Women's Water Polo

Rachel takes over as the Cougars' third Head Coach for Women's Water Polo.  She brings a wealth of experience to the position, which includes her time at Cuesta College.  Rachel grew up in nearby Atascadero and, after a strong prep career, began her collegiate career at Cuesta College.  In the classroom, she was a two-year all-Academic selection, and, in the tank, she was one the Cougars most decorated athletes ever.   In 2015, she was honored as both Cuesta's Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year and George Silveria Career Student-Athlete.

In water polo, Rachel was a two-time all-Western State Conference and all-State selection, while also adding All-America honors as a sophomore.  She currently shares Cuesta's Single Game scoring record with five other players; however, she is the only one to reach the record eight-goal mark multiple times (3).  She also shares the program record with 100 goals in a season.  Her impact in the water over her career was obvious.  She ranks 2nd all time with 185 career goals and in the Top 10 for both Assists (63) and Steals (121).  

In swimming, Rachel enjoyed two dominant seasons.  She won the maximum three conference titles each season and was named the 2014 Western State Conference Swimmer of the Year.  Rachel was also a two-time CCCAA State Meet Qualifier and collected six top five individual medals over her career, including a pair of runner-up marks.  She still holds Cuesta's records for the 50-freestyle (:23.61), 100-freestyle (:52.08), 50-butterfly (:26.19), and 100-butterfly (:58.09), as well as being a member of the Cougars' 800-free relay (8:02.22) and 400-medley relay (4:05.88) standards.  In total, over her two seasons, Rachel earned All American honors in eight individual events and an equal number of relays during her career at Cuesta. 

After Cuesta, Rachel transferred to play water polo at Long Beach State.  After one year with the 49ers, she returned to the Central Coast and joined the Cougars' coaching staff.  The Cougars posted a 47-23 record with her on the bench, including a run to the CCCAA Regional Quarterfinals in her final season. After two years on the Cougars' staff, Rachel enrolled at nearby Cal Poly SLO and began coaching with the SLO Water Polo Club.   She completed her bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2020.

Rachel lives in Santa Margarita with her partner Mike Shiffrar and their two "Fur Children", Dewey and Newt.  

The Gruetzmacher Record

            Overall                                    Conference                  Playoffs                                  

Year    win      loss      tie        win      loss      place    win      loss      state

2022    14       15         0          3          2          3^{rd        0          1          -----}

Total    14        15        0          3          2           ^{-----      -----    -----}