Excel Aquatics
Excel Coaches
Head Coach|
Mark Walker headcoach@excelaquatics.org Bio |
Office: 615-429-8553 ISC Excel Office: 615-370-3471 x 23 Fax: 615-730-5426 |
Team Coaches
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Gretchen Bates grettle@gmail.com Bio |
Melissa Baird mbaird1@gmail.com Bio |
Mike Ballard Labitty@aol.com Bio |
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John Barnes coachjohn@excelaquatics.org Bio |
Peter Browne pbrowne6@gmail.com Bio |
Gina Carbone jgcarbone@comcast.net Bio |
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Amy Caulkins amycaulkins@juno.com Bio |
Kate Chronic chronicks@aol.com Bio |
Amanda Crawford amanda@denovodahl.com Bio |
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Lisa Guthrey Hardwick lisamariehardwick@gmail.com Bio |
Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan coachandreea@excelaquatics.org Bio |
Dennis McEwan rhsswimcoach@comcast.net Bio |
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Steven Murry sjmurry@yahoo.com Bio |
Sarah Sargent sarahandroo@hotmail.com Bio |
Chris Pickerell CPP2P@mtsu.edu |
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Dawn VanRyckeghem coachdawn@excelaquatics.org Bio |
Ashley Whitney coachashley@excelaquatics.org Bio |
Sheree Zobl sbzobl@comcast.net Bio |
Coach Bios
Coach Mark Walker
headcoach@excelaquatics.org
Coach Mark Walker is in his twenty-seventh year as Head Coach and CEO of Excel Aquatics, the team he founded in 1983. Beginning as Stones River Aquatic Racers (STAR), Coach Walker’s team has grown from 18 members to the largest team in Southeastern Swimming with over 400 members. Under his direction, Excel Aquatics has fostered swimming at every level. Besides the age group team, Coach Walker founded the Excel Swim School which teaches young and old how to swim. In addition, Excel Aquatics boasts impressive adult competitive programs. The Excel masters team fosters healthy fitness swimming as well as training for elite adult competitors. The Excel adult Triathlete program aids novice to iron man Tris in aquatic training. The Excel Home School program provides aquatic learning for local home-schooled students.Coach Walker has led Excel Aquatics athletes to Olympic Team Selection Trials in 2000, 2004,and 2008. Under Coach Walker’s direction, Excel has been successful at every level of competition, from the local level to the national championships. He is a ASCA Level 5, Age Group certified swimming coach.
Coach Walker is a leader in the dry side of competitive swimming and has a vast amount of professional experience. He is currently serving as Technical Chairman Southeastern Swimming. He has served on the Southeastern Board of Directors since 1987, having served three terms as General Chairman and three terms as President. He has also served as Administrative Vice-Chairman, Technical Chairman, and Chairman of Laws and Legislation. Coach Walker has served as an annual delegate to the USA Swimming Aquatics Convention since the 1987 and has served on USA Swimming’s Counselor’s Committee. Coach Walker is a member of the American Swim Coaches Association, Tennessee Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association and Middle Tennessee High School Swimming Association.
Coach Mark Walker received a Bachelor of Arts in Business from the University of Tennessee in 1981 and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the Nashville School of Law in 1985. He is married to Laura Williams, and they are the parents of four children.
Williamson County Xtreme/Gold Groups
Coach Kate Chronic
Chronicks@aol.com
Coach Kate Chronic returned to Excel Aquatics in 2007 after a ten year absence. She is a full time Assistant Coach assisting Coach Walker in training Gold I and Xtreme swimmers at the Williamson County Indoor Sports Complex and assisting in team management.Coach Chronic was most recently the Head Swim Coach for CATS Aquatic Team in Libertyville, Illinois just outside of Chicago since April 2002. She was also the Head Swim Coach, Men’s Varsity Team at Libertyville High School, Libertyville, Illinois. While at CATS, Kate was responsible for all aspects of competitive swimming team, daily development and implementation of workouts, stroke development, weight training, dryland exercises for approximately 250 athletes age 5 to post collegiate and Masters level.
