Coaches and Directors
Coaching Staff
Coach John started his
swim journey when he was 7 and has been in the sport ever since. He
grew up swimming for TSA and Hayden High School. While at Hayden,
Coach John set the KSHSAA record in the 200 Free his junior year
and had a total of 5 individual state titles during his high school
career. On the club swim side, John was a junior national
qualifier and multi-time sectional finalist. He was also
selected to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American
Team.
John went on to continue
his swimming career at Missouri S&T, where he helped the team
finish 2nd overall in the GLVC conference. He specialized in
mid-distance freestyle, continuing to improve his personal bests
all through his college career.
John moved back home to
Kansas to change degrees and start coaching. He graduated from
Washburn University with a bachelors in Sport Management in 2023.
John’s coaching career began in 2019 with an assistant
coaching position at his Alma mater, Hayden, where he quickly
transitioned into the head coach role. John was head coach of the
Hayden team for 3 seasons and led the team to multiple state
qualifying teams. During this time, he was also the lead age group
coach for TSA. John grew the age group program into a large
championship qualifying group.
Coach John started with
the Aquahawks in 2022. The team has grown significantly since he
took over! The team now focuses on technique as the highest
priority, and it yields tremendous results. Aquahawks have had 8
new sectional qualifiers and 1 futures qualifier since John
started!
Coach
Abby was learning how to swim before she knew how to walk at
lessons in Neenah, WI. She spent her summers open water swimming at
her grandparents' lake in Wild Rose,
WI.
Coach
Abby graduated with a BS in chemistry and physics with a math minor
from Concordia University - NE. She also has a master's in
Analytical Chemistry. Abby and her husband, Tony, have 5 adult
children: Andrew, Matthew, Phoenix, Ben, and Laiken, and 2 special
needs adults they professionally foster.
Coach Abby started her coaching
career while living in St Louis, MO, coaching middle school soccer
in 2007. She started working with USA Swimming in 2012 as an
official when Ben joined his first swim team in Seymour, IN. She
became a swim coach in 2020 and has attended the USAS Women's
Leadership Clinic. She loves helping out with Missouri Valley
clinics and is on the Missouri Valley Age Group
Committee.
A member of the Aquahawks since 2016,
Abby has worked tirelessly to develop and refine the age group
program. She is dedicated to opening the world of swimming to
individuals with special needs as a Certified Adaptive Swim
Instructor Level 3 and is a Para Certified coach with a para
swimmer who attended the 2024 Paralympics.
Coach Meredith comes from
a family of swimmers and learned to swim as a toddler through
her parents and lessons in Manhattan, KS. She
swam competitively for the Manhattan Marlins and swam for
Manhattan High School.
Coach Meredith started
her coaching career in 2020 by coaching for the Manhattan
Marlins, teaching swim lessons, and lifeguarding. She
continued coaching with the Marlins and teaching lessons through
2023. When Coach Meredith moved to Lawrence for college in August
of 2023, she began coaching for the Aquahawks. She believes that
swimming is for everybody and wants to continue building the
Aquahawks' inclusive team environment.
Coach Meredith currently
attends the University of Kansas, studying elementary special
education and anthropology. She has a pet leopard gecko, a
bearded dragon, and two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys
reading, crafting, and watching movies with her
friends.
Coach Meredith is also Level 1 certified in Adaptive Swim
Whispers
My name is Kiefer
Stellwagon. I am the Silver coach for Lawrence AquaHawks. I was
hired with the team in December of 2024 where I helped Coach
Meredith with Bronze and moved up to Silver last Spring. In high
school, I swam competitively my junior and senior year.
Prior to my time with
Aquahawks, I've been a Red Cross lifeguard for 13 years. In that
time, I worked for a summer camp in Bonner Springs before going to
work at the Lawrence Indoor & Outdoor Pools. In 2022, I became
the assistant supervisor of the Topeka Hummer Natatorium and
now have my own staff of lifeguards. I also teach swim lessons
there and lifeguard certification
classes.
Outside
of work, I'm working on my Master's degree in Sports Management and
Recreation and will be graduating in June of
2026.
My favorite sport is
soccer, even though I've never played it. I'm a big fan of the KC
Current and the KU women's team and have season tickets to both. I
love motorsports (my favorite is Formula 1), movies (Moonrise
Kingdom is my #1), and space exploration (I dabble in
astrophotography). I've traveled the country for sporting events,
to watch NASA launch rockets, and for pleasure.
I
love my jobs and can't envision myself spending
my time any other way!
Board of Directors
