50 Years, 50 Titans: Lori Delaney

Our night spotlight features a Titan who was a prominent KenTon swimmer throughout her youth and has taken her passion and what she learned growing up in the sport to Nevada where she is a current college professor: Lori Delaney (now Johnson)

Lori joined the Titans team back in 1987, right around the time the Town of Tonawanda Swim Club merged with Western Empire State Titans and we officially became known at the Titans. She swam for Kenmore East from 1992 to 1998 and was Varsity all 6 years beginning when she was in 7th grade. She was on the 1996 Niagara Frontier League Championship team with several other Titans (including her sister Lindsay Delaney). She was co-captain of the KE Varsity Swim Team with fellow Titan Katie English in 1997. She attended Notre Dame college where she met her husband and moved back to his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006.

She is currently a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has a 9 year old boy and a 7 year old girl that are both All-Star swimmers. She enjoys watching them in the sport and helping out with timing and staging at their meets.

Fun Facts about Lori:

• She turned down a few Division 3 swimming scholarships to accept an academic scholarship to her dream college – Notre Dame
• Her two children currently swim for the Sandpipers of Nevada (home of Olympic medalist Cody Miller!)

Quick Q&A with Lori:

Q: When did you become a member of the Titan family?

A: I was a member of Titans from 1987-1998. I still appreciate the insights I learned from Coach Matt Gianiodis’s “encouraging” pep talks and the wonderful life-long friends I made on the team.

Q: What is your favorite memory about being a Titan?

A: We had a meet at the Flickinger Pool right after it opened in 1993. Even before the World University Games were hosted there. I won the first heat of the girls’ 13-14 200 free. It was the first time the event was swum in that pool – so I (very briefly) held the pool record!

Q: What is your least favorite stroke or event?

A: Funny enough, I always dreaded the 200 Free. As a distance freestyler, I always wanted to take the 200 as a sprint, and that never ended well!

Part of the Titan mission statement is our focus on providing “life lessons both in and out of the pool.” Lori is a great example of someone who has taken those in pool lessons to excel and enhance her everyday life. Let us know in the comments if you swam with Lori on that 1996 NFL Championship team!