Maureen Sheehan, Coach Emeritus
Maureen Sheehan was the Head Coach/Executive Director of LFSC 1984-2019. She joined the LFSC staff as Head Age Group Coach under Hall of Fame Coach John Leonard in 1981. Prior to coming to Lake Forest, Coach Sheehan was an NCAA All-America swimmer at Kansas University. In 2019 Coach Mo joined Coach Leonard as the 4th coach from Illinois to be inducted into the American Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame. She has also been honored with induction into the Janesville Sports Hall of Fame, Illinois Swimming Hall of Fame and is the second woman to be inducted into the International Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame.
Watch Coach Mo's ASCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony here
Meet Coach Mo . . .
Under Maureen’s direction (1981 to 1984) LFSC age group swimmers won numerous Illinois State Championships and National rankings. In 1984 Maureen became the fifth Head Coach of the Lake Forest Swim Club. In September 1988 she added the title and responsibilities of Executive Director, reflecting the growth of the business operation of the club under her direction.
Since 1985, LFSC swimmers have captured 61 Illinois Age Group, Senior Men’s, Senior Women’s, and Combined State Championship trophies. LFSC has swept the team titles at the State Senior Championships three times and is the only team to bring home a trophy each year between 1980 and 2001, when the meet served as the state’s premier Senior Swimming competition. In 1999 LFSC became the first team to sweep both Age Group and Senior Championship titles in back-to-back seasons. Maureen has coached swimmers at every performance level including 30 USA Swimming National Qualifiers, six World Ranked swimmers, and an American Record holder.
Since the USA Speedo Sectional Championship Meet was established in 2001 LFSC has continued to be a dominant team. Our swimmers have been the top Illinois team in every short and long course Sectional Meet between 2001 and 2005. The Lake Forest Swim Club won the six-state USA Sectional Meet in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005, captured the men’s team title in 2001 and 2002, and the Women’s team title in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Coach Maureen is certified by the American Swimming Coaches Association at Level V. She was selected to the staff of the Three Nation Distance Training Camp (Hawaii, 1991), National Junior Team (Montreal, 1992), the National Team Training Camp (Colorado Springs, 1996) and the Short Course World Championships (Hong Kong, 1999).
In 2004 Illinois Swimming recognized Maureen’s service contributions with a USA Swimming Life Membership.
Coach Mo Says “Thank You” …
Dear LFSC,
I just wanted to get a quick note out to let you know how much I appreciate the great party you threw for me the other night.
Special thanks to Stephanie and Andy Zimmerman for hosting the event at Exmoor CC, and to Steph, Kim Sturonas, Cara Meyer, Coach Laurel and Coach Michael for all the work they did to throw the most amazing party ever! It’s an honor most coaches will never enjoy. THANK YOU!
Thank you also to those who attended the retirement party and for all of the wonderful wishes, prayers, text and meals you have provided to me over the past couple of months. You have surely eased the burden of dealing with cancer.
It has been a wonderful honor and privilege to coach at the Lake Forest Swim Club for 38 years. I am a very lucky coach and have so many of you to thank for that. I will still be around to offer friendship and any help I can if it’s ever needed. GO DUCKS!
I'm not on social media so this is the best I can do!
Love,
Coach Mo 🦆
(We are searching high and low for pictures of Coach Mo … if you have any pictures to share please send them to [email protected])