Coach Kate Chronic’s has served many roles with USA Swimming, Illinois Swimming, and Southeastern Swimming. She currently serves as the USA Swimming Central Zone Championship Meet Coordinator, as a USA Swimming National Board of Review Member, and member of the USA Swimming Sports Medicine Network. She has also served on the USA Swimming Club Development Committee, USA Swimming Age Group Planning Committee, and USA Swimming Central Zone Board of Directors. She has served on the Illinois Swimming Board of Directors as Illinois Swimming Safety Coordinator, Illinois Swimming Rules & Regulations Chairperson, Illinois Swimming Age Group Vice-Chairperson, and Illinois Swimming Website Coordinator. She has served on the Southeastern Swimming Board of Directors as Southeastern Swimming Adaptive Aquatics Chairperson and Southeastern Swimming Safety Chairperson.
Coach Chronic received her BA in Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee in 1987. She was a member of the Lady Vols swim team from 1982-1984 where she was an All-American. She also has completed Master of Arts courses in Clinical Psychology with emphasis in assessment, psychological testing, motivation, and cognitive-behavior therapy at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Williamson County Gold Group
Coach Dennis McEwan
rhsswimcoach@comcast.net
Coach Dennis McEwan has over twenty years of swimming experience as an age group, high school, college and masters swimmer. He has ten years of coaching swimming, two years assisting a local YMCA team in San Dimas, California, five years with Ravenwood High School, and one year as Head Coach for Centennial High School. Coach Dennis has been the Head Coach for the Excel Master's program for three years and is entering his second year as the Excel Gold II coach.Coach Dennis McEwan has 14 years of coaching children 5-16 years of age in soccer and baseball. Dennis is a soccer referee for the YMCA and local area middle schools and high schools. He also worked with area Boy Scout troops as a merit badge counselor.
Coach Dennis has three Bachelor of Science degrees from Ferris State College in Biochemistry, Industrial Chemistry Technology, and Applied Biology. He has 26 years experience as an R & D chemist. He has 15 patents to his credit for dental applications, enzyme applications, and us of enzymes in cleaning compounds.
Coach Dennis has been married to his wife for 28 years old and has two children, ages 18 and 21.
Coach Dennis coaches the Gold II and Masters swimmers in Brentwood.
Williamson County Silver I and Silver II Group
Coach Amy Caulkins
amycaulkins@juno.com
Coach Amy Caulkins returns to Excel Aquatics as the Head Age Group Coach with responsibility of overseeing the team's 12 and under program. Amy has successfully coached age group swimmers for 32 years in several states and Australia. For the past 16 years Amy has coached in the Nashville Swim League, recently leading 7 Hills to 7 City Meet Championships.Amy holds numerous swimming accolades including a World Record in the 400 free Relay, NCAA team and individual championships while at the University of Florida, twenty-two collegiate All-American swimming honors, and an Olympic appearance as a member of the United States Water Polo Team. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Tennessee State University College of Education Wall of Fame in 2003. Amy was an Inductee in the State of Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995.
Amy has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida, a Master of Arts Degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Doctoral Degree in Education from Tennessee State University. She is the Physical Education teacher at Julia Green Elementary in Nashville, Tennessee where she was selected Teacher of the Year in 1998.
Coach Amy will have direct coaching responsibilities for the Silver I and Silver II groups in Brentwood.
Amanda Crawford
amanda@denovodahl.com
Coach Amanda began her swimming career as an 8 and under swimmer with Excel Aquatics. While competing with Excel, Coach Amanda was a Southeastern Swimming Champion, Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree, and a nationally ranked age group swimmer. She currently holds the Excel Aquatics' 10 and under girls 50 and 100 meter butterfly records. Amanda has worked in recent years with swimmers refining their strokes. She joins the Excel Aquatics' coaching staff as a Silver II coach for the 2009-2010 season. She will also assist Coach Amy Caulkins with the Silver I group.Coach Amanda has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Middle Tennessee State University. She is plans to begin graduate school for a Masters in Education.
