Coaches and Board of Directors

Coaching Staff for swim lessons

John Martin Schmidt

Head Coach

Coach John started his swim journey when he was 7 and has been in the sport ever since. He grew up swimming for TSA and Hayden High School. While at Hayden, Coach John set the KSHSAA record in the 200 Free his junior year and had a total of 5 individual state titles during his high school career. On the club swim side, John was a junior national qualifier and multi-time sectional finalist. He was also selected to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American Team.

John went on to continue his swimming career at Missouri S&T, where he helped the team finish 2nd overall in the GLVC conference. He specialized in mid-distance freestyle, continuing to improve his personal bests all through his college career.

John moved back home to Kansas to change degrees and start coaching. He graduated from Washburn University with a bachelors in Sport Management in 2023. John’s coaching career began in 2019 with an assistant coaching position at his Alma mater, Hayden, where he quickly transitioned into the head coach role. John was head coach of the Hayden team for 3 seasons and led the team to multiple state qualifying teams. During this time, he was also the lead age group coach for TSA. John grew the age group program into a large championship qualifying group.

Coach John started with the Aquahawks in 2022. The team has grown significantly since he took over! The team now focuses on technique as the highest priority, and it yields tremendous results. Aquahawks have had 8 new sectional qualifiers and 1 futures qualifier since John started!

Email: coachjohn@aquahawks.org

Phone: (785) 249-5248

Abby Vorthmann

Head Age Group Coach

Coach Abby was learning how to swim before she knew how to walk at lessons in Neenah, WI. She spent her summers open water swimming at her grandparents' lake in Wild Rose, WI.

Coach Abby graduated with a BS in chemistry and physics with a math minor from Concordia University - NE. She also has a master's in Analytical Chemistry. Abby and her husband, Tony, have 5 adult children: Andrew, Matthew, Phoenix, Ben, and Laiken, and 2 special needs adults they professionally foster.

Coach Abby started her coaching career while living in St Louis, MO, coaching middle school soccer in 2007. She started working with USA Swimming in 2012 as an official when Ben joined his first swim team in Seymour, IN. She became a swim coach in 2020 and has attended the USAS Women's Leadership Clinic. She loves helping out with Missouri Valley clinics and is on the Missouri Valley Age Group Committee.

A member of the Aquahawks since 2016, Abby has worked tirelessly to develop and refine the age group program. She is dedicated to opening the world of swimming to individuals with special needs as a Certified Adaptive Swim Instructor Level 3 and is a Para Certified coach with a para swimmer who attended the 2024 Paralympics.

Email: coachabby@aquahawks.org

Meredith Graves

Assistant Coach

Coach Meredith comes from a family of swimmers and learned to swim as a toddler through her parents and lessons in Manhattan, KS. She swam competitively for the Manhattan Marlins and swam for Manhattan High School.

Coach Meredith started her coaching career in 2020 by coaching for the Manhattan Marlins, teaching swim lessons, and lifeguarding. She continued coaching with the Marlins and teaching lessons through 2023. When Coach Meredith moved to Lawrence for college in August of 2023, she began coaching for the Aquahawks. She believes that swimming is for everybody and wants to continue building the Aquahawks' inclusive team environment.

Coach Meredith currently attends the University of Kansas, studying elementary special education and anthropology. She has a pet leopard gecko, a bearded dragon, and two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crafting, and watching movies with her friends.

Coach Meredith is also Level 1 certified in Adaptive Swim Whispers.

Email: merbear25@gmail.com