Legendary Hall of Fame Coach Maureen Sheehan Dies At 65

Maureen “Mo” Sheehan, a widely renowned coach who served the swimming community for 38 years, died on March 17. She was 65 years old.

Over the course of her career, Sheehan was honored with multiple Hall of Fame inductions and mentored a number of future Olympic swimmers from a young age.

Born in 1958, Sheehan displayed a clear passion for sports as a child. She attended Janesville Craig High School in Wisconsin, where she earned nine varsity letters in swimming, basketball, and track. Sheehan was inducted into the Janesville Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Sheehan swam for the University of Kansas throughout her four years of college under the direction of coach Gary Kempf. As a Jayhawk, she was a multi-year team captain and two-time AIAW All-American.

She began her coaching career in 1980, the summer after she graduated, in Hutchinson, Kansas before becoming the age group coach at Lake Forest Swim Club a few months later.

By the fall of 1984, Sheehan had become the head coach at LFSC, a position in which she stayed until she retired from coaching in 2018 shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Under her direction, LFSC reached a 2nd-place team finish at the US Junior Nationals and won 12 Speedo Sectional Team Championships. The program produced multiple US National and Junior National finalists, with many going on to find even greater success.

Sheehan was the senior age group coach for five Olympians: Conor Dwyer, Matt Grevers, Doug Lennox, Kristina Lennox and Michelle Engelsman. She also coached Kristin MacGregor, a future American record holder in the 50-meter breaststroke.

Sheehan saw swimmers compete in every Olympic Trials from 1988 through 2008.

Her prowess on the deck earned her several honors and accolades over the years.

In 2019, Sheehan was inducted into the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame. A year later, she was inducted into the Illinois Swimming Hall of Fame; Illinois Swimming had previously honored Sheehan with a Life Membership to USA Swimming in 2002.

Sheehan was inducted into the International Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame alongside five other coaches as part of the class of 2020 and 2021.

Outside of her contributions on pool deck, Sheehan was a three-time National Team Manager, a National Committee Chair, and an LSC board member. She was named to the USA Swimming National Coaching Staff in 1986 and served as head manager for both the Short Course World Championships in 1999 and the US Junior National Team in 1997.

In 2018, Sheehan was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer and began undergoing medical treatment, contributing to her subsequent retirement from coaching.

Sheehan is survived by her longtime partner Michael Lawrence, her mother Louise McMenomy and her siblings Dennis, Tom and Peggy.