Coach Gretchen Bates
grettle@gmail.com
Coach Gretchen Bates started her coaching career as an Assistant Coach for the New York City YWCA Masters in 1999. IN 2004 she returned home to Summertown, Tennessee and became the Head Coach of the Maury County YMCA age group team and Head Coach for the Columbia Triathlon Club. She joined Excel Aquatics coaching staff in 2007 as a Masters Coach. Gretchen has been an assistant coach to Amy Caulkins for the Silver I group since the Spring of 2009.With the guidance of Coach Amy Caulkins, Coach Gretchen will be heading up the Silver II group for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. She will continue to assist Coach Amy with the Silver I group.
Coach Gretchen has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina. She is currently working towards her ASCA Level 3 certification.
Williamson County - Silver III Group
Melissa Baird
mbaird1@gmail.com
Melissa began competitive swimming at age 8. She swam for her summer league team before joining Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Melissa swam 4 years for Brookwood High School. She started teaching swimming lessons at age 15 and started her coaching career at age 17. In 2004 and 2005 she was an assistant coach for the Wildwood Swim team in Brentwood and became the head coach in 2006. She began coaching with Excel Aquatics in 2005.Melissa graduated from Covenant College in 2002 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She interned at Camp Westminster in Georgia after college and then moved to Nashville in the fall of 2003. . She currently teaches 5th grade at Winstead Elementary and is coaching the Silver III group in Brentwood.
Coach Melissa coaches the Silver III group in Brentwood.
Williamson County - Bronze I & II Groups
Coach Peter Browne
pbrowne6@gmail.com
Coach Browne grew up swimming in Birmingham, Alabama and at one time held the Alabama YMCA State Record in the 15-18 100 yard freestyle. He swam for the University of Southern Mississippi. Coach Peter Browne coached summer league with the Birmingham Country Club, and he was the Head Coach for the Shades Valley YMCA in Birmingham, Alabama. While attending Auburn University, he was the Head Coach for the Columbus Aquatic Club in Columbus, Georgia, and later the age group coach for Auburn Aquatics.
Coach Browne earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration form Auburn University in 1992 and is currently the sales manager for FMI Medical Instruments. Peter and his wife, Christie, are the parents of four Excel swimmers, Hailey, Ethan, Phoebe, and Jake.
Coach Peter Browne will coach the Bronze I and II swimmers in Brentwood.
Coach Gina Carbone
jgcarbone@comcast.net
Coach Gina joined the Excel Aquatics' staff in 2002. She is the current Director of the Excel Swim School at the Williamson County Indoor Sports Complex in Brentwood. Gina's husband and sons also swim competitively for Excel Aquatics. Gina offers a gentle teaching approach that focuses on praise and encouragement. Her goal is to have a happy, safe, and successful swimming experience. When not teaching and coaching, Gina enjoys swimming and taking care of her husband Jim, and their three sons, Christian, Joey, and Anthony.
Coach Gina will coach the Bronze I and II swimmers in Brentwood.
Sumner County Coaches
John Barnes
coachjohn@excelaquatics.org
John Barnes grew up swimming in Fort Myers, FL for both Fort Myers Swim Association and Cypress Lake High School. After high school, John hung up his goggles and enrolled at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, where he graduated with a BA. From there he attended the University of Alabama where he obtained his Masters degree. John then served in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Intelligence Officer. John and his wife, Linda, now reside in the Lebanon area of Wilson County raising their two sons, Austin and Andrew. In April 2004 Coach Barnes joined Excel's Sumner County coaching staff as an assistant coach. In August 2004 he was named as the Site Coordinator for Excel’s Sumner County training site, where he currently works with the Gold/Extreme training squad. In May of 2008, John was named the Head Coach at Pope John Paul II High School. John attained ASCA Level 3 status in August 2008.
