Fishers Head Coach Joe Keller Diagnosed With Brain Tumor

Correction: a previous version of this article said that Keller was diagnosed with “Brain Cancer.” Not all meningiomas are malignant, and the malignancy of this tumor has not been established. We regret this error.

Joe Keller, the Fishers Area Swimming Tigers and Fishers High School Head Coach, was diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor in January of this year.

The Fishers High School Athletic Director emailed the FAST and Fishers High School families informing them of the diagnosis. According to the email, Keller has been “experiencing mild episodes since early 2023.” They described these episodes as initially sporadic and not particularly concerning, but they eventually led to medical testing and the diagnosis of the meningioma.

According to Johns Hopkins, Meningiomas are the “most common type of primary brain tumor, accounting for approximately 30 percent of all brain tumors.” These kinds of tumors typically grow slowly and can exist for years before being diagnosed. Common symptoms of these kinds of tumors include headaches, seizures, blurred vision, weakness in the extremities, numbness, loss of balance, hearing loss and memory loss.

The email reveals that Keller has been on medications since he was diagnosed, and he will be having surgery to remove the meningioma on April 3rd. After his surgery, he will be taking an “extended recovery period” through April, and his return will depend on his progress. His medical team has given him a positive prognosis and they anticipate a full return to normal activities.

Keller is expected to continue working with the athletes in the meantime. Among the athletes he coaches is Olympian Luke Whitlock, who he coached through his trials and Olympic run this summer. He resumed coaching him when Whitlock returned to FAST after his first semester at Florida.

Whitlock is scheduled to swim at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Westmont this week, starting tonight with the men’s 1500 where he is the top seed.

When Keller took over the club team in 2017, they did not have any Junior National Qualifiers. They are now a gold Medal club and one of the top club teams in the nation. Other top swimmers from the program are JoJo Ramey and Julie Mishler who have held National Junior team spots of their own. Mishler will be competing this weekend along with Finn Winkler who has been training with FAST since he left Texas after his freshman year.

Keller also coaches the Fishers High School Swim Team, who ended their season a few weeks ago. The girl’s team finished 3rd, without the help of Mishler who swims for a different high school, and the boy’s team earned the runner-up spot behind Carmel.