Published: Oct. 30, 2013
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
West Bend East’s girls swimming and diving team is led by a
duo that kind of stumbled into their jobs.
It’s worked out well this season.
As the Suns prepare for Saturday’s Wisconsin Little Ten
Conference championship meet in West Bend, first-year coaches Leigh Ann Stern
and Erika McConahy couldn’t help but think of how far they and their team have
come in a year.
“In my first meeting with the girls, it seemed like they
were lacking enthusiasm for the program,” Stern said. “I really wanted to build
their enthusiasm back up.”
This year, the Suns won two WLT dual meets, which the team
hasn’t done since 2004 when it went 4-0-1 and won the conference.
“I sat down and listened to what they were saying and tried
to make this about them and more about them having a good time and working hard
and seeing improvements in themselves as swimmers,” Stern said. “That was the
most important thing.
“I think, hands down across the board, they’ve improved.”
McConahy said, “I just want them to enjoy swimming and get
better and get to their personal goals so we can win more meets.”
Stern, 26, is originally from West Milford, N.J., which is
about an hour northwest of New York City, while McConahy is from Lithuania. So
how did they land in West Bend? The Suns have Stern’s now-fiance and McConahy’s
husband to thank for that.
Stern’s longtime boyfriend of seven years, John Orsen, was
hired in 2011 as an assistant coach for Marquette University’s men’s lacrosse
team after a stellar collegiate career at Hofstra University. Orsen was hired
by his former assistant coach at Hofstra, Joe Amplo, at Marquette.
“I wanted to go away from home; I was ready for a change,”
Stern said. “When he got the call, he had just torn his Achilles tendon
playing. It was kind of like all the stars were aligning.”
Stern was also struggling trying to find a teaching job in
the tri-state area, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“I was like, ‘Let’s make a change,’” she said.
After moving to Wisconsin with Orsen, she came across East
after she was unable to land the West dance team job. She wanted to get a
teaching job before she could take on the dance team job. That process took too
long and she missed out on the opportunity. She eventually was able to get a
job, teaching first grade at Decorah Elementary. Last year, she became the
Suns’ coach while teaching as an in-house substitute at the University School
of Milwaukee.
Then longtime swim coach Jim Sachse stepped down as the swim
coach.
Stern was an avid dancer and swimmer growing up, starting at
5 years old. She and her family lived near a lake that had a swim club, the
High Crest Lake Hurricanes, so she joined the program. Her high school didn’t
have a swim team, so she stuck with the swim club where she and her team
enjoyed some success. She was one of the top breaststroke swimmers in the
league her club was in.
While in college at Hofstra, she started coaching the
program and the program took off. She was an assistant coach from 2005-08, then
she became the head coach for the next three years, winning conference in
season.
As time grew thin for the Suns needing a swim coach, Stern
was approached by East Athletic Director Jeff Rondorf about becoming the head
swim coach. She hesitated. She then repeatedly said she couldn’t do it. “I’m
coaching the dance team,” she recalled. “How am I supposed to be able to do
both?”
She finally gave in and has been adjusting to the busy
schedule, with a lot of help from her assistant coach on the dance team and the
swim team. Stern goes from school to dance team practice to swim team practice.
Her assistant on the swim team is a former Lithuanian
national team member (1976-94). In 1980, she practiced with the team leading up
to the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
McConahy, 45, moved to the U.S. shortly after calling it
quits for competitive swimming. She jumped around from state to state once she
was stateside. She lived in Connecticut, Arizona and Kentucky before landing in
Wisconsin in 2003.
Her husband works for BASF, a worldwide chemical company. At
each stop, she thought she was finished with swimming, but somehow the sport
came back and convinced her she wasn’t finished. She competed in some master’s
swim events and helped out at local YMCAs.
In 2005, she began working with the YMCA in Saukville and
worked with its swim program. Soon after, she saw an ad for the West Bend Swim
Club looking for an assistant coach.
While the two grew up seemingly worlds apart, they’ve come
together to re-energize the Suns swimming and diving program.
“I’m really enjoying it,” McConahy said.
“A lot of enthusiasm,” East’s Morgan Dommisse said when
asked what her coaches brought to the team this year. “They work really well
together. I think they’ve really bonded with the girls.”
Dommissee said the talent was there, they just needed
something to give them another boost of confidence. Stern and McConahy have
done that for them.
“They’re a lot more involved,” Dommissee said. “The girls
have put in more effort this year than last year. There’s more to work for.
They’re more excited for the season.”
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