Stephanie Dawson has come full-circle.

The 1998 Knoch High School graduate, one of the first swimmers in the school's history, is now the head coach of a at the school.

"I never dreamed this would happen," Dawson said. "It's a phenomenal experience for me."

When Dawson swam at Knoch, under the guidance of coach John Chamberlain, there were only six classmates swimming with her. They swam at intermission at other high school meets.

Dawson wound up swimming for four years at Westminster College, graduating in 2002. She received her master's in secondary school counseling from Slippery Rock University last year.

Also a teacher in the Penn Hills School District last year, Dawson coached the high school swim teams there. Penn Hills' boys team finished 9-7, winning eight consecutive meets at one point, and producing a WPIAL champion in the 100-yard backstroke.

When Dawson left Penn Hills to accept a guidance counselor position at Slippery Rock High School this fall, she figured her coaching days were over.

"It was a hard choice, giving up my team," she said. "I loved the attitude of the kids and it was a Quad-A program.

"But counseling is what I wanted to get into, and Slippery Rock was an opportunity close to home. They have a small swimming team here with the coaches already in place, so, coaching-wise, I thought that was it for a while."

In the meantime, Knoch coach Tim O'Toole resigned at the end of last season and the Knights were unable to find a replacement.

"We advertised the opening on the WPIAL website, in newspapers — all over the place," Knoch athletic director Josh Shoop said. "We didn't receive one inquiry.

"To be honest, it's not a glamorous position. We have no pool, so even our home meets are on the road (at Butler), and it doesn't pay a whole lot. You need someone dedicated to the sport who really enjoys doing it, and that's hard to find."

O'Toole wound up moving on to Blackhawk High School and is coaching there. Once Shoop received word Dawson had left Penn Hills for Slippery Rock, he contacted her about the position.

"That was over the summer," he said. "But she didn't feel like she had enough time to dedicate to it."

Knoch's swim team now has 28 members. Two parents, Joe Cunningham and Paul Pivaronas, agreed to oversee the program until a new coach could be found.

Dawson's fiancé, Scott Karwoski, is Knoch's freshman girls basketball coach. Once some of the swimmers heard that Dawson might be interested in coaching the team, they frequented Karwoski's room and asked him to plead with her to take the job on their behalf.

"That may have been what changed her mind," Shoop admitted.

So did Dawson.

"Scott sent me an email and told me the kids wanted me to coach," she said. "Yeah, that meant a lot.

"I remembered when I swam there. There were so few of us, yet we had great leadership in coaching. It hurt me to think of those 28 kids being so dedicated to the sport and going into the season without a coach."

So on Nov. 14, the first official day of practice, Dawson became Knoch's swimming coach.

"We're happy to have her and we're lucky to have her," Shoop said.

Under Dawson's guidance, Knoch already has qualified two individuals and three relay units for the WPIAL meet.

Dawson is back in the game and thrilled to be there.

"These kids have to take a bus just to go to practice," she said. "But their attitude is so positive. It's a fun team having fun at what they do.

"When I was swimming at Knoch, we never felt a part of anything. It was strictly an individual sport. Now we have team captains, team stretches, team cheers … It's fantastic.

"I love this sport so much. If I wasn't back in coaching, I'd probably be back competing. I still get in the water from time to time," Dawson added.

Dawson can see herself getting into masters swim meets in years ahead.

For now, she's happy having a whistle around her neck.

"I'm coaching at my alma mater, coaching a program I was part of the beginning of," Dawson said. "In a way, I guess this was meant to be."