Chesterton swimmer Peyton Ostertag shifts from shorter freestyle races to fill the void in distance events and is off to a winning start to her senior season

Chesterton swimmer Peyton Ostertag shifts from shorter freestyle races to fill the void in distance events and is off to a winning start to her senior season

Senior Peyton Ostertag won two individual events and two relays in the dual meet at Crown Point.
Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
Versatility in swimming doesn’t always mean excelling at multiple strokes. Sometimes it applies to distances, and that’s where having senior Peyton Ostertag on the roster has allowed everything to fall into place on the loaded Chesterton girls swim team.
Miata Henderson’s graduation left big holes in the distance events, the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races.
Henderson made it to state in both events last season and placed 15th in the 500. Ostertag, a freestyle swimmer last season on a pair of All-American relays, is well on her way to filling the hole in the distance events.
Ostertag won the 200 and 500 in her 2025 debut in a dual meet at Crown Point and swam distances of 50 and 100 yards in a pair of winning relays.
“I think the best one is actually the 100 free, but I think I like the 500 better,” Ostertag said. “I like distance. It’s fun.”
By the end of the season, the 500 might be her best event. She was clocked in 5:16.46 at Crown Point,, a solid time for so early in the season, 4.21 seconds slower than her best and far from where she hopes she’ll be by the time the postseason arrives. Ostertag said her goal is to break the five-minute mark. She has a strong background at the distance.
“I swam the 5 my freshman and sophomore year and I was able to swim the sprints last year,” she said. “But Brynn Law is able to swim the sprints this year. I mean, she’s amazing as a freshman. She’s really good, so I’m back to distance.”
And happy to be there.
“You have to pace it pretty well,” she said. “The 50 you can just swim all out. The 500 you have to pace with it so you don’t go out super fast and your legs are tired 200 in and you’re like, ‘I’ve still got 300 to go and my legs are shot.’”
Ostertag won’t have the burden of uncertainty about her future weighing her down as a senior. She has committed to Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where 2025 Chesterton graduate Luke Wheele is on the men’s swim team.
“I’m really excited,” Ostertag said of her college choice. “The coaches are great. They’ve always been really supportive. They’re excited for me whenever I swim. They’re just great people.”