Andreea Mitrofan
coachandreea@excelaquatics.org
Andreea comes from a long line of swimmers. Both her parents were highly successful, as well as her sister. Her father took part in the 1960 Olympic Games, while her mom was a national champion in the backstroke events. Her sister is a national gold medal holder in the Butterfly and IM events. Andreea first came into contact with a swimming pool at the age of 3 months where she seemed to excel since that time. Since her first introduction to a swimming pool, she began a long journey growing up on the pool deck, learning strokes and learning the technique the technique required to become an excellent swimmer. Never forgetting the two-a-day practice schedule, summer stages at the sea, winter stages on the mountains, she remembers how much fun it was to travel hours on a bus or train to help her team earn many medals at competitions. As a result of her hard work and dedication, "one of the best results as a swimmer was achieving the gold medals in the 400meter IM and 800meter Freestyle.Andreea later went to college to study Economics. After spending time with a job related to her degree, she found herself not happy with her job. She realized she couldn't stay away from swimming and began to study swimming and coaching. She has since written a thesis on The Training of Female Athletes in the 800 Freestyle, which is published in Romania, her home country.
Andreea's husband, Murat, his Masters education brought him to the US, which subsequently brought Andreea. Moving to the Nashville area she found Excel Aquatics & began coaching the Gallatin swimmers in the fall of 2004. When asked why she coaches, she says, " I believe my job has the best feedback among all other jobs - the smile of my pupils. It's one of the best feelings to see their smile when I tell them that they are swimming much better than they used to."
Mike Ballard
Labbity@aol.com
Mike Ballard has been a part of USA Swimming as a head coach, assistant coach, summer league coach, and swim school instructor. He is approaching his 20th year season. He is ASCA certified Level 3. He resides in Bowling Green, Kentucky with his wife, Annette, and daughter, Leigh. Mike coaches in Gallatin and is dedicated to the EXCEL mission. His motto is "learn, have fun, succeed." Coach Mike will bring his teaching talents to the Bronze and Silver II groups in Gallatin.
Sheree Zobl
sbzobl@comcast.net
Shereé Zobl joined the Excel coaching staff in Gallatin in 2007 after a successful 5 year stint as Sumner Academy’s 7th and 8th grade Girl’s Basketball Coach. Coach Shereé has been involved with Excel Aquatics as a Parent Representative on Excel’s Board of Directors, as well as serving as a USA Swimming Official. Coach Shereé will have primary responsibility of working with Coach Mike and the Silver II and Bronze groups, along with substituting as coach with the other groups as needed.Sheree’ began her swimming career at the age of 5 for summer league where her mother started the Bluegrass Marlins swim program for Bluegrass Country Club. She continued swimming throughout her school years and a couple of years in college.
Sheree’ lives in Hendersonville, TN with her husband John and two daughters Ann Marie, a freshman at Belmont University, and Brittany, a sophomore at Pope John Paul II. Sheree’ is currently the school librarian at Sumner Academy, as well as the P.E. coach for the 7th and 8th grades. She has a B.S. in Human Services from the University of Phoenix.
Murfreesboro
Chris Pickerell
CPP2P@mtsu.edu
Coach Chris Pickerell joins the Excel coaching staff arriving from James Madison University and Valley Area Swimming Team where he provided techniqued based swim practices for swimmers ages 12-14 years of age.
Chris is an accomplished swimmer and triathlete. Since 2003, Chris has earned 2 All American Off Road Triathlete awards, 4 Xterra Triathlon Regional Championship titles, 16 overall triathlon victories, and 2 cyclocross national tiles. In 2007, Coach Chris was the USA Xterra Triathlon National Champion.
After 3 years at Less McRae College in North Carolina, Coach Chris is now living in Murfreesboro and is a Candidate for Aerospace at MTSU. He is majoring iiin Pro Pilot and Business Communication.
