Jen is a sub for Black and White group and is currently coaching a Green Group! This will be her 18th year coaching JAWS! Jen, along with Caroline Clement, began the JAWS team in 2003, and she has enjoyed watching the team grow and progress over the years. She is very proud of the swimmers, parents, and coaches here at Jenison!

Jen swam and played water polo at Jenison HS from 1993-1997 under Coach “Scrips” and Coach Caroline. She was very active in USA swimming, but Forest Hills (RAYS) was one of the few local USA teams during the mid 90s so she drove across town daily to keep swimming. Coach Craig was one of the coaches at RAYS while Jen swam there! After HS she went on to swim and play water polo at The University of Michigan from 1997-2002 while earning her undergraduate degrees in psychology and sociology. From 2002-2003 she was a member of the USA National team for water polo and lived in California where she trained. 

She participated on the USA Jr. National Team on a trip to France, and the USA National Team on a trip to China during her swim career. She also participated in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Team Trials for swimming. She was also fortunate to play water polo for Team USA at tournaments in Greece, the Netherlands, and Austrailia. In 2003, when she retired from swimming and water polo she headed back to Jenison where she began to substitute teach at Jenison, coach JV men’s water polo, and begin her Masters degree at Western Michigan University in counseling education. Fortunately the pool director job opened up at Jenison, and although she always thought she would be a school counselor the pool director position was just too perfect so she applied and the rest is history!

Jen is very busy (read: too busy :-)! She married her husband Landry in 2005, had Kylie in 2008, had Meric in 2011, earned her Masters degree in Educational Leadership in 2011, had Nylah in 2015, and currently helps coach, administrate, and plan for JAWS year round, coaches JH Co-ed Water Polo in the fall, coaches JH Girls' Swim and dive in the winter, all while being the pool director full time year-round. She was inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 for swimming and water polo. She was also inducted into the Jenison HS Hall of Fame in 2015. Jen says she surrounds herself with great people that make her job easier and so much fun. She loves Jenison, loves the pool, loves coaching,and loves swimming and water polo!

Hello, my name is Christine Wisniewski. I started coaching for JAWS in fall of 2018. I started swimming as an 8yr old for the Wyoming Wahoos during the summer seasons. We lived in Louisiana and would come home to visit family during the summer months. My family moved back to Michigan when I was 12 and I started swimming for the Hudsonville Eagles and continued through my senior year of high school. I was fortunate to start high school right after Hudsonville started their first water polo club, and was a part of the very first varsity program. During my high school years I also coached for the age group swim program year round.

I graduated high school in 1999 and continued my education at Michigan State University. While at school  I participated in the Collegiate Club Water Polo program. I was fortunate enough to be part of a program that went to the Collegiate Club National Championships all 4 years, making it to the National Championship game every year. The lady Spartans were back to back champions 2001 and 2002.

I met my best friend and future husband Brad in 2006, right when I got my first full time “real” job at MPI Research, now Charles River Labs. We married in 2008 and welcomed 2 amazing kids Samantha (2010) and Mason (2012) shortly after.  Samantha joined the JAWS green group in fall 2016 and loved it. Mason joined summer 2018. I started out coaching the Green Group right after Masons first season. I will start coaching Green and White this season. I have loved getting back into coaching and look forward to all the amazing seasons to come.

Hello, My name is Samantha Sager. I am a senior at Grand Valley State University where I am double majoring in Secondary Education for Group Social Studies and History and a Minor in English.

I began competitive swimming in the fourth grade through Aquaticats and swam on the team all the way through high school, as well as swimming for Wayland in both middle and high school. 

I started getting involved in Jenison’s aquatic programs at the beginning of 2020. In addition to coaching I also teach lessons and I am a certified lifeguard. 

Other than swimming some of my favorites include traveling, baking, watching Netflix, and spending time with family and friends. 

Hello, my name is Connor Meyer. 

Hello, my name is Connor Meyer

This is my first year as a coach as Jenison. In terms of my knowledge of swimming, I started club swim when I was 8 and continued all the way through high school. During high school I fell in love with water polo and that led me to playing polo in college. 

In regards to my schooling, I am attending GVSU and hope to graduate this upcoming summer! I am studying exercise science for my major and am minoring in psychology.  

Some hobbies of mine include reading, playing video games, hiking/backpacking, and enjoying time with my family. 

Hello! My name is Coach Hope and I am so excited to be involved with JAWS again this season!

I grew up in Jenison and graduated from Jenison HS in 2018. In 2022, I graduated from Hope College with degrees in K-8 Comprehensive Education and Spanish K-12 Education. As of the 2023-24 school year, I teach 1st Grade Spanish Immersion at Grand Rapids Christian Elementary School. 

I have been involved with Jenison Aquatics since 2009, when I started swimming for Jenison's age group program. I swam for the age group team all the way through my senior year, as well as for Jenison's junior high and high school teams. In 2017, I began working as a lifeguard and became a green group coach in 2019. In 2022 I began serving as the swim lesson coordinator. I love sharing my passion for swimming with others and I can't wait to continue my coaching career with your swimmers this season! 

When I'm not at the pool, I enjoy playing tennis, singing, playing the piano, and spending time with family.

Hello JAWS families! My name is Stephanie Rose, and I am a green group coach and a white group sub. This is my 3^rd consecutive winter coaching. My love for swimming began at the ripe ol’ age of 5! And continued through high school. I graduated from Jenison in 2003, and went on to college at Grand Valley State University, where I spent 6 years (undergrad, and grad school) becoming an Occupational Therapist. I have now found my home at Mary Free Bed working with the prosthetics team during the daytime hours.

Growing up, I loved swimming so much that as a sophomore in high school, I began lifeguarding and also teaching swim lessons at the “old” Jenison pool. I continued on working at the pool through my graduate program at Grand Valley State University, and briefly “retired” from coaching and teaching swim lessons when I started working full time as an Occupational Therapist in 2009.

I came back to the pool when my daughters showed interest in swimming. My heart was so full being back in the pool when my oldest, Liliana, started swimming at 5 years old, 5 years ago! I was asked to start coaching when my youngest, Nicoletta, began swimming at 5 years old! I haven’t looked back since then! I truly enjoy coaching the young, first year swimmers. I enjoy watching them grow as little swimmers and becoming more and more confident in the water.

In my spare time, you will first catch me with my kids and husband. Our house is full of fur babies, 2 pugs and 2 cats as well. My most favorite extra activity is hanging out at our lake house, bonfires, boating and hosting friends and family at the lake. I am really looking forward to a great season!

Hi everyone! 

My name is Anna Lockwood and I have been a part of the JAWS program for 3 years now. I try to help coach whenever I am needed and I enjoy getting to know different swimmers across varying age groups! I am also the head coach of the Jenison Junior High Boys Swim and Dive Program. 

A little bit about me... 

I currently teach first grade at Sandy Hill Elementary in Jenison public schools. I swam competitively all throughout high school and started my coaching career in 2014. I graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Double Major in Education and Integrated Sciences with a Minor in Elementary. I am currently attending Grand Valley State to get my Master's in Special Education. 

I have the goofiest dog. She is a melting pot of breeds and is the light of my life. 

GO JAWS! 

NA