Ray VanHootegem started coaching girls swimming at GHS in the Fall of 1993. This Fall will be his 33rd and last year coaching Silver Streaks swimming.
Ray has also coached the Streaks boys swimming coach for the last 14 seasons. He has been a varsity swimming coach for 47 seasons. And by the time you add in his years coaching the Knox County YMCA swimming team, Ray has probably coached over 80 seasons of swimming in Galesburg.
Coach VanHootegem’s dedication to swimming in Galesburg is incredible. Ray is a Silver Streak legend.
I have asked some of his swimmers to share their memories of swimming for Ray, their perspective on why he has been so successful, and what his impact has been on them.
Danielle Hulick Tansel (GHS- Class of 2000)
Danielle- I graduated from GHS in 2000 and swam for Ray all 4 years of high school, as well as for Knox Co Krocodiles, during the YMCA season. During that time, I qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2000 (but did not attend) and was a YMCA National Finalist in multiple events. I went on to swim for the University of Notre Dame from 2000-2004, graduated cum laude in 2004 and owned a few of the team’s records for several years. I started coaching swim when I was 16 at the YMCA and have been coaching ever since! I coached collegiately for 11 seasons Division I at Oakland University, The University of Richmond, Southern Methodist University, the University of Michigan and Ohio State University. I currently run Michigan Swim Camps and still coach fitness classes at an area gym, as well as work with competitive swimmers in private lessons. My husband, Bryon, is also a coach and is one of the current Associate Head Coaches of Swimming at the University of Michigan. We have one son, Ford, who loves to swim!
Massey- What made Coach VanHootegem and the swim program so successful?
Danielle- I think what made our program successful was Ray’s investment in our practices and development. Not only was he good at giving us hard sets and creating “hell week” (or weeks), but he also was pretty forward-thinking in his constant work on our starts and turns and tapping into our speed almost daily. He had a good system in place to organize the varying levels of talent on the team and pushed us each to tap or bust through our ceilings!
Massey- How would you describe Ray as a coach? How was he able to motivate and inspire you?
Danielle- Ray as a coach was very approachable and goofy. He seemed to have a saying for everything. When he wanted to push you, he would say “well, my grandma does X faster” or he would even race us (giving himself a head start, of course ;)). One of my faves and resounding statements in my head is, “You get out what you put in”. Swimming is definitely a sport where that is true! He could laugh, he could be serious and mostly he wasn’t afraid to put himself out there to get you inspired or even mad to motivate you.
Massey- As you have gone on into your adult life, how do you feel Coach VanHootegem and swimming impacted you as a person?
Danielle- I think Ray was able to stay in touch with me while I struggled in college swimming and was always a good listener, didn’t down-talk my college coaches AND reminded me of important bits of my own swimming (hitting something fast daily, working underwaters, etc.). His ability to see us through hard times and exciting successful times taught me how important coaching is for teenagers and young adults. He was a rock and was always himself, so of that I could be certain. I always knew he was on my side, but wasn’t afraid to disagree with me. I think and hope that influenced my own coaching career in being able to show up authentically as myself and inspire others by personal stories and anecdotes!
Massey- What are some of your favorite memories?
Danielle- I know he used to love to get in and swim with us at times and loved “showing us how it’s done”. I can remember him pulling himself right off the vasa onto the pool deck, trying to be exuberant in his movements. He also first showed me a movement I still use coaching…showing how a ball coming in fast to a wall comes out fast (aka, go into your turn with speed to come out of your turn with speed). His laugh/snort is memorable and there wasn’t a scenario where Gma was ever slower than me, no matter how successful I became!
Massey- As he retires, is there a message you have for Coach?
Danielle- My message for Ray in retirement is to be so proud of cultivating the love of swimming and success of a bunch of small-town kids in this great sport of swimming! Every time I am back in town, there are different decades of us all talking about memories of Ray and how he has shaped the sport in our hometown and our hearts, in regards to the sport and our team memories! Enjoy some downtime with your grand baby and make sure to your family how Gma did it better at every milestone! ;)
Olivia Cooper (GHS- Class of 2009
I graduated GHS in 2009. I swam for Coach Ray my entire 4 years at GHS - from fall of 2005 through fall of 2008. I was captain of the team my junior and senior year. After graduation, I went on to St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where I triple-majored in History, American Studies, and Religion. Although I planned to swim at St. Olaf, I decided a few months into my first year to focus on my academics instead. Following graduation from St. Olaf in 2013, I went on to law school at the University of Minnesota. I currently practice as a civil litigator at Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. and live in Minneapolis. I still try to get in the pool when I can, although my workouts these days consist of training for half marathons as I try to keep up with my marathon running husband.