Steven Murry
sjmurry@yahoo.com
Steven Murry joins the Excel coaching staff after concluding a very successful swimming career ending in his participation in the 2008 USA Olympic Trials. Steven began his swimming career as a 10 and under with Williamson County Aquatic team. As a 12 year old her earned a berth on the SES Zone All Star Team. While representing Excel Aquatics, he earned numerous national qualifying standards and broke numerous team records. Upon his high school graduation, Steven continued his swimming career at Indiana University where he was a 3 time NCAA Championship qualifier and picked up an All-America certificate at the NCAA Championships,earning Honorable Mention for his 13th place finish in the 400 IM. He was also the Indiana University record holder in that event. Steven was a consistent finalist at the Big Ten Championships in multiple events during his tenure at Indiana.Coach Steven was an assistant coach with the Longview Sea Dragons of the WCSL, helping leading his team to its first championship title in 2008. Steven joined the Excel Aquatics in 2008 and assumes coaching responsibilities of the Silver I and Gold groups in Murfreesboro.
Sarah Sargent
sarahandroo@hotmail.com
Sarah Sargent joins the Excel Aquatics' coaching staff after a phenomenal swimming career. During her 12 years as a swimmer with Excel Aquatics, Sarah achieved an Olympic Trial qualifying time in the 50 freestyle. She was a two time Junior National Champion and a National Championship finalist in the 50 freestyle. She is the current Southeastern Swimming record holder in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles and 50 meter freestyle for 13-14 year old girls and was a member of the 15-16 girls 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay that currently holds the Southeastern Swimming record for those events. Sarah is an 8 time National High School All American, and a 5 time Tennessee High School Champion.
After two years at the University of Tennessee, Sarah is now living in Murfreesboro and attending Middle Tennessee State University.
Triathletes
Ashley Whitney
coachashley@excelaquatics.org
Ashley Whitney was born and raised in Nashville, TN. She grew up swimming for Excel South which later merged with NAC. For high school, she attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville, FL. It was there she qualified for the United States Olympic team and went on to win a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay. After the Olympics she continued to represent the United States National team until 1999 when she attended the University of Georgia. At the University of Georgia she was part of the first swim team to win a nation championship for the school. After her first year at Georgia, she transferred to the University of California Berkeley to finish her schooling and swimming career. Ashley attributes her success to her Mom’s unconditional love and support; coaches Gregg Troy (University of Florida) and Ray Mitchell ( Terrapins Swimming)- although they were not always her favorite coaches (they pushed her to the limits mentally and physically in practice when she sometimes didn’t want to) they were, by far, the most influential.Ashley has coached since being back in Nashville in 2003. She coaches summer league, year round (Silver II), masters swimming, and triathletes. In 2008 Ashley began competing at a national level again in Open Water swimming. She is currently a member of the USA Swimming Open Water National Team.
Home School
Coach Dawn VanRykeghem
coachdawn@excelaquatics.org
Coach Dawn has been passionately involved in the sports and fitness industry for the past 2 decades. She began her swimming career in 2000 when her eldest 3 children started swimming lessons and joined a summer league team. In 2002, she started her coaching career at the Maryland Farms YMCA as an assistant coach. In 2004 ,as Head Coach of the MFY she helped lead the team to a division and county championship. In 2005, she spearheaded the formation of the Brentwood Barracudas summer team, which she has managed and help coached to 4 consecutive championship titles for both dual and county meets. In the same year, she established a High School Home School Swim Team.Coach Dawn joined Excel Aquatics as lead coach of the Bronze age group and head of the Excel Aquatics home school training group in 2006. In that year her 8 and under girls group won the SES District Championship. She took on the responsibilities of coaching Silver II swimmers in Brentwood in the fall of 2008. In 2009 she will lead the Home School swimmers.
Coach Dawn received her bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice from Culver Stockton College in Missouri. She and her husband Pat are the proud parents of six children.