Claire Diener - Head Coach
Email: [email protected]
Coach Claire is a Clinton native, having a long-standing history with the Clinton Otters. She joined the team when she was 8 and swam all the way through her senior year of high school. She has taught swim lessons at our Y and also served as an assistant coach from 2016 - 2019 before leaving to pursue her master's degree. In addition to coaching swim team, she is a middle school Math teacher. She is is looking forward to being back with the program!
Michelle Lukach - Asst. Coach
Email: [email protected]
Coach Michelle is originally from Streator, IL and moved to Clinton with her husband, Don, about 32 years ago. She learned to swim when she was 6 years old at the Streator YMCA. Before employment with the YMCA, she was a pre school teacher for 10 years. She enjoyed being a swim parent that last 17 years with her two children, Greg and Lizzy, who both swam for the Clinton Otters from the ages of 6 to 18. She and her kids both became lifeguards and swim instructors at the Clinton YMCA, leaving them all to work together at time over the course of a 6 year period. Michelle focused on and especially enjoyed the little kids and the seniors as an aquatics instruction. Michelle's last year the YMCA gave her the opportunity and privilege to coach the Otter Pups before taking a leave of absence for an elderly parent. In December of 2023 she returned as a volunteer aquatics exercise instructor. Coach Michelle loves being back in the water!
Aubrey Sentel - HS Head Coach / Asst. Coach
Email: [email protected]
Coach Aubrey grew up in Peoria, IL. She first started swimming competitively at the age of 4, and continued to do so through high school. Aubrey started teaching swimming at the age of 14 and her love for teaching and coaching outgrew her love for competing. She began coaching after high school and studied exercise science at WIU and ASU. Coach Aubrey has lived in Clinton with her husband and 3 kids since 2018. She has a passion for both the art and science of swimming and the transformational effect it can have on youth.