Massey- What made the swim program and Coach VanHootegem so successful?
Olivia- I think the girls swimming program was so successful because we all worked hard, but had fun at the same time. We became the best of friends, and Ray would encourage that. Ray would make our workouts both in and out of the pool challenging, but also let us be silly teenage girls who enjoyed spending time together at practice. He understood that we needed our gossip sessions/chit chats during the kick sets. Or that we needed our breaks between sets to potentially goof around a little. He let us have fun with the sport. It's easier to push yourself to the limit in something, spend hours in the pool, and get out of bed for 5 a.m. weights, when you knew you were going to be doing it with your friends, and you were going to have fun.
Massey- What were some of the quotes or routines that you still remember?
Olivia- The thing I remember most about Ray was his positivity. He was always positive, and believed in each of us and our abilities to get better. When you have a positive coach that believes in you, that hugely influences your belief in yourself.
Massey- As you have gone on into your adult life, how do you feel Coach VanHootegem and swimming impacted you as a person?
Olivia- Ray always encouraged us to have "PMA: Positive Mental Attitude". He said it every time a practice got hard, we complained, or he saw our anxiety and nerves leading up to a meet. He often had "PMA " up on the white board next to our workout. It's a phrase I constantly come back to when things are hard. Whether studying for long hours in the library, preparing to take the bar exam, working long hours and weekends preparing for a trial, or even getting my legs to keep going on mile 11 of a half marathon - I constantly find myself muttering "PMA" and I think of Ray.
The work ethic I gained in high school through going to weights, practice, keeping up with school, vastly impacted my ability to keep a schedule and work hard in undergrad, law school, and even today. And learning to keep a positive attitude through it all - when things are going well and especially when things are not, has been so important.
Massey- Do you have any favorite memories whether tough times, winning, success, practices, lifting, competing?
Olivia- My favorite, or most distinct memory, has to be the Conference meet/lead up to that meet my senior year. About a month before the meet, I was in the hospital for several days. I missed a week of practice during a critical time of ramp up practices/tapering. I thought my season was over and I would never be able to make-up my fitness/have a good taper for the meet. When I was released from the hospital, Ray was so positive that I could get back on track. He created a separate workout plan/ modified taper plan for me. He stayed late with me for longer practices when the other girls were tapering down. He came in on weekends to help me catch up and regain my fitness. When I got frustrated with the process, he stayed positive and encouraged me to trust the process. The conference meet came, and I crushed it. I had personal bests in every event, won conference champion in the 500 free and got 2nd overall in the 200 IM (when I was ranked 7th). It was a great way to end the season, and I couldn't have done it without Ray and his belief in me and the extra time he took with me to help me finish my senior year strong.
Massey- As he retires, is there a message you have for Coach?
Olivia- My message for Ray as he retires: Just Thank you. Thank you for your positivity and your support in those high school years. It might not seem like a lot, but the impact that you had on me - and I know many others - is lasting. When times are hard, my first reaction at a negative thought is "PMA, Positive Mental Attitude." That mantra is so important for every aspect of life, not just in the pool or during a workout. Thank you for teaching us all that.
Pete- I graduated in 1997, so I swam from 1994 to 1997. When I was in High School, Ray was not yet coaching the team. I swam for him at the YMCA while in Junior High. I swam the 100 fly, 100 back, 200 IM, the relays. I continued to swim for four years at West Point. When I graduated I joined the Army and will retire at the end of the year. I'm in Alexandria, Va.
Massey- You were in his youth program, what made it so successful?
Pete- Not the girls’ swimming program, but at the Y we worked hard. That’s not to say that other programs weren’t working hard, but even at a young age we put in a lot of yards in only an hour and a half at the YMCA. I think Ray’s first year out of college was when he started coaching us. He brought a level of sophistication to the practices, and to how we approached races. He was a competitor and he loves swimming and that showed in his work ethic. I always thought of him as a technical coach. He talked to me a lot about form – more than any coach except Terry Laughlin who literally wrote books on it – and after every race I went to him to hear what he had to say. He always had something thoughtful to say. That made me personally a better swimmer, but he did that with everyone all the time. He made a lot of people good swimmers and that made the teams successful.
Massey- How would you describe Ray as a coach? How was he able to motivate and inspire you?
Pete- He was a serious coach, but he has kind of a zany side. When I was younger, we would race sometimes. Eventually I beat him a few times, or maybe he let me win. We swam a few similar events and I would shoot to top his times. For awhile when I was swimming for him, he was also a coach at Knox College back when they still had a team. After school, I did a paper route, then a few days a week he would pick me up and take me to Knox to practice with the college team, then we would go practice at the Y. It made for long days, but he was always looking for ways to push me and being around the older, better swimmers makes you work harder, especially in Junior High.
