Jody Riskowski is the new leader of the Lawrence University swimming and diving programs.
A native of Kearney, Nebraska, Riskowski took the reins of Lawrence's swim and dive teams in August 2024. She came to Lawrence after working at Pius X High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she has served as the head swimming and diving coach since 2022.
Riskowski brings an impressive array of experience with both swimming and diving at the collegiate level to the job at Lawrence.
A standout swimmer at the University of Wyoming, Riskowski was a sprinter in both freestyle and backstroke. Riskowski's name is still all over Wyoming's top-10 list two decades after she graduated. A two-time team captain at Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Year in 2003, Riskowski earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a pre-med/honors option.
Riskowski went on to earn her doctorate in biomedical engineering from Purdue University in 2008 with research areas that included biomechanics, assistive technologies in movement and STEM education. She also earned a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2020.
Riskowski began her coaching work at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianpolis in 2003 as an assistant swim coach. She also worked as the performance enhancement team consultant for USA Diving from 2005-08. While working as a lecturer at Glasgow Calendonian University in Glasgow, Scotland, Riskowski served as the university's head swim coach from 2013-15.
After returning to the United States, Riskowski worked as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, an NCAA Division II member, in 2018-19. She then moved to the prep program at Pius X High School in 2021 and became the head coach the following year.
