Maggie Kroemer returned to her alma mater as head coach of the Valpo men’s and women’s swimming programs on August 19, 2019. She enters her eighth season in charge in 2026-27.
Kroemer has guided Valpo to new heights in her seven seasons at the helm. Between the two teams, 24 of the 36 individual records and seven of the 10 relay records have been broken since Kroemer's return to Union Street.
The 2025-26 campaign featured numerous new milestones for the programs, capped by the men's team scoring 28 points at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship (NIC) - the first time Valpo has scored points at a national postseason meet in the modern era. Jackson Oostman qualified for the meet for a second straight season and placed 16th in the 400 IM, while Evan Curran, Gabe Corkran, Nate Bolinger and Anthony Martin combined to finish 18th in the 800 free relay.
The men finished the 2025-26 season with a 7-3 dual meet record, its highest total of dual meet wins since 1988-89. Included among those wins were three victories over D-I programs, highlighted by the team's first-ever win over Green Bay. The women finished the season at 6-4, its highest win total since 1991-92, and beat three D-I opponents for the first time since 2008-09 - including the team's first win over Evansville since 1983.
The success continued at the MVC Championships, as the men finished with their highest point total since the 2021 Summit League Championships and the women boasted their highest point total since joining the Valley. 19 swimmers combined to qualify for 31 event finals over the course of the four-day meet, while Anthony Martin was named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The 2025-26 teams blew up the program record books, combining for 179 top-10 swims over the course of the season, including 30 record swims. When the dust settled, 12 new individual program records and five new relay program records were established, among 87 new individual top-10 placements and 24 new relay top-10 placements.
The 2024-25 teams continued the program's recent run of success, as the men earned their best conference championship finish since the 2005-06 season and the women boasted their highest point total at the MVC Championships since joining the conference. The highlight of the campaign was Jackson Oostman becoming the first individual in the program's D-I earn to qualify for a postseason meet, as he earned a spot at the NIC.
The 2024-25 squads combined to establish 11 new individual school records, among the 31 new entries on the top-five charts and the 65 new entries on the top-10 charts. The two teams combined for 13 relays on the top-10 charts as well, including a new school record in the men's 400 medley relay. Five swimmers combined to qualify for seven event finals at the MVC Championships as well.
Despite guiding a pair of young squads in 2023-24 - 38 of the 50 swimmers combined between the men and the women were underclassmen - Kroemer led the Beacons to great success. The Valpo men earned four dual meet wins, the team's highest win total in a single season in at least 25 years. Meanwhile, the women earned three dual meet wins as well as a pair of ties, their highest win total since 2019-20, and beat multiple D-I teams in the same season for the first time since 2014-15. The women also recorded their highest point total at the MVC Championships since joining the Valley.
Individually, six school records were broken in 2023-24 - Jackson Oostman set new marks in the 100 back, the 100 IM and the 200 IM, Anthony Martin lowered the record time in the 100 fly and the 200 fly, and Avery Ball broke the program record in the women's 100 IM. Oostman qualified for a pair of 'B' finals at the MAC Championships and earned a MAC Swimmer of the Week honor, while Martin qualified for one 'B' final as well. On the women's side, Kailyn Benoit earned MVC Freshman of the Week accolades and qualified for a 'C' final at the MVC Championships.
The 2022-23 season saw a trio of records fall, as Sara Strauss broke the 100 IM record on the women's side, while Garrett Hoppmann set a new mark in the 50 fly and Jackson Oostmann in the 200 IM on the men's side. Valpo also boasted three weekly award winners from the respective conference offices, as Oostmann was a two-time MAC Swimmer of the Week and Emma Schmidt earned MVC Freshman of the Week accolades.
The 2021-22 season was highlighted by the performance of the men's squad at the MAC Championships. In their first championship meet as an affiliate member of the MAC, the Beacons broke program records in each of the meet's first four relay events.
The 2020-21 campaign saw Dominic May become Valpo's first conference champion in nearly 20 years, as May touched the wall first in the 200 free at the Summit League Championships. May also joined with Billy Bennett, Adam Chwieros and Brett Little for a 200 free relay performance which earned the quartet All-Summit League honors.
In Kroemer's first season as head coach, the program tallied seven dual meet wins - four by the women and three by the men - to far outpace victory totals in recent years. In addition, both the men (Summit League Championships) and the women (MVC Championships) posted their highest point totals in season-ending competition since moving to their respective conferences. May finished as Summit League runner-up in the 200 free to become Valpo's first All-League honoree since 2006.
Prior to returning to Valpo, Kroemer spent the 2018-2019 campaign as an assistant coach at Seattle University. With the Redhawks, Kroemer ran the distance group and guided that group of swimmers to 11 new entries in the program’s all-time top-10 charts in her lone season.
Prior to moving to Seattle, Kroemer served as an assistant coach for six seasons (2012-2018) at Saint Louis University. Kroemer led the distance, mid-distance and IM practices for the Billikens, as well as serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator. During her time at SLU, Kroemer helped coach the team’s swimmers to nine individual and four relay A-10 conference champion swims. Eight Billiken swimmers combined for 24 NCAA ‘B’ cuts in her six seasons while over her tenure, and SLU swimmers combined to set over 100 school records.
Kroemer started her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Texas-Permian Basin, where she spent two seasons (2007-2009). She also has a wealth of experience coaching at the club and youth levels as well.
Kroemer was a four-year letterwinner for the Valpo women’s swim team, competing from 2001 through 2005. An Academic All-Mid-Continent Conference honoree, Kroemer earned seven top-10 finishes over the course of her career at the Mid-Con Championships, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle as a senior. In her final career swim, Kroemer posted a time of 18:13.22 in the mile – a time which still ranks ninth in program history.
Kroemer graduated from Valparaiso University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2005 and earned her master’s degree in kinesiology with an exercise physiology emphasis from the University of Texas-Permian Basin in 2009.
