Background
Piper was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1983, the daughter of Kenneth and Carol Ann Piper. Her father works for General Dynamics, a defense contractor, and her mother is an aerobics instructor.
Piper was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1983, the daughter of Kenneth and Carol Ann Piper. Her father works for General Dynamics, a defense contractor, and her mother is an aerobics instructor.
University of Wisconsin–Madison.
As part of the American team, she helped set a new world record in the women"s 4×200-meter freestyle relay (long course). Piper has one older sister, Cortney, who is also a swimmer and swam for the University of Tennessee. Piper is a 2001 graduate of Grosse Pointe North High School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.
Piper attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated in 2006, majoring in zoology.
At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she had a highly successful career on the women"s swimming team and served as the team"s captain. While still in school, and after she had exhausted her athletic eligibility, she served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Wisconsin Badgers swimming teams.
Piper married swim coach Shane Ryan on May 16, 2014. At the 2004 United States. Olympic Team Trials, Piper qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics by finishing 5th in the 200-meter freestyle.
She also placed 6th in the 400-meter freestyle.