Bloomington Normal Swim Club Mis

last updated 5/28/11

Coaches

Rob Knight - Head Coach

Coach Rob Knight, a Bloomington-Normal native, lives in Normal with his wife Chris, daughter Kathleen, and dog Lenny, whom Kathleen named after Olympic backstroker Lenny Krayzelburg. Rob started swimming at age six for a local summer team and, over the years, competed locally for the YMCA and BNSC. In high school, Rob swam for University High School, competing at the state championship meet his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years, holding the record for the 100 Freestyle at U-High (48.30) for over 20 years.

After a short break from competitive swimming and graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Agriculture, Coach Rob returned to Bloomington-Normal and served as an assistant age-group coach for Redbird Swim Club (formerly the Bloomington-Normal Swim Club). In 1992, after working for several years in agricultural-related jobs and age-group coaching, he opened a “learn-to-swim” school in Bloomington (Rob Knight’s Swim America). RKSA, after several successful years of operations, expanded its program with its year-round competitive swim team. Coach Rob emphasizes that the success of the swim school and the swim team would not be possible without the dedication and sacrifice of his family, his hard-working athletes, and the parents who help support the programs.

Dawn Fudge

Coach Dawn Fudge, raised in Waukegan, Illinois, started swimming at an early age for the YMCA and park district with her father as her coach. As a student at Waukegan West High School, Dawn swam all four years, two of which she participated on a relay team at the state championships. Dawn also taught swim lessons and assisted in coaching area park district teams. Dawn’s favorite events of her swimming career include the 100 Breaststroke and the 100 Individual Medley.

Dawn earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a Master’s in Special Education from ISU. While attending ISU, Dawn utilized aquatic therapy in working with children with disabilities. Coach Dawn currently works at Parkside Junior High School as a Special Education teacher. She still gets in the pool weekly with her students for therapy and with her own kids to work on their swimming technique.

Coach Dawn lives in rural Stanford with her husband Chuck, son Harrison, daughter Hadley, and several beloved pet dogs and cats. Harrison and Hadley both began swim lessons at 6 months at RKSA, and both are now swimmers with BNSC.

Mandy Burge

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Coach Mandy Burge joined the BNSC coaching staff in May 2011 as an Age Group Coach. Coach Mandy participated in summer rec league for the Lexington Lakers for many years and swam for Pontiac High School. Her favorite events were the 500 FS and the 100 BF. She has taught swim lessons in both private and public venues. Her coaching experience includes Assistant Coach for the Bloomington-Normal YMCA swim team and Head Coach of the Lakeside Country Club summer swim team. Coach Mandy enjoys playing guitar, reading, cooking, and doing Zumba, and is excited to work with BNSC Stroke Development and Age Group 1 swimmers.

Jennifer Godlewski

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Coach Jen Godlewski joins the BNSC coaching staff with over 10 years of experience coaching swimming. Prior to coming to BNSC, she was the Interim Head Swim Coach at Truman State University. During her tenure at Truman State, the Bulldogs returned their 11th Women’s Conference Championship title, broke 2 conference meet records, and achieve 7 NCAA Division II All-American swims. Before Truman State, she was a Graduate Assistant Coach for her alma mater, Illinois State University. There, she graduated with her Master’s Degree in Sport Management and helped the ISU Redbirds break two of her own undergraduate school records. Two of Coach Jen’s records still stand in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. Before coaching at the collegiate level, Coach Jen was the Head Coach for boys swimming at Oak Forest High School. There, she helped the Bengals win their first Varsity Conference Championship in over 12 years and repeat it the following year. Under her, the Bengals broke the first school record in over ten years. Coach Jen has coached age group swimmers as a Head Coach and an Assistant Coach, has facilitated swim camps and clinics for Illinois State University, has served as a camp counselor for the Jack Nelson Swim Camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and has organized various learn-to-swim programs. Her favorite motto is ‘Nothing Good Comes Easy, Nothing Easy is Any Good’. She challenges her swimmers to get the word “can’t” out of their vocabulary. Coach Jen has two children who are BNSC swimmers, Jonathan and Samantha, a husband, Steve, and two dogs named Roxy and Lucy. She works full-time as a Commercial Account Executive for ADT Security and enjoys camping and boating with her family.