Girls Swimming Coach Jenny Gillis

Jenny Gillis is going into her 5th season as the Olympia High School Head Girls Swimming Coach. Gillis is also a 4th grade teacher at Olympia North Elementary School, but her Olympia ties do not end there. She grew up outside of Danvers and attended Danvers Elementary then continued at Olympia through high school. During her time at Olympia, she swam for Olympia Country Swimmers from when she was 10 years old through middle school. During high school, she swam for the Olympia High School team all four years. After her time at Olympia, Gillis went on to study at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL. 

Gillis has built a program that pushes her swimmers to be their best. Her returning swimmers are pushed to get better, while new swimmers are encouraged to develop strong base skills. This environment aligns perfectly with Gillis’ answer to what the most rewarding part of her job is. She stated, “The most rewarding part of coaching is seeing swimmers reach goals they have set for themselves.” Olympia senior Grace Castleman explained what it is like having Gillis as a coach. “Having Jenny as a coach has definitely been such a big blessing in my life. She pushes all of us to do our best and makes me fall in love with the sport more and more every day. Jenny has made the atmosphere of our team like a family more than any other sport or activity I’ve been a part of,” Castleman said.

Gillis had 14 swimmers on last year’s roster and will have all junior swimmers returning as seniors for the 2021-2022 season. The 2022 class of swimmers are a very talented group, who will accomplish great things in their last year swimming at Olympia High School. Gillis has formed a strong bond with the 2022 class. As a coach, she strives to leave the following impact on her swimmers: “I hope that each of my swimmers gains confidence in themselves as swimmers but more importantly as people. I hope to help each girl learn more than just swimming technique - I want them to grow as individuals. I want to instill a good work ethic and team building skills in my team.”