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Shawn Kornoelje

Position: Associate Head Coach Experience: 6th Season Alma Mater: Eastern Michigan, 1991

Shawn Kornoelje is in his second season as associate head coach and sixth overall with the Oakland swimming & diving program, and brings over 20 years of coaching experience to the OU staff. His primary responsibilities include working with distance swimmers and coordinating recruiting activities.

In August, 2010, Kornoelje recieved the Jimi Flowers Coach of the Year Award. The award recognizes significant contributions by coaches to the inclusion of swimmers with a disability in USA Swimming programs as well in the sport of swimming.

A 1991 graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Kornoelje has served in several coaching capacities in southeast Michigan since getting his start as a manager while at EMU. As the head coach for the Grosse Pointe South girls swim team he earned conference Swimming Coach of the Year honors in 2003. Kornoelje has coached different club teams in the area, including the Rapids Area YMCA in Grand Rapids and the Ann Arbor Swim Club from 1991-95 and 1998-2000; serving first as an assistant coach and then as the head coach. Kornoelje trained national champions along with Paralympic and Olympic gold medalists during his tenure. His first stint as a head coach came in 1990 when he was named the head coach of the Ann Arbor Huron High School team, which was a two-time Class A state runner-up for both the boys and the girls in `90 and `91.

In the mid-90s, Kornoelje was a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Michigan's women's swim team, which finished as the NCAA championship runners-up in 1995. He has also been a key member of the U.S. Paralympics coaching staff from 1998-2004, assisting in the training and preparation for team camps going into the 2000 Sydney Games, the 2002 World Championships in Argentina and the 2004 Athens Games, where he served as the head coach of the men's swim team. Kornoelje's Paralympic athletes have won numerous gold medals and set World and American Records from World Championships to the Paralympic Games. Coach Kornoelje was selected as one of the top 25 most influential coaches in 2004 for his work with the Paralympic movement by Aquatics magazine.

He is married to and coaches, Cheryl Angelelli, a world class Paralympic swimmer who won two bronze medals in Athens in 2004 and two silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Recently, Kornoelje was recently bestowed with the Order of Ikkos Medallion, presented by the United States Olympic Committee. The Order of Ikkos is a special order reserved for the coach of an Olympic/Paralympic medalist. The medalallion signifies the highest level of excellence that a coach can achieve.

Kornoelje earned his master's degree in Sports Administration at Wayne State University and is certified with the American Swim Coaches Association. In addition, he is the swimming coordinator on the Michigan Wheelchair Athletic Association's board.

He and his wife currently reside in Clinton Township, Mich. with their dog, Bella.