Penn Hills’ Anthony Sipple following in siblings’ underwater footsteps

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, January 15, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Anthony Sipple doesn’t need to go far to find resources to help with his swimming career.

Eldest sister Stephanie and his middle sister Kristen both swim at Edinboro. Anthony, a freshman at Penn Hills High School, is on the same team as his younger sister, Lauren, who is a junior.

While Anthony is more interested in pursuing playing baseball beyond high school, he has shown a knack for being successful in the pool. He’s part of a 200-yard freestyle relay team — along with Anthony Collins, Luke Hoolahan and Clark Leonard — that has a best time of 3 minutes, 39 seconds, which is two seconds shy of making a WPIAL Class 3A cut.

Sipple also is close to the WPIAL qualifying time in the 50 freestyle.

“Baseball takes up most of my time,” Anthony said. “I always liked swimming, I’ve been doing it since I was 5 or 6. Swimming is fun because it gives me a second sport, and I’m able to be on a team with my sister.”

First-year Penn Hills swimming coach Morgan Bush has been impressed with his dedication. Even though he has other obligations, he puts the work in during swimming season to be successful.

“He’s a year-round ballplayer,” Bush said. “It’s amazing to see him come into swimming and put in the work and dedication. His goal is just to do well since he’s not a year-round swimmer. He’s very supportive of his other teammates.”

Anthony was able to get some extra advice when Stephanie returned from college. Stephanie has been a standout swimmer at Edinboro the past few seasons after previously swimming at Cleveland State.

“She was able to give me advice and tell me to keep my arms straight when I’m doing the freestyle,” Anthony said.

When it comes to the relay team, Anthony believes they have the mix to challenge for a spot at the district championships.

“We all have the speed,” Anthony said. “What we need to work on is the fundamentals. We need to work on our starts and the flip turns.”

Bush said junior Sarah Gamzam has also shown a lot of improvement. Going into the season, she didn’t have a lot of experience in many events.

After starting the season swimming 8:07 in the 500 free, she has gotten her time down to 7:41.

“She’s dropping so much time in the 500,” Bush said. “She’s thrilled with it. She’s come to practice, is dedicated and working at her pace. She’s implementing what she learns in practice to drop times in meets.”

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