Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Donkersgoed

Van grew up in Eden Prairie, MN. He attended high school at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. He trained and competed with Aquajets for 8 years where he was a National Team member and Olympic Trials qualifier. Van studied Social Policy and Legal Studies at Northwestern, where he was a student-athlete. Van primarily swam 100 and 200 breast and 400 IM. After graduating from Northwestern in 2016, Van moved to Wisconsin and worked for Kiefer Aquatics in sales. In 2017, Van was accepted into Marquette Law School. Throughout his time in high school, undergrad, and law school, Van volunteered for USA Swimming in governance and organized the USA Swimming Leadership Conference for athlete reps. In 2014, Van began volunteering for UANA; Union Americana de Natación. He is currently on the team that is organizing and planning the Pan American Games of 2023 in Santiago, Chile. This spring, Van graduated from Marquette Law School on a Friday and began his job at DeWitt LLP in Brookfield, WI the following Monday. Van sometimes coaches for EBSC and is in his 2nd year as head coach of the Brookfield Barracudas Swim/Dive team.

Carissa grew up in Brookfield, WI. She attended Brookfield Central High School. Carissa swam for Elmbrook Swim Club for 13 years and spent her summers lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons, and managing pools in the Brookfield area. Carissa studied Spanish Literature and Education at UW-La Crosse. She also swam for UWL for one season before studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain for a semester. After graduating from UWL, Carissa attended UW-Milwaukee to attain her teaching license in birth-3rd grade with a minor in English as a Second Language. Since graduating from UWM, Carissa has taught 3K, 5K, and 1st grade in the Milwaukee area in private and public schools. This year, due to COVID, Carissa is taking a year off from teaching and is nannying for 2 wonderful kids through next summer. Carissa also has coached for Elmbrook Swim Club for 6 years and is in her 2nd year as head coach of the Brookfield Central girls swim/dive team.

Van & Carissa met coaching on the pool deck for Elmbrook Swim Club. Van remembers from the beginning that “Carissa didn’t like him very much” and Carissa remembers thinking “who is this guy/outsider” since everyone on the staff had swam in the area or on the Elmbrook Swim Club. Van and Carissa spent a lot of time on deck together as coworkers and eventually off deck as friends. They swam masters with EBSC and MacDowell Masters and attended OTF together. In the spring of 2018, while Van was on a law school trip in Israel, he asked Carissa to have dinner with him upon his return. Carissa agreed and the rest is history! Van and Carissa enjoy being active together; swimming, running, lifting, cycling, and most recently golfing at the Wisconsin Club. Last fall, they adopted a cat, Big Lou, (all 18lbs of him) from the WI Humane Society, after Carissa went there on a field trip with her first graders. Van and Carissa live with Big Lou in Wauwatosa, WI. Our Address: 11221 Synergy Dr. Apt 263 Wauwatosa, WI 53222

Van and Carissa picked out the ring together because Carissa had no idea what she wanted. It was important to the both of them that there was a traditional proposal. Thursday night, a week before the wedding, Van secured the ring to Big Lou's collar and Lou hissed at Van and ran away. Van plopped Big Lou on the bed, got down on one knee, and asked Carissa to marry him. Surprise! She said yes!

Van and Carissa were married at the green space at their apartment complex. Van’s good friend from law school, Josh Greenberg, was the officiant. The wedding party consisted of Suzy Lopez, Carissa’s sister, and John Wagner, Van’s good friend from law school. At the ceremony, Van and Carissa honored Bob and Sue Donkersgoed (Van’s parents), Mary Ann Ulrich (Van’s grandma), Ann and Pete Holme (Van’s aunt and uncle), Ben Donkersgoed and Amy Edgren (Van’s brother and sister-in-law), and Chuck Donkersgoed (Van’s brother) who were unable to attend due to COVID-19. Van and Carissa exchanged their vows and rings and were pronounced husband and wife! Following the ceremony, Van, Carissa, Carissa’s family, and a few of Van and Carissa’s friends celebrated with dinner at the Wisconsin Club Country Club. To end the evening, the party people enjoyed wedding cake custard from Kopp’s!