Lori Eaton has been the head coach of Lindenwood synchronized swimming team since its first season began in the fall of 2008, and she has developed it into one of the premier programs in the country.
 
Under Eaton’s leadership, the Lady Lions capped off the 2015-16 season by sweeping the U.S. National Championships, winning six of eight possible medals, with Eaton repeating as Coach of the Year at the event after receiving the same honor the year before.  Along the way, she helped senior Mary Killman become the most decorated soloist in USA Synchro history.  Her contemporary, upbeat, and intricate choreography routinely catches the judges’ eyes and brings audiences to their feet.
 
The highly successful 2015 Lindenwood team earned the program’s first overall U.S. National Championship title and gold medals in four of five events at the U.S. Collegiate Championships.  Along the way, Lady Lion athletes earned repeat national and collegiate titles in solo, duet, and trio.  Just a few months later, Eaton placed four athletes on teams headed to the 2015 Pan American Games and five in competition at the World Championships – more than all other U.S. collegiate programs combined.
 
The spring 2015 campaign came on the heels of a record-setting 2014 effort that saw the Lindenwood A squad go undefeated for the entire season, earning the first overall collegiate title in the program’s history.  Lindenwood became the first program other than Ohio State or Stanford to win the collegiate championship since 1980, and the first non-Division I program ever to earn the crown.  In the process, Eaton was named the U.S. Collegiate Coach of the Year.  A few weeks later, Lindenwood entered four events, and won all four events at U.S. Nationals, making Eaton the unanimous selection as the USA Synchro National Coach of the Year in 2014.
 
In 2013, Lindenwood earned a then-record five medals at the U.S. Collegiate Championships, won every event it entered at the U.S. National Championships, and sent three athletes to the 2013 FINA World Championships.
 
Eaton came to Lindenwood as a nine-year member of the U.S. National Team coaching staff and a well-respected consultant on the elite international level. Eaton was named in November, 2011 as the Assistant Coach for the U.S. Olympic Team.  Since landing at Lindenwood, Eaton has coached a dozen athletes to placements at the World Championships, Pan-American, and CCCAN games, and one to the Olympic Games.
 
In 2011, Eaton was a consultant to the U.S. Senior National Team as it prepared for the FINA World Championships, and has previously served as head coach for the United States 13-15 National Team and the U.S. Junior National Team. Throughout her career, Eaton has coached a total of five U.S. Olympians, eight U.S. National Team athletes, and 20 World Championships qualifiers, and she placed 33 athletes into the U.S. National Team Trials. In 2004, Eaton was named the U.S. Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year for Synchronized Swimming and remains the only collegiate synchro coach ever to be awarded this honor.
 
Eaton also has international experience outside the U.S., having coached the Aruba National Team at the 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015 World Championships.  She helped prepare them for the 2011 and 2015 Pan-American Games, and contributed to the choreography of the Egyptian Olympic Team for the 2012 Games.
 
As an athlete, Eaton was a member of the Ohio State team which won the 1997 Collegiate National Championship. She was a two-time member of the U.S. Junior National Team and qualified for the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival. Eaton won the 2000 U.S. Masters solo and duet titles in her age division before retiring from competitive synchro.