Colleen Lischwe serves as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s water polo teams at McKendree University. After serving as the program Graduate Assistant in its inaugural year, she was named the head coach for the women's water polo program in February 2017 and in June of 2018, Lischwe was named head coach for the men’s water polo program. She is currently the only female head coach of a men’s NCAA water polo program.
On the women’s side, in her first season with McKendree, Lischwe was selected as the 2017 CWPA Midwest Division Coach of the Year. She took over the reins of the program as head coach in February 2017 and led the Bearcats to their first Midwest Division Championship match. The following season, Lischwe lead the Bearcats to a 9-16 record in their first season as a varsity program as a part of the WWPA Conference where they placed 7th overall. Lischwe coached Emily Westlove who was given the program’s first All-American nod. In 2019, Lischwe helped the Bearcats to an 11-15 record, their winningest season to date. Prior to the start of the 2020 season, Lischwe was awarded the Sandy Nitta Distinguished Coaching Award by USA Water Polofor her work developing women’s water polo at the collegiate level. In 2020, McKendree went 4-10 before the season was upended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early March and in 2021, the team posted a 2-7 mark in its abbreviated campaign. The 2022 team won a school record 16 games and finished with a 16-7 overall record, which was the program's first-ever winning record. The team had three WWPA All-Conference selections and Sydney Kane was named to the WWPA All-Freshman Team.
After serving as assistant coach to the men’s program for its first two seasons, Lischwe became head coach of the team in June 2018 and delivered the team’s most successful season in program history. Lischwe lead the team to their first winning season in 2018, finishing with a 15-13 record overall. During her first season at the helm, Lischwe earned the 2018 Coach of the Year Award at the CWPA DII Championships and was presented with the Dick Russell Coach of the Year Award at the 2018 MAWPC-West Conference Championships. Additionally, McKendree won their first MAWPC-West Conference Championship, ending the 20-game winning streak of Gannon University along the way and defeating Salem International University in the finals. Following the win, McKendree made their first appearance at the MAWPC Championship Tournament. Lischwe coached Joseph Mahan to earn the program’s first men’s All-American award. In 2018 Lischwe was honored with the 2018 Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Coaching Award for the Midwest Zone by USA Water Polo. In 2019, Lischwe led her team to the MAWPC-West Championship Game, and along the way, coached Mahan and Matthew Haygood to All-American honors. In 2020-21, the men's season was played in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Bearcats went a perfect 7-0 and captured the MAWPC Tournament Championship as Lischwe was named the Coach of the Tournament and Haygood was named the Player of the Year and repeated as an All-American. McKendree's 2021 men's team went 11-9 overall and was 4-0 in the MAWPC-West Division to repeat as the regular season champion. At the MAWPC Tournament, the Bearcats finished as the runners-up and had five All-Conference selections and two Bearcats - Uros Pelemis and Michael Rojas were named All-Americans.
As a player, Lischwe had a successful high school and college playing career. Named Missouri High School Female Player of the Year from 2005-2007, Lischwe was named to numerous All-Conference and All-District teams. Following her high school career, Lischwe starred at Marist College, a Division I program in Poughkeepsie, NY. As a starter and successful player for the Red Foxes, the attacker helped lead the team two MAAC conference championships. During her time at Marist, Lischwe competed in the NCAA National Championship tournament twice, finishing eighth in 2008 and seventh in 2009. In 2018, Lischwe received her Master of Business Administration from McKendree University.
Prior to coaching at McKendree, Lischwe served as the head water polo coach at Kirkwood High School in St. Louis, MO. Additionally, Lischwe acted as the Midwest Zone Women's Cadet Coach for from 2010-2016 through the USA Water Polo's Olympic Development Program and reprised this role in 2019. In addition to her collegiate coaching duties, Colleen also coaches both the boy’s and girl’s groups at St. Louis Area Polo, a club team in her home town of St. Louis, Mo.
Lischwe resides in St. Louis, Mo., with her husband, Casey, and their two pets, Albus and Raimey. When she is not at the pool with her athletes, Lischwe enjoys gardening, reading, practicing yoga, and traveling.
