VANDRIESSCHE FILE:

John VanDriessche, the Indiana High School Swimming Coaches Association 2024 State Coach of the Year, enters his second season as the head coach of Penn High School’s Boys and Girls Swim/Dive Teams in 2025.

VanDriessche was the Boys Swim/Dive Head Coach at South Bend Riley starting in 2000 and took over the Girls Swim/Dive program at Riley in 2023, before becoming Penn’s head coach.

In his illustrious career, VanDriessche has coached three individual state champions, two relay state champions, and 39 All-Americans. He has coached 118 individual & relay Sectional Champions. 

VanDriessche coached Riley Boys Swim/Dive to two state runner-up finishes. He has seen his Riley teams claim the championship at the South Bend City Meet 20 times, and has coached his teams to 11 Sectional Championships and nine Northern Indiana Conference Championships.

VanDriessche boasts a 292-50-1 overall dual-meet record entering the 2025-2026 season.

VanDriessche graduated from Ball State University in 1993, and earned a Masters Degree in 2007. He has coached multiple swimmers to championships from divisionals through Junior Nationals. His coaching experience including South Bend Swim Club (of which he is the founder), Irish Aquatics, Michiana Marlins, Starke County Blue Dolphins, Elkhart Area Swim Team, and was the head coach at Knox High School.

COACHING HISTORY:

• 1993-94: Riley High School (Assistant Coach)

• 1994-1998: Knox High School (Head Coach)

• 1998-2000: Riley High School (Assistant Coach)

• 2000-2024: Riley High School (Head Coach)

• 2024-Present: Penn High School (Head Coach)

AWARDS:

• IHSSCA Coach of the Year (2024)

• IHSAA Sectional Coach of the Year (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024)

• NIC Coach of the Year (2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2025)

• South Bend Tribune Coach of the Year (2002)

• ASCA Level 5 High School Coach