Washington’s Tollakson wins 2025 CSM Girls Swim and Dive Coach of the Year

Washington has boasted one of Central Illinois’ top girls swimming and diving teams for several years running, but its squad went to new heights this season with a plethora of state qualifiers.

Panthers head coach Katie Tollakson is Clutch Sports Media’s 2025 Girls Swim and Dive Coach of the Year as her team won its third consecutive sectional title. 

Washington, which heads a co-op that includes East Peoria and Morton, had seven state qualifiers spanning eight events and also featured Ava Gensler, who won state titles in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle in the athletes with disabilities division. The Panthers also won the Mid-Illini Conference title during the regular season. 

Washington built a strong core of depth and experience under Tollakson, set several records during the season and had seven honorees on Clutch Sports Media’s 2025 All-Area Team.

Hear more from Tollakson about this past season and her career in our interview with her below. Some responses have been minimally edited for clarity.

What have you been able to reflect on in the days since the season has ended? 

“We were really happy with how they performed. We've won sectionals the past couple of years so our goal this year was not just to win sectionals again, but our other goal was also to see how many girls we could take to state and how many different events we could manage to get there. We were extremely happy with being able to take not only relays, but quite a few individuals as well. Not only that, but we feel like we finally figured out a decent taper for them. It can be incredibly difficult because it's so individualized for each swimmer and we felt like we finally did a good job of not just getting them a good taper for sectionals, where they performed well, but also managing to continue that taper so they still did pretty well at state the week later. We're just really proud of everything that they accomplished. like you do your best as a coach but the girls are what make it possible and make it fun and worth their while.”

In your mind, what made the team so special this year?

“I think we had really strong leadership [and] a senior class this year that did really well with leadership. They led by example in the pool [and] they led by example out of the pool. We were able to really entrust a lot of that team camaraderie and building up team expectations to them. Being able to say, ‘Hey girls, this is what we're starting to see outside of practice, we need you guys to think about how to address this with the team’ and it was done. The next day, before they get in the water, they will have that conversation. I think that they really did a fantastic job of buoying the team up and having that attitude of ‘We are here to work, we are here to do our best, and we are here to get better and maintain that level of expectation that we have had for the past couple of years.’”

What’s your coaching background? 

“I have not coached anywhere else, this is my ninth year, I believe, at Washington. It’s the only place I've ever taught and only place I've ever coached at. I swam in high school for just like a small team that didn't even have a pool, so we would swim locally, and then went to sectionals and that's all that we had. I started out as an assistant my first year at Washington with the girls and then the year after that, transitioned into being the head coach and I've been

the head coach ever since. This is my fourth year being the assistant coach for the boys team.”

What helps keep you going?

“Honestly, it's spending time with the swimmers. It's two hours every day after school, like you put in all our work during school, then you do the same thing at practice. But really seeing the smiles on their faces, developing those interactions with them, is really what makes it worthwhile, because you get to develop those different relationships with every single one of them and see them grow. It's different from teaching because with teaching, I get to see the kids for one year, but I see most of these girls for four years, and just see them develop from those freshmen all the way through seniors and seeing what they choose to do afterwards. They really make the season go by pretty quickly.”

Aside from winning, what are some fun memories with your players that you’ve had from this past season? 

“It's always fun after sectional after sectionals, we always go to Portillos and eat, it’s kind of become our tradition and we get a chocolate cake and we all split that. That's something that they always look forward to, like they always want to go out to eat. They're always hungry but doing something like that is fantastic.”

“I had a swimmer who struggled throughout the season to hit her best times and it really took a toll on her mentally. However, she still worked hard at practice every single day. It was absolutely wonderful as a coach to see her smash her best times at conference and sectionals, as well as swim one of the best 50 times on the team. The smile on her face made all the hard days worth it.”

“And this is a little more personal, but we found out this past fall that my husband and I are expecting our first child. Telling the girls was one of those other moments that makes it worthwhile because they were all so excited. You really develop those relationships past swimming, yeah so just seeing the excitement in their faces and them non-stop talking about it the rest of the season was a really big memory, and a very big highlight.”

What’s a piece of coaching advice that’s been helpful for you or one that you would give? 

“I would say seek out and take all advice and experience of other people. It's very easy, I think, to fall into a rut with something like this. You have the sets that you're comfortable doing and you have only your experience to build off of, which is great, but that might not suit what everybody else needs. So don't be afraid when somebody reaches out says, ‘Hey, I’m new to the area and I'm interested in volunteering,’ don't be afraid to say yes because it might be a great decision for your team that year. Or, don't be afraid to say, ‘Hey, this is what I'm noticing my swimmers need. Is there something that I can look up to help with that or is there somebody that I know in the area that's experienced with that that I can help reach out to?’ Don't be afraid to take advantage of the resources that you have available, because we're all working to make the swimmers that we have better.”