Journal & Topics Media Group

Jeff Wimer Reacts to Season Ending Early


Stevenson girls water polo coach Jeff Wimer jokes that he’s probably been around the longest in the state coaching girls water polo.

He started coaching high school water polo in 1991 at Mundelein and just started his 27th season this year before it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We only got to play one game (win over Conant) and they (the team) were so excited,” Wimer said. “They were like this is so much fun. I saw so much potential with them and all the new freshmen and all the other girls in between, the sophomores and juniors. I know they all realize they will be back next year. Just very disheartening the seniors didn’t get an opportunity. More importantly, from communicating with them, they are all safe and so are their families. I told them there is nothing more important than that (their health).”

Even Wimer, the winningest coach in state history for girls water polo (673 wins), has never experienced anything else like this during his storied career. He can’t help but feel bad for his senior class during these unprecedented times.

Stevenson coach Jeff Wimer smiles after receiving his first place medal at state in 2019.

“My initial reaction was I feel really bad for the seniors,” Wimer said. “This group of seniors has been a part of the last three state championships. They’ve only seen and understood winning state championships. I just feel really bad for them that they don’t have the opportunity to show what they can do. My gut feeling is in the end they would have been fighting for it (state title) with the other top teams this year.”

Stevenson is riding one of the greatest runs in state history, winning four state titles in the last five years, including three straight state championships. Since 2014, they’ve ended each season with a win. The Patriots finished third in state in 2014 and 2016. The Patriots are currently riding the longest win streak in state history at 70 games.  

Since the start of the 2014 season, Stevenson girls water polo holds an astonishing 207-10 record overall. Five of those losses came in 2014, meaning since 2015 the Patriots have scored only 5 losses.

Wimer is a seven-time state champion coach, leading Mundelein to state titles in 1994, 1996 and 1997, and Stevenson to championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.  

Stevenson coach Jeff Wimer has a wide smile as he celebrates with Melanie Blake (20) and Maanasa Devabhaktuni (right) after winning state in 2017.

Stevenson is only the second three-peat champion in state history in girls water polo since the IHSA started sponsoring the sport in 2002. Fenwick won 3 in a row (2004-06) but never 4 which Stevenson was trying to accomplish this year.

While Wimer and the team are heartbroken over not getting the chance at history, they at least can go out saying they won a state championship (three for some girls). 

“How many seniors out there can say they were part of three state champion teams already,” Wimer asked the girls. “They all knew what I was saying. It is just a feeling of emptiness that they didn’t get the chance to prove themselves.”

While it wasn’t much, Stevenson got one game in this season, beating Conant 17-4 Thursday, March 12. Wimer said Conant, a state qualifier last year, was a very good team. 

“They were super happy they got to play at least that one game,” Wimer said of his team. “They got a lot of opportunities to play and they did not disappoint (in the win) at all. I was so excited about the rest of the season and what could be. It was actually on the bus ride back from Conant that we found out school would be closed starting Friday.”

It’s been an incredible ride over the last seven seasons for Wimer. He’s enjoyed building the program to be the one to beat in recent years. He challenges his team and tells them each year it’s now time to prove themselves. Wimer said they were 1/36th of the way to proving themselves this season. He said they plan on playing 36 games every year (which means a top 4 finish at state).     

While he didn’t get to coach the team much in the traditional sense this year, he is hoping the players can at least learn some life lessons from the whole ordeal.

“All of them truly have a great respect and appreciation for each other,” Wimer said. “I think what they are learning and getting out of this is that there is nothing more important than family and your health. Setting aside the sport and the fun you have, nothing is more important than family.”

Wimer, like everyone else, is spending more time with his family during the stay-at-home order.  

His son Sean Wimer, the head boys water polo coach at Stevenson, lives only two blocks from Jeff, so he gets to see his grandkids when they do trips around the block with Sean and his wife. The two grandchildren are both under 5 years old, so he’s had a blast seeing them a lot. He knows he is fortunate and feels blessed for that and to know his whole family is healthy.

Wimer, 61, is unsure what the future will bring. He hopes that people can grow from this experience and cherish the time they have with their families, because they likely won’t have all this time in the future.

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