WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Salem College swim coach Vavina Lapham recently took part in North Carolina Swimming's Women in Leadership & Coach Forum after being extended an invitation by legendary swim coach Susan Teeter.
Susan Teeter, a guest speaker for the forum, is the former women's coach at Princeton University and serves as a special consultant to USA Swimming on women in leadership and coaching. She retired from active coaching after spending 33 seasons as the head coach of the Princeton women's swim team and 43 years in the sport. She now serves as the Leadership Coach and Volunteer swimming coach for the Rider University Men's and Women's swimming teams.
"It was an honor and privilege to be one of 34 women invited to participate in this leadership and coaching forum," said Lapham. "Susan is amazing and her passion to develop female coaches, while keeping us connected is beyond inspiring. I am looking forward to staying connected with the others from the N.C. Summit for Female leaders to further enhance the world of swimming."
While at Princeton, Teeter was the all-time leader in wins, racking up over 224 dual meet victories as she guided the Tigers to an incredible 17 Ivy League titles. Teeter, the Ex-officio President of the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association, also serves as a speaker and consultant all over the country on Team Culture and Leadership. Currently she serves as a special consultant to the USA Swimming National Team Director, Lindsay Mintenko. Teeter has also taken an active role in the development of International Swimming League, which focuses on the competitive aspect of swimming, and recently visited Budapest as part of the effort.
During her time coaching at Princeton, Teeter had a seven-season winning stretch, her teams won a Princeton-record 47 consecutive meets, a streak that ended in 2004 at nationally-ranked Pittsburgh. Princeton also won five consecutive Ivy League titles during that time period (2000-04). Her coaching peers took notice of her achievements in the sport and distinguished her with a number of awards. She was awarded the USA Aquatics Sports Most Outstanding Woman for 2015 and was honored with the prestigious College Swim Coaches Association "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2011 and in 2017, the "National Collegiate + Scholastic Trophy", the highest award given by the organization. Teeter earned the American Swimming Coaches Award of Excellence multiple years, including five straight years from 2006 through 2010. In 1988 she received the Master Coach Award from the College Swimming Coaches Association for her contributions to collegiate swimming.
Teeter has mentored swimmers who went on to become Olympians, NCAA qualifiers, All-Americas, senior national/Olympic trial qualifiers, World University Games team members and Ivy League champions. Teeter is a member of two Olympic Teams, spending the summer of 2000 serving on the USA Swimming staff in Sydney as an Assistant Manager and the summer of 1996 as the Head Manager of the USA Olympic Swimming Team in Atlanta. In all, she has been on the staff of nine international swim teams. From 2001-2008 she served as a special consultant to Speedo USA for all Olympic and World Championships.
As for Lapham, she was named as Aquatics Director at Salem College on September 1, 2020. With this new role, she has also earned the distinction of being a licensed Chemical Pool Operator, a qualified Water Safety Instructor, Water Safety Instructor Teacher as well as a Lifeguard Instructor and Lifeguard Instructor Teacher.
Lapham is a member of American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA), National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA), College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and USA Swimming. She joined the Salem College staff in 2019-20 when she accepted an assistant coaching role under Tim Hillen. Lapham took a key role in developing and recruiting for the Salem swim program, which captured 39 Top-3 finishes over the course of the season.
A former coach at Swim Atlanta, recognized traditionally as a USA Swimming Top-5 team, Lapham coached: Masters, Senior AM, Senior I-3 and Advanced Age Group. Under the guidance of USA Swimming Elite Level coach Landon Harris, she had the honor of working with some of USA Swimming's most elite coaches & swimmers as an assistant with the U.S. National Team.
For more information on Salem swimming check out www.salemspirits.com.