Lee Coleman: Swim Coach, Early Advocate for Women's Athletics
A professor of physical education and coach of men’s and women’s swimming, Lee Coleman was the first woman with a professional coaching background to serve Whitman for a significant length of time.
"Lee was a pioneer and an inspiration, a life-long role model, advocate and champion of girls and women in athletics," Whitman athletics director Dean Snider said. "At Whitman, her wise counsel and unwavering commitment to high standards in athletics and academics alike, along with her big smile, kind heart and generous spirit, enriched the lives of her student athletes and fellow coaches."
Coleman, who at one point served as president of the NAIA National Swim Coaches Association, directed a Whitman swim program that produced a steady stream of NAIA All-Americans. Despite a relatively small roster, her women’s team placed 10th at the NAIA National Championships in three consecutive years. One of her most talented swimmers still holds a Northwest Conference Championship Meet record in one event – 15 long years after the mark was set.
In addition to her teaching and coaching duties, Coleman served Whitman as its women’s athletic director and department chair. As a young faculty member, she was named a Paul Garrett Fellow in 1983 in recognition of outstanding teaching and scholarship, and she received the rank of full professor in 1994. Physiology of exercise and motor learning were her primary academic interests.
As an undergraduate at Ohio’s Wittenberg University, in the days before Title IX mandated equitable athletic opportunities for women, Coleman earned four varsity letters each in intercollegiate field hockey, volleyball, basketball and softball. She also competed in synchronized swimming, in addition to serving as coach of the team. After graduating summa cum laude, Coleman coached and taught at Wittenberg, George Williams College, Brigham Young University and the University of Kansas before coming to Whitman. She was elected to the Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
Coleman continues to make her home in Walla Walla, although she spends three months each summer as owner-operator of Voyager Trails, a wilderness-based canoe and swim camp at Cedar Lake, Minn. Now in its 50th summer of operation, the camp is located near the Canadian border, about 110 miles north of Duluth. Since her Whitman retirement, Coleman has written two books about her summertime experiences in Minnesota, A Cedar Lake Odyssey and A North Country Journal.
Coleman has four adult children and eight grandchildren. Her son, Jay Coleman, succeeded her as swim coach at Whitman for three years and now coaches the YMCA swim program in Oshkosh, Wis.
