Stefanie Kerska

Susan Teeter

Susan Teeter begins her 3rd year of retirement from coaching after spending 33 seasons as the head coach of the Princeton women’s swim team and 43 years total in coaching. While at Princeton, she was the all-time leader in wins, Teeter racked over 224 dual meet victories, and guided Princeton to an incredible 17 Ivy League titles. Teeter is the Ex-officio President of the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association.  Currently Teeter speaks and consults all over the country on Team Culture and Leadership.  She serves as the Leadership Coach and Volunteer swimming coach for the Rider University Men’s and Women’s swimming teams.  She also created and runs a Leadership program for the captains of all sports at Princeton University.  Currently she also serves as a special consultant to the USA Swimming National Team Director and to the Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association.

Now this newly “coaching retired” leader has quickly become the face and the voice behind changing the look of women coaches in swimming.  Based on her coaching record, passion for building young women into strong women and her outspoken nature, Teeter can be found leading the charge to help change USA Swimming and College Swimming in how women are hired, viewed and appreciated.  Teeter is also passionate about helping save men’s swimming programs from being cut at NCAA schools and helping to keep college programs as separate men’s and women’s teams vs. the “combined program”.

During her time coaching at Princeton, Teeter had a seven-season winning stretch, her teams won a Princeton-record 47 consecutive meets, a streak that ended in 2004 at nationally-ranked Pittsburgh. Princeton also won five consecutive Ivy League titles during that time period (2000-04).

Her peers took notice of Teeter’s place in the sport. She has been awarded the USA Aquatics Sports Most Outstanding Woman for 2015.  She was honored with the prestigious College Swim Coaches Association “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2011 and in 2017, the “National Collegiate + Scholastic Trophy“, the highest award given by the organization.  Teeter earned the American Swimming Coaches Award of Excellence multiple years, including five straight years from 2006 through 2010.  In 1988 she received the Master Coach Award from the College Swimming Coaches Association for her contributions to collegiate swimming.

Teeter has mentored swimmers who went on to become Olympians, NCAA qualifiers, All-Americas, senior national/Olympic trial qualifiers, World University Games team members and Ivy League champions.

Teeter is a member of two Olympic Teams, spending the summer of 2000 serving on the U.S.A. Swimming staff in Sydney as an Assistant Manager and the summer of 1996 as the Head Manager of the USA Olympic Swimming Team in Atlanta. In all, she has been on the staff of nine international swim teams. From 2001-2008 she served as a special consultant to Speedo USA for all Olympic and World Championships.

In the winter of 2000, Teeter’s senior class established and endowed the Susan S. Teeter Award, which is given annually to the senior class swimmer who, during her four-year career, distinguishes herself as an outstanding student and a valuable member of the women’s swimming team. Teeter has also been honored by past graduating classes by being named an Honorary member of the Princeton Classes of 1985 and 1986.

Teeter serves as a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst, a Certified Professional Values Analyst with the 12 Driving Forces and is Certified in the Emotional Quotient Assessments.  She works with sports teams as well as small businesses to improve the quality of their staffs, programs and communication.  Through her work, Teeter has become known as one of the great TEAM Builders in College Swimming.  Teeter is also a Certified Life Coach receiving her certificate from the International Coaching Society and a certified Tim Elmore  “Habitudes Facilitator”.

In 1999 Princeton University’s President’s Standing Committee on the Status of Women recognized Teeter for her contributions to women on campus.  Teeter is also known for facilitation work while working with women’s growth weekends for the Woman Within program.

Teeter is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville graduating with a BFA. She is a level 5 USA Swimming Coach.

Cathy Wright Eger

Fresh off retiring from 33 years in the Purdue Athletic Department, Cathy Wright-Eger has established a reputation of producing outstanding student-athletes.

From 1987 to 2008, Cathy was the Head Swim Coach for Purdue University Women where her teams represented Purdue at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship 20 of her 21 years, while maintaining a GPA of 3.0-3.5.   During her tenure, she coached several All-Americans, Boilers competing internationally and one Olympian.  The Purdue swimmers also competed at the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials.

Wright-Eger was named Big Ten Coach of the year in 1990, Boilermaker Coach of the Year by the Purdue Club of Chicago in 1993, YWCA Salute to Women Award in 1996, and featured in Sports Illustrated for Women in 2001 focusing on being a mother and a coach at the same time. In 2008, she was awarded the Richard Stedman Award from College Swim Coaches Association.

In 2003 and 2005, Cathy was accorded the honor of being named to the United States Swim Team staff for the World University Games in South Korea and Turkey, respectively.  In 2006, she had the opportunity to take a small group of US swimmers to the FINA World Youth Championships setting herself to be chosen to the US Swim Staff for the 2007 Pan-American games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After ending her coaching career in 2008, Wright-Eger established the John R. Wooden Leadership Institute for the coaches and student-athletes, where she directed the development of leadership skills in the emerging leaders and the captains of all 18 of the athletics teams. She became a certified D.I.S.C. Behavior Analysist and used the assessment with teams to understand differences, communicate better and develop a championship culture.  Cathy was also appointed a Title IX Deputy; worked with university leaders, completed trauma and sexual assault interview training, and developed and implemented a mandatory Sexual Violence Prevention Training for the entire athletic department.  She retired in June of 2020 from the Purdue Athletic Department after 33 years.

Currently, Wright-Eger has started her own consulting business and works with Purdue Athletics (teaching a transition class to incoming freshmen), USA Swimming (facilitating SHE Leads, WE Lead,  Women’s Leadership Summits and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion workshops), HS and Collegiate teams (team culture, parental involvement, D.I.S.C.) and corporations and organizations (D.I.S.C.). Cathy has been married to Rob Eger for 34 years and has two sons: Tyler and Tory, who both graduated from Purdue and live in the Denver area.

Katerina Kerska