Coaches and Directors
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Heidi has been the head coach at WEST Express Swim Team since
2009.
Before coaching for WEST Heidi was the head coach of the Highland
Park/St. Paul Academy High School Teams for 10 years.
Heidi swam at Hamline University where she was an 18 time All
American and academic All American during her college career.
After College Heidi was able to see quite a bit of the country
racing as a pro triathlete specializing in the Olympic Distance
format (1.5K Swim, 40K Bike and 10K Run).
Heidi and her husband Tom reside in Chaska and are empty nesters
with their youngest son a sophmore in College at the U of M. She
considers
herself lucky to have trained under some of the best coaches in the
country during her HS and College years and really enjoys the
coaching profession.
Swimming has been a part of Sarah’s life for many years! Sarah started her swimming career at the age of 7 for Team Foxjet, based here in Eden Prairie. She swam competitively for Team Foxjet all the way through her senior year of high school. She also swam for Edina High School during that time as well. Her favorite events were mid-distance and distance freestyle and butterfly. During her swimming career, she enjoyed being part of team, developed lifelong friends, and learned what is means to work hard in and out of pool!
Sarah's coaching experience started in 2012 when she coached two summer seasons for Edina Country Club. This is her first season coaching on a club team and she is enjoying every minute!
Joe first discovered swimming as a High School Swimmer in Peoria, IL, and although he has enjoyed a myriad of work-outs in the years since he always comes back to the pool. After leaving Illinois in 2000 he and his wife, Dena moved around a lot, spending time in Missouri, Kansas, and Virginia before finally settling in Minnesota in 2004. Joe first discovered West Express in the spring of 2013 when their then 7-year old Casey tried out for the team. After that Joe became a USA swim official, and joined the Master's team at West until finally he began teaching swim lessons for Foss Swim School in both Chanhassen and Plymouth, MN. He is excited to work with West on developing its youngest swimmers for both fun and competition.
Rowan’s parents met on the University of South Dakota swim and dive team so swimming has always been a part of her life. She joined WEST as a young swimmer in the mid 2000s. She competed for our team until she graduated from Chanhassen High School in 2018. Rowan has many team records in sprint events. In high school she was an All State, All American, and Academic All American. She also played lacrosse and was on the All State team. After high school, Rowan competed for the University of Missouri where she earned her degree in Marketing.
Rowan’s coaching experience started as a swim lesson instructor at Foss Swim School. She also coached for the club team in the summers at Mizzou. On the weekends, she also coaches lacrosse for the MN Elite Lacrosse team.
Ron swimming career started as a 12 year old swimming for the Rolling Meadows Park District Stingrays. While in Illinois he swam for the Palatine Tiger Sharks and Rolling Meadows High School. He went to Minnesota State Mankato where he swam for a year. His coaching career started at age 16 as swimmer/coach for the RMPD Stingrays. While in Illinois he was Head Coach for the Palatine Tiger Sharks, Palatine High School Boys and Assistant coach for the Palatine High School Girls teams. Ron and his wife Deb moved to Minnesota in 1999. While in Minnesota Ron has been Head Coach for the Minnetonka Girls and Maple Grove Boys swim and dive teams and Assisted for Team Foxjet and NHCP Swim teams before finding a home at West Express in the Spring of 2011. Ron enjoys triathlons and spending time with his wife and two children Colin and Riley.
Ann lives in Chaska with husband Dave and her 4 kids. She has been living there for about 14 years and loves it!! Ann grew up in St Paul and swam for STAR swim club for about 12 years. She swam in high school and competed at the state meet twice, swam three years at UW River Falls in college, competed at nationals, and was All American. Ann taught swimming lessons for years, and has coached at various levels. She has her Masters Degree in Special Education from the U of MN. Enjoys swimming, biking, running, racing triathlons, and watching her kids compete in their sports.
Lutfi lives in Chaska with his wife Irma and daugthers Kiana and Maika. Kiana is a Sophmore attending UW at Madison, WI and Maika is
a junior swimming for WEST Express and Chaska HS.
Lutfi was born and raised in Indonesia where he also swam through high school. Before coaching for WEST he was an instructor at Foss Swim School in Chanhassen. In Lutif's spare time he officiates, swims with the WEST Express Masters, bikes and play a lot of Pickleball!
Allie has been swimming since she was 7. She grew up swimming for Mach 3 Flyers and Minnetonka High School. She also swam in college at The College of William and Mary. Her favorite events were breaststroke, IM and sprint freestyle. During and after college Allie coached for Mach 3 Flyers. She took a few years off while getting married and having babies. After moving from Plymouth to Victoria she coached the Lifetime team in Chanhassen for a few years. Once her own daughters started swimming for West Express she was lured back in and started coaching with WEST in the fall for 2021. She enjoys watching the dolphins go from their first swim team practice to competing in meets to gaining the confidence to move up and swim with the Sharks. Fun fact: Coach Ron was her high school coach her senior year.