Holland Community Aquatic Center (HCAC) is excited to announce the hiring of Rachel Schlatter as the new Associate Head Coach for Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics (MLA). The team has been growing over recent months and expects about 130 athletes to participate in the upcoming long course season. Schlatter will join the MLA coaching group at the Aquatic Center, which is led by Head Coach, Jim Whitehead.
HCAC Executive Director, Jack Huisingh states “We’re really thrilled to add Rachel to our experienced MLA coaching team,” adding “we believe that she is the right person to help us continue to grow and provide excellence within the USA competitive program here at the Aquatic Center.”
Schlatter, a former four-time NCAA qualifier at the University of Nebraska, spent two years as the Head Coach of Quincy University’s Women’s team where she developed the program as the institution’s first swim coach. This season, Quincy developed two (2) NCAA B-Qualifiers from a team of a dozen athletes.
Before Quincy, Rachel spent two years as the Head Site Coach and Senior coach with the Kansas City Blazers in Shawnee Mission, Kan. With the Blazers, Schlatter performed both on-deck and administrative duties for multiple levels of competitive swimming – novice to senior levels.
Prior to her stint in Kansas, the Madison, Wis. native was the Assistant Men’s and Women’s swimming coach at NCAA Division III power Denison (Ohio) University from 2009-2012. While at Denison, Schlatter helped the men’s team to back-to-back national championships in 2011 and 2012. The Denison women’s team was the national runner-up in 2010 and 2011 and the third-place finisher in 2012. Rachel was also a member of the 2011 Men’s NCAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Rachel earned her Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2006 from Nebraska where as a swimmer she was a two-year captain and three-time member of the All-Academic First Team. She has since earned her Master of Education degree from East Central (Oklahoma) University.
News courtesy of Jim Whitehead.