When Mark and Lanette Imig come home from work and talk about their days, their main topic usually is about swimming.

That makes sense. The Imigs are longtime coaches with the Clayton Shaw Park Tiderider swimming program. Now, they are taking on additional work at the Sunset Country Club in Sunset Hills.

The Fenton residents will assume responsibility for the Stringray swimming program and aquatic center management. Sunset Country Club opened the center in 2011 as part of a $3.4 million capitol improvement program.

The Imigs will replace Jack Young, who left to become the manager of a new municipal swimming center in Katy, Texas.

"This is very exciting for both of us," Mark said. "It's just up the street from us. Sunset is a historic place."

Sunset Country Club, 9565 S. Geyer Road, was established in 1910 by Adolphus Busch and August A. Busch Sr. It is one of the most venerable country clubs in the St. Louis area.

The couple acknowledge their novelty as husband and wife coaches. However, Sunset is the first place they will work together. With the Tideriders, they often are on different schedules and coach different teams. Mark leads the swimmers, ages 9 to 18, while Lannette is in charge of ages 7 to 12.

At Sunset Country Club, they will be codirectors, Lanette said.

"This is kind of new to us, but we'll figure out the logistics," she said. Sunset competes in the Country Club League with teams from Algonquin, Bellerive, Forest Hills, Glen Echo, Greenbriar Hills, Norwood Hills, Old Warson, Westborough and St. Louis country clubs. In 2010, the Stringrays finished 6-2 in dual-meet action, finishing fourth in the league.

Swimming led the couple into marriage. They met about 13 years ago when coaching for the CSP Tideriders. Their relationship started off slowly as a friendship that became more serious.

"Three years after we started to date, we got married," she said. The Imigs have been married for nine years.

They bring a lot of experience to their work. Lanette has coached for 27 years while Mark has 23 years with the whistle.

Both were swimmers in their youths, but did not really swim competitively for their high schools. Mark went to CBC while Lanette attended Eureka High School.

They both have bachelor's degrees in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She began coaching with the YMCA. Mark was working at Cedarmills Bath and Tennis Club in Chesterfield when the management asked if he would take over the swimming program.

"I thought 'why not' and said yes," he said. "I've been coaching ever since."

The new Sunset coaches are planning pre-season workouts at Lindbergh High School. The pool will open on Memorial Day, but they want the team to be prepared.

"It's a great job," Mark said. "You still get a glow when you see a kid swim the length of the pool for the first time. It's one of the best parts of being a coach."