ASCA and Fitter & Faster Announce Top-25 Age Group Coaches of the Year
The American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) and Fitter & Faster are pleased to announce the 2025 Top 25 Age-Group Coaches of the Year for small, medium and large teams.
The results were compiled using a dataset provided by USA Swimming’s data scientists of swimmers ