Katy Steimer, enters her ninth season as the head coach of the Pride. The 2016 Middle Atlantic Conference Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year, has led WU to new heights, in the pool, with facilities, and in community service.
2018-19 saw the Pride continue its strong performance as the men and women both placed second at the conference championships. Aaron Green became the first men's swimmer in MAC history to win the Conference Swimmer of the Year award three times and the Blue and Gold claimed 26 spot on All-Conference teams combined between the men and women with seven First Team performances. For a second straight year, Green went on to represent Widener in the NCAA Championships, earning a pair of Honorable Mention All-America accolades. The Pride also performed in the classroom as four members of the squad were recognized as Academic All-MAC. Martin Bohdan, Kaylin Augustine, and Lauren Griffith were named Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area, and Griffith was named the University Hansell Award winner.
In 2017-18, the men rallied two spots on the final day of competition at the MAC Championships to claim a second place finish while the women took fourth. Green was named MAC Men's Swimmer of the Year for a second time and went on to claim his first two Honorable Mention All-America awards.
2016-17 saw both teams place second in the conference meet with Green claiming his first Swimmer of the Year award and Bohdan was named the Men's Rookie of the Year. Ian Gaynor went on to become the first swimmer in program history to earn All-America honors in three consecutive years with his school record swim in the 50 free at the NCAA Championships.
The 2015-16 season was highlighted by the men’s program winning its 13th MAC championship. In a meet that came down to the final event, the 400 free relay team touched the wall in a record-breaking time which was seven seconds ahead of runner-up Albright to clinch the crown. Albright had won the previous five team titles at the championship event.
The Pride also swept the major awards, as Steimer was named MAC Coach of the Year, Ian Gaynor was recognized as the top swimmer and Aaron Green was awarded top rookie laurels. Gaynor also went on to earn NCAA All-America accolades by tying for fifth in the 100 free and was an NCAA All-America Honorable Mention selection by tying for 11th in the 50 free. He achieved each feat for the second consecutive season. In addition, Andrew Madore was named the MAC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Widener’s women’s program also had a strong season in 2015-16, placing second at the MAC Championships for the third time in five years under Steimer while also posting one of the top grade point averages in the country. Senior standout Erin Neugebauer was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for her efforts on the field and in the classroom and was joined by Melaney Heald on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team and by Heald and Anne Walker on the Academic All-MAC Team.
During the 2014-15 campaign, Ian Gaynor earned All-America status with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Gaynor was the first member of the Widener men's swimming team to earn the status in 30 years. The last to do it was Mark Manera, who garnered the honors twice in 1985 and 1986.
Steimer’s third year saw Laura Harris return to the NCAA Championships in three events and picked up a fourth All-America honor. Harris ended her career with 20 MAC championships and was named MAC Women’s Swimmer of the Year three times.
Steimer’s second season was an incredible one for the Pride as the women’s team closed second at the MAC Championships. That team saw Harris become a three-time All-American and just the sixth female in school history to be a multiple All-America winner as well as Widener’s first women’s swimmer to earn the honor in a decade.
Steimer’s arrival witnessed the women’s team finishing second and the men closing third at the 2012 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. Her expertise played a big role in Harris qualifying for the NCAA Championships in three events.
All in all, Widener has produced two All-Americans, five conference swimmers of the year and two conference rookie of the year winners in five seasons under Steimer. Multiple changes have been made to the pool since Steimer’s arrival with the interior completely re-done to go with new starting blocks installed. The work on the interior has made for a faster pool which has seen school records broken and rebroken in 13 women’s events and nine men’s races since her arrival.
The Pride’s swimming programs have also been recognized with the department’s community service award for their numerous charitable endeavors three times during Steimer’s five-year tenure. The service and civic engagement opportunities have included working with Philabundance, the Delaware County SPCA and Divine Providence Village.
Steimer joined Widener after serving as an assistant coach for Florida State University from 2008 through 2011. She was responsible for managing the team’s recruiting databases, coordinating recruiting visits, academic monitoring and coordinating daily practices for assigned members of the men’s and women’s squads while primarily overseeing the middle distance freestyle, individual medley and backstroke groups.
During her time at Florida State, the Seminoles had 11 participants at the NCAA Championships and 11 swimmers qualified for the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. In addition, 35 new school records were set and 39 swimmers made the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team.
Prior to Florida State, Steimer was an assistant coach at the University of Richmond from 2005 through 2008. The Spiders’ track record during her time included five NCAA qualifiers, 20 new school records, three Atlantic 10 Conference champions, two Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Performers of the Meet, two Rookies of the Meet and two qualifiers for the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Steimer was also the head coach at the Dominion Club in Wyndham, Va., assistant coach for Club Seminole in Tallahassee, Fla., the swim clinics director and head instructor at the University of Richmond, a counselor at the University of Virginia Swim Camp and an event coordinator for the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania.
