Notre Dame Preparatory School announced today that the athletic department has hired Shawn A. Kornoelje as its new head girls swimming and diving coach, effective immediately. Kornoelje replaces Mike Venos, who has taken a position with Mercy High School in Farmington Hills.
“We are very pleased that Shawn has agreed to come aboard at Notre Dame,” said Betty Wroubel, athletic director and assistant principal at Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy. “It’s not often that a high school can hire a coach with such an impressive background, especially one with Shawn’s experience in Division-1 college athletics and international competitions.”
Kornoelje, who holds a master’s degree from Wayne State University and a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University, comes to Notre Dame after 27 years of coaching, 11 as associate head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Oakland University where he assisted with all aspects of running the university’s Division-1 swimming program. Prior to Oakland University, Kornoelje was a physical education instructor with the East Detroit Public Schools and head swimming coach for the Ann Arbor Swim Club.
He also spent a number of years coaching and developing the Rapids Area YMCA swimming program in the Cascade/Grand Rapids area of Michigan.
In addition, Kornoelje was a volunteer assistant women’s swimming coach at the University of Michigan; head coach of the USA Paralympics swimming team (Athens, Greece) and assistant coach for the USA Paralympics in Sydney, Australia (2000) as well as assistant coach at the USA team at the Paralympic World Championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina (2002).
In 2010, Kornoelje received the Jimi Flowers Coach of the Year Award for Paralympic Swimming and USA Swimming; in 2011, he received the Rick Knas Lifetime Achievement Award from the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame; and also was awarded two Order of Ikkos medals from the United States Olympic Committee, the highest level award that a coach can receive from the USOC.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school’s upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation’s best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame’s middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate “World Schools.” The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA’s Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.
Swimming news courtesy of Notre Dame Prep Swimming & Diving.