Massey- What were some of the quotes or routines that you still remember?
Pete- There are two things that I remember when I think of swimming with Ray. He used to say, “Hard 50, fast 50,” and “Boom” a lot. The former was a way to approach a 100. You don’t want to just dive in and start sprinting. You do a hard, clean, 50, then when you come off the turn at the half way you start building to a sprint so you can come back and finish fast. Throughout the year, he would tell me to start the build to sprinting sooner. When we got to State, the last meet of the year, it was a few hard strokes then start building to a sprint. This was something I used for the rest of my career. It did two things. First, it was just a good way to approach the race. Second, because I knew no 100 was a sprint from the start of the year it gave me a mental edge going into the final race because I always felt that I could go faster. The latter statement referred to how you transition from underwater to swimming. Off a start and a turn, you want to carry the momentum from the push off and underwater (when you are at your fastest) to the swim. He always frowned upon taking a breath on your first stroke because it would create too much drag. Instead you start a stroke a little below the surface so you can transition cleanly to the swim and “BOOM!” you end up with a boost from the effort. In my head I said that on every start and every turn after awhile, even when I was too tired to actually boom.
Massey- As you have gone on into your adult life, how do you feel Coach VanHootegem and swimming impacted you as a person?
Pete- We spent so much time together and swimming was such a big part of my life that it’s impossible to list all of the ways Ray impacted me. I think swimming in general created friendships, provided structure and focus to a lot of my life, taught me how difficult it is to be good at something, and – because West Point asked me to come and swim for them – led me to an education and a career.
Massey- Do you have any favorite memories whether tough times, winning, success, practices, lifting, competing?
Pete- At State, when I was fifteen I swam the 50 free, 100 back and 100 fly. I think Ray worked for a car dealership then. I was getting itchy to get a license and start driving and Ray and I talked about what kind of car I would like. I told him a Jeep. He told me if I won all three of my races he would buy me a Jeep. I was looking ok in the 100 fly and 100 back, but would have to swim really well to win. I had no chance in the 50. It wasn’t my event and we kind of did it for fun, but I finaled. The 50 happened to be the first race in the finals and I got a good start and swam a really clean race and won. I was pretty pumped. I wanted that car. The stars weren’t aligned that night though and I didn’t win the other two races. I always wondered if he regretted making that offer for a bit, or if he was really relieved for once when I didn’t win.
Massey- As he retired, is there a message you have for Coach?
Pete- We have had a chance to talk more lately. I hope he knows how much I appreciate everything he gave to me. It’s one thing to be a great coach, it’s another to be a great coach for so long. Now that I’m closer to 50 than 40, I know how hard it is to find timeto do things that aren’t related to work and family. There’s always an excuse to not give back to the community. Ray, and every coach that I had, have done so much for Galesburg and swimming. It’s really inspiring how generous he and others are. I’m here talking about 6th grade and he’s been doing it non-stop since then.
Lily Furrow (GHS Class of 2026)
Massey- What has made the swim program and Coach VanHootegem so successful?
Lily- The girls program has always been good and nothing has changed about that. When you have a good coach like Ray, you’ll see so much success because he believes in you more than you believe in yourself. The team itself is like family. You’re with them all the time. Good bonds = having fun. You’re more successful when you’re having fun.
Massey- How would you describe Ray as a coach? How was he able to motivate and inspire you?
Lily- Growing up in a different school district, but still doing swim through Galesburg, you always hear about Ray. I’ve never heard a negative thing about him. He’s understanding, funny, kind, and a hard worker. He wants what’s best for you and will do what it takes for him to help you succeed. Towards the end of the season we do what are called “hell days.” They are practices that are harder and involve more yardage to get us ready for our taper season. I remember my sophomore year, Ray and Carson, our manager, dressed up in different superhero outfits to get us in a good mood before practice. They made everyone on the team laugh.
Massey- What were some of the quotes or routines that you still remember?
Lily- I’m still a current swimmer, but a fun inside joke we have as a team that ray says all the time is that his grandma is faster than all of us.
Massey- Do you have any favorite memories whether tough times, winning, success, practices, lifting, competing?
Lily- Although I’ll only have ray as a coach for 4 years. Those 4 years are going to be remembered forever. No matter what comes into life, I know I can look back and see how successful ray and everyone around him is. He’s made an impact on so many people’s lives. He’s loved from all around.
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