Girls Swimming and Diving Coaches

Andrea Block - Head Coach - email Coach Block

This is my second year as the Head Coach of Vernon Hills Girls Swimming and Diving. I have over 15 years of coaching experience at the high school, age group and private levels which includes 8 years as Head Coach of Highland Park High School Girls Swimming and Diving and eleven years of experience as Head Coach of the Lincolnshire Swim Club.   My deep love of swimming started as a summer club, age grouper, high school and ultimately college swimmer. The highlight of my four-year college swimming career at the University of Michigan was being selected Captain my senior year. In addition, I have over 20 years of competitive swimming experience as both a national and world ranked Master’s swimmer.  This background, in addition to my own experience as a high school and collegiate swimmer, has provided me with a solid foundation that enables me to work with swimmers of all abilities and help them improve their technique both as an individual and as a team. My mission is to help each high school student athlete achieve their athletic, personal and academic goals while learning, growing and enjoying the process along the way.  I am extremely excited to take the Cougars to the next level!

Alicia Harris - Assistant Swimming Coach - email Coach Harris

I am so excited to be joining the Vernon Hills community in the science department teaching chemistry and physics and as a swim coach! I started swimming when I was 8 years old in Arlington Heights for the Arlington Muskies and fell in love with the sport. I continued my swimming career through high school at Buffalo Grove where I also played water polo (Woo!! So much fun - you should try it out if you haven't yet!) I worked for the Arlington Heights Park District as a swim team coach, pool manager, and swim lesson coordinator for 9 years and am my happiest when I am around water. I am used to coaching 9-10 year olds so I am very excited to work with high schoolers to help improve stroke and technique. Swimming is a great sport because you get to push yourself individually while also working as a team to move forward. My favorite high school memories stem from my experiences on the swim team through all of the bonding inside and outside of the pool. In my free time I love to water ski, wakeboard, and travel. 

Katie Janicek - Assistant Swimming Coach - email Coach Janicek

I’m very excited to start my first season working with the Vernon Hills Girls Swimming and Diving team! I’m coming to Vernon Hills with 4 years of experience as an assistant coach at Hinsdale Central, and before that I coached water polo and volunteered with the swim team at Hinsdale South for 4 years. I love coaching swimming because it’s awesome to have the entire team--all levels, both swimmers and divers--come together to bond and work toward common goals in one shared space. Some of my best friends today are people I swam with in high school, and I hope to help create the same type of positive, encouraging environment for my swimmers as my high school coaches did for me. I look forward to working hard and having a lot of fun in the pool this season! Outside the pool, I’m an English teacher at Vernon Hills--and, yes, I’d be happy to talk about your favorite (or least favorite) books with you and look at your college essays :) 

Nathan Lightman - Diving Coach - email Coach Lightman

This is my second year coaching girls diving at Vernon Hills. I recently graduated from Denison University in Ohio, where I was a varsity member of the Swimming and Diving team for 4 years. During my 4 years there, I was a 2 time NCAA D3 national qualifier and a member of the national championship 2016 team. It is exciting to be back at District 128, as I graduated from Vernon Hills High School after having been a member of the boys diving team for 4 years and a 1 time state qualifier. In a coaching capacity, I have been involved in Cougar Diving Academy since 2014. I am excited for my first season as a high school coach and look forward to continuing my involvement in the Vernon Hills aquatic programs.

Michael Weiss - Assistant Swim Coach

I have been coaching swimming for 11 years; 9 of those years at Highland Park HS with Coach Block.  I’m a part-time financial consultant and a business owner, and my time associated with competitive swimming allows me to feel young.  My high school experience swimming and playing water polo at Glenbrook North was both memorable and fun. My goal is to help make the experience of the teenagers swimming for Vernon Hills just as meaningful, while having fun.  I’m looking forward to getting to know the swimmers better.