Coach Kate joined the Lansing Water cats in January 2023 as the Head Coach. She was born on Long Island and was told she started swimming “as soon as she was thrown in the pool”. This love of the water led to a 14-year competitive swimming career. The opportunity to teach swim lessons in high school resulted in her adventure to SUNY Cortland to pursue a teaching degree in physical education. As a red dragon, she was a 4-year member of the Women’s Swimming and Diving team. Kate was a 4-year contributor at SUNYAC Championships, competing in finals during her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and was a member of the school record breaking 800 freestyle relay team. After completing her undergraduate degree (2003), Kate stayed at Cortland and completed a Master’s degree in Adapted Physical Education (2005) and was the Assistant Swim coach for the Red Dragons. Kate taught Adapted PE and coached age-group in the NYC area for several years before returning as faculty in the Physical Education Department at SUNY Cortland. Kate received an Ed.D. in Educational Theory and Practice (2016) from Binghamton University. She is married and has two sons, Levi and Jace, who are both Watercats.

Coach Ashleigh has been coaching with the Water cats since September. She grew up in Maryland and found her early love for swimming and coaching at her local summer pool. She swam for 10+ years with the Whitehall Wahoos competing in the top-ranked division of the Prince-Mont Swim League, which consisted of over 30 summer teams. Once bitten by the swimming bug, she progressed to training and competing year-round with the Naval Academy Aquatics Club and then Curl-Burke Swim Club (now Nation's Capital Swim Club). At the latter, she trained with elite swimmers, including Olympian Tom Dolan who awarded her the Tom Dolan Achievement Award in her senior year of high school for her strong work ethic. At Whitehall, Ashleigh was an Assistant Coach coaching kids ages 8 to 18 years old. As a lifeguard there, she taught swim lessons ranging from "mommy and me" classes to Level VI American Red Cross group lessons instructing kids in stroke development. She particularly enjoyed private lessons helping young swimmers learn skills like flip turns, dives, and correct stroke technique. Ashleigh went on to Cornell for undergrad majoring in Animal Science, where she was a 4-year varsity swimmer and elected Co-Captain in her senior year. While growing up a breaststroker, she converted to a distance free specialist in college competing at the Ivy League Championships in the 500, 1000, and 1650 free events. After Cornell, she became a veterinarian graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and is currently an Associate Clinical Professor in Clinical Pathology at Cornell's vet college. She has two daughters, one of whom is now a proud Water Cat! Her girls are accustomed to being on a pool deck, as they regularly cheer on the Big Red Men's swim team, which is coached by their Dad.

Hi! My name is Kailey and I am excited to be one of your new coaches! A little bit about myself, I am a 3rd grade teacher in Dryden schools. Swimming has always been a passion of mine. I began swimming in middle and continued throughout college, swimming for both my school’s varsity teams and my local club team, UNAC. I specialized in long distance, breast stroke, and IM. I look forward to using my coaching experience with the Lansing Watercats Swim Team!

Coach Joe has been Coaching the Water Cats since November 2023. Joe grew up in Aurora, IL, in the Chicago suburbs but moved to Hilton, NY, at the age of 12. While in Hilton, he swam for 6 years (Modified, JV, and Varsity) for the Hilton Cadets Swim Team, where his events often were the 200 IM, 100 Fly, and 100 Breaststroke. He was named swim captain for his varsity team for his senior year. Joe also swam for the Hilton Area Swim Team (HAST) and coached the HAST team during his Senior Year. Joe is the Senior Web Designer & Developer for the Cornell University Enrollment team and runs his own Web Design & Development shop. He is married and has two kids, Tighe and Harper, on the Water Cats.