mullins believes she can provide crucial points for the team. “I’m extremely proud of how far I’ve come from last year,” she says. With the work under their belt, to achieve their goals, Senior Captain Alyssa Miller says, “We just have to focus.”

25 Jan 202024 Jan 2020 by Max_Fisher

Athlete Spotlight: Caroline Elliott

Senior Caroline Elliott has been swimming competitively since she was six years old, but the 2017-18 season may be her final one. Although she has received offers to swim in college, she is still weighing her options.
For now, she will continue to perform for the Red Devils, and serve as a role model for the younger girls on the team.
“I want them to know to keep trying, because this team is something they’re going to get to grow up with,” Elliott said about the younger swimmers.
In the pool, Elliott competes in the 100-meter breaststroke, an event she hopes to go to state in.
Elliott’s best time in the event is a 1:08, which she pulled off at Sectional last year.
She has also swam a 26.1 in the 50-meter freestyle, one of the best times on the team.
“Caroline was an awesome teammate,” said JHS senior, and former teammate, Amber Dumstorf. “She always encouraged me before races and at practice,”
While Elliott has proved herself as a swimmer, one could argue her involvement with clubs and organizations around the school is even more impressive. Currently, Elliott is the president of Key Club and Reilly’s Dance Marathon, an officer of Friends of Rachel, and a member of National Honors Society and Anchor Club.
“I’m proud of my balance,” Elliott said. “Swimming is a very time consuming sport, and I’m proud that I’m able to juggle that while keeping my grades up and staying involved. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
For now, she’ll continue to compete at a high level for the Red Devils, while continuing her work in the community as a part of five different clubs at Jeff.

26 Feb 20185 Jan 2019 by tristanjackson15

RECAP: Boys and Girls Sectional Swimming (video)

multimedia video

10 Apr 201719 Sep 2017 by emmakellis

Record-Drowning Red Devils

by: Haylee Hedrick and Adrian Blair

Michael Jordan, Elvis Presley, Gene Kelly, Tom Brady and Albert Einstein are looked at as superior for dominating within their field. They showcase power and influence over others — otherwise known as dominance.

The JHS boys and girls swim teams have been dominating within the Hoosier Hills for years, gradually beating fierce competitors and overcoming tough obstacles.

Second-year head coach Mike Pepa has witnessed his team push themselves to success.

“From a school standpoint, I think we’re one of the most successful programs in the building as far as our record in the conference, how we place at conference, Sectionals and at state,” Pepa said. “I think we’re probably one of the top three programs in the school building over the last 6-8 years, as far as dominance compared to our conference.”

Girls

There are over 3,000 high school girl swimmers throughout the Hoosier state, which correlates into over 200 teams. The girls JHS swim team are ranked 24 out of those 244 teams.

This year, the girls won all 12 dual meets in the Hoosier Hills Conference, as well as the conference championship meet. The swimmers, along with the girls basketball team, were the only JHS team to go undefeated during conference play.

On Feb. 4, the girls took home first place at Sectionals. Jeffersonville was down 48 points going into the second half of the meet due to the fact that there currently aren’t any divers on the team. With that in consideration, the meet came down to the 400-yard freestyle relay, where Jeff took home first place to edge Floyd Central 465-464.

“Our biggest issue has been not having enough divers,” said Junior Caroline Elliot. “We had two new girl divers who were ineligible to compete in meets due to not having enough dives, and our other diver suffered an injury just before conference leaving us without any divers during Sectional.”

At Sectional, the team broke two Sectional records, two pool records and three school records.

Senior Jacqueline Richard was part of a school record-breaking 200 medley relay. Senior Adeline Dixon broke her own school records in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. Junior Rachel Walker also broke her own record in the 200. Walker’s goal is to win a state meet by the time she graduates from JHS.

“Rachel Walker is our fastest girl swimmer. She’s one of the fastest high school swimmers in the state of Indiana,” Pepa said.

Walker qualified for the state finals in both of her events. She qualified fifth in the 500, with her time leaving her in the top seven in the state. She finished 14th in the 200.

The team is also poised to be good in the future, as well. Freshman Megan McEwen and fellow freshman Alyssa Miller, were both part of the 200 freestyle relay that placed second.

“We have two freshmen that made huge impact on the girls team: Megan McEwen and Alyssa Miller,” Pepa said. “Our two most improved swimmers on the girls team are Emma Ellis and Tonya Williams. They did a heck of a job this year compared to last year.”

Boys

The boys team lost seven swimmers from last year. Though thin in numbers, their season was a successful one, consisting of placing in conference despite being made up of mostly underclassmen.

“We’re in a little bit of a re-building phase, but we have the benefit of having some really strong swimmers from the front side, and then developing some new swimmers would be great,” Pepa said.

While the loss of seven boys swimmers stung, it was cause for a total team reconstruction. First-year boys swimmer Kip Jackson believes that the boys team is just a few guys away from being even more dominant.

“This year, we have a very young team, mostly freshman and sophomores. So we are seeing where the underclassmen fit best, whether it be relays or individual events,” Jackson, a junior, said. “There are only four seniors on the boys team and three seniors on the girls team. Hopefully after summer training, we will be back on top next year because I know we are all hungry for that Sectional title.”

On Jan. 28, the boys placed as conference runner-up behind Floyd Central. The Red Devils had three individual conference champions: sophomore Kameron Case with two (100 and 200 freestyle), and freshman Carter Dilger with one (100 butterfly.)

“For boys, Kameron Case was fastest in conference in his events, Levin Martin was very strong in his event, and we have Carter Dilger, who hopefully will have the opportunity to go to state maybe even place at state in his event,” Pepa said.

Dilger was top three in the state for 14-and-under in 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Case said his fastest event was the 200 yard freestyle. His time for that was 1:48.

The boys also placed third in Sectional, losing to Seymour (second) and Floyd (first). Case placed first in the 100 (48:07) and 200 (1:44.73). Both Dilger and Case with also be representing JHS at the state finals on Feb. 25.

The rest of the story …

Most athletes have a certain amount of time they must abide by when it comes to their performance. However, swimming is one of the few sports that doesn’t have that.

“We don’t have to worry about playing time…we worry about the clock. The clock doesn’t lie,” Pepa said.

In swimming, dropping a few seconds off of your last time is viewed as a success.

“Everyone has the same goal, whether you’re trying to be in the Olympics or whether this is your first season you’ve ever swam competitively,” Pepa said. “(That goal is) a personal best time.”

While swimming is a strenuous and time-consuming sport, Pepa believes the athletes on his team are some of the best around the school.

“It’s motivating to be around student athletes who perform well in the classroom and constantly try to reach their goal and potential,” Pepa said. “Swimming is not an easy sport. It’s an awful lot of hours and it’s very demanding. It all weighs on you mentally as well.”

In total, most of the JHS swim team trains 18 hours and 45 minutes a week to better their performance, further proving their devotion to the sport.

“Training hard, having dedication, and consequently reaching your potential faster than anybody else that we compete against — to me that’s dominance,” Pepa said.

2 Mar 2017 by hayleehedrick