In a state where the water freezes for five months a year, the Sioux Falls Swim Team is helping local aquatics find their flow.
Dipping Our Toes into the Sioux Falls Swim Scene
By Fresh Produce
SFST has been championing aquatic excellence in South Dakota since 2016. Following last year’s Summer Olympics, the team’s roster nearly doubled to 275 young athletes, many of whom are competing at top levels across the region.
“As a family, we’re very enthusiastic about the sport,” said Ted. “The coaches are incredibly supportive and encouraging.”
Ted and Liz‘s son, Sylvester, has been swimming with SFST for about four years. Like many swim parents, Ted and Liz are always looking for opportunities to support the team. So when Coach Kyle Margheim learned that Ted and Liz run a branding agency, he asked if Fresh Produce would help design materials for an upcoming meet.
“Coach Kyle wanted a direction that felt fresh and new, so they were really excited to work with us,” Ted explained.
When it came to design, “We had a lot of freedom, more than we expected,” said Alex.
We steered clear of the common motifs—“clipart splashes, shields, and guys doing butterfly strokes,” as Alex put it. Instead, we presented SFST with two fresh concepts featuring vibrant colors and gender-neutral imagery. Our goal was to create something that any swimmer would be delighted to wear on a shirt or see on screen during a meet.
The first direction, selected for the January Invitational, was a take on the Sioux Falls flag. Alex turned the flag on its side, preserving the corner sun but replacing the jagged steps with flowing curves that mirror the lanes of a swimming pool.
For the 2025 State Meet, Alex drew inspiration from classic Olympic emblems, designing a circular badge of a swimmer clad in a cap and goggles. He also designed a custom “2025” typographic lockup, which paired seamlessly with the badge for screen graphics and merchandise like shirts and lanyards.
“We wanted to create something that would get the kids excited,” Alex explained. “They’ve worked hard to become elite athletes, and we wanted the design to reflect that effort.”
