Lisa Siregar, assistant coach of men’s and women’s swim and dive, draws upon more than 20 years of experience as a former head swim coach for Indonesia’s national team.
Before she joined California Baptist University in 2002, Siregar was a two-time Olympic head coach at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and the 2000 Games in Sydney.
“Aside from the Olympics, I have been to multiple Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games,” Siregar said.
As head coach of the Indonesian national team, Siregar brought home the most gold medals in swimming in every Southeast Asian Games. Her first season with CBU was in the 2002-2003 season at the NAIA.
“The biggest part of the transition from coaching the national team to a school team is the objective and mission of each individual athlete,” Siregar said. “On the national team, everyone’s goal lies solely in swimming, but it is different from student-athletes, who have goals in both school and the sport.”
Siregar said she had to adapt to accommodate the needs of student-athletes, but the experience she accumulated from coaching Indonesia’s national team has helped her become more specialized in her coaching.
“She adapts the swim schedule for each swimmer (that has a class conflict) and makes individual workouts according to what each swimmer needs in their specialized strokes,” said Alina Jungklaus, junior psychology major and individual medley swimmer.
Swimming consists of many different events and swimmers specialize in specific events. Swim teams need to separate swimmers in training groups so they can practice more efficiently.
“From the moment I started coaching at CBU I have always been the specialized distance events coach,” Siregar said. “But among the distance group there are swimmers who specialize in different events, and the experience I have from the long time that I have been coaching has helped me in creating specialized training programs.”
Ryan Schade, senior aviation flight major and breaststroke swimmer, said Siregar played a huge role in his college swimming career because she motivates him to push himself and become a better swimmer.
“I always look forward to being challenged by her and her workouts,” Schade said. “Waking up before 5 a.m. is easier knowing she is there to challenge and help me improve as a swimmer.
Siregar will be entering her 19th season with the Lancers this fall.
