2018-19 TRAQ Family of Coaches
Laura LeDuc founded TRAQ and Raptor to create positive and inclusive aquatics experiences for our diverse Mid-Michigan families.
With local roots, Coach Laura grew up in the Okemos Seahawks program and was a 4-year varsity letter winner in swimming at OHS, earning top-3 conference honors and qualifying for states all four years. She also competed in varsity track and club soccer.
Coach Laura took her three-sport talents to NCAA Division III powerhouse Emory University (Ga.), becoming the school’s first three-sport female athlete. Competing in swimming (IM/dist. free), soccer (defender/mid), and track and field (dist./mid dist./javelin), she earned eight varsity letters over three years, multiple all-conference honors, and was awarded Emory’s Bridges Trophy as the best all-around female athlete her senior year. As a student, she competed all over the South in triathlons and swim/run biathlons.
Laura made her swim coaching debut at age 19 and has amassed over thirty years of coaching experience at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels, including stints at NCAA Division I and III institutions Pepperdine University (Calif.), St. Francis College (N.Y.), Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.), and Agnes Scott College (Ga.).
Her collegiate coaching experience extends beyond the pool. As Agnes Scott Head Soccer Coach, Laura took her team from the bottom 10% in NCAA Division III in 1998 to being competitive with teams ranked in the nation’s top twenty by 2001 and secured the team’s first end-of-season NCAA Division III individual and team rankings. In 2002, she was recognized as the Great South Athletic Conference women's soccer Coach of the Year. Her teams also earned NSCAA team academic awards (team GPA of 3.0 or higher) each year. In addition to coaching the soccer team, Coach Laura was the Scotties’ Assistant Athletic Director, NCAA Compliance Coordinator, head basketball coach (1998–2001), and assistant swim coach (2001–03). As a new mom, Coach Laura returned to Emory as assistant soccer coach from 2003-2005. She also helped launched professional women’s soccer in the United States -- first as general manager of the Atlanta Classics semi-pro women’s soccer team and as part of the WUSA’s Atlanta Beat.
LeDuc rejoined the Agnes Scott coaching staff as Head Swim Coach from 2007-2009, garnering Coach of the Year honors at the Atlantic States Swim Championships and bringing the Scotties their first NCAA All-American in swimming, only the college’s second All-American in any sport.
Coach Laura holds a B.A. in Music (vocal performance) from Emory and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is a licensed attorney in Georgia and serves as Senior Director of Accreditation & Institutional Effectiveness at Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
She holds a USSF National C soccer coaching license, USSF/NSCAA Goalkeeper Coach Certification and ASCA Level 3 swim coach credential. She is
She is a 2023 recipient of the City of East Lansing Community Crystal Award and a proud graduate of the WeCoach Academy (2005) and Academy 2.0 (2023).
For fun, Coach Laura sings alto with the Riverbend Music Collective, plays pickup soccer every Sunday, is a crazed Manchester City fan and obsessed Fantasy Premier League manager. She lives in East Lansing with her son Conrad (ELHS Class of 2021) and daughter Olin (ELHS Class of 2026), both of whom grew up in the Trojan and Raptor programs.
Brian Fickies has been involved with the sport of water polo since 1986. As a player he was a high school All-American, a member of the US National Youth Developmental Team and played collegiate water polo. As a coach he has had the privilege in developing several high school and collegiate All-conference and national All-Americans. Coach Fickies believes the key to developing robust water polo players is establishing a strong foundation in basic skills, balanced with dynamic drills that mirror game like situations.
Water Polo Coaching Experience: Head Coach Michigan State University Men's Team (1997-2007), Head Coach Okemos Girls Team (1996-2007), Head Coach Okemos Boys Team (1996-1997), Head Coach of Former Okemos/Capital Area Water Polo Club (1996-2007), Head Coach US Water polo Midwest Zone Men's 18 and Over team (2005), Volunteer Assistant Coach US National Youth Developmental Team (1998).
Water Polo Coaching Honors: Big Ten Champions (2000, 2004, 2005, 2006), Collegiate Water Polo Club National Champions (2000, 2006), Big Ten Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006), National Coach of the year (2000, 2006), Michigan High Water Polo Association Coach of the year (1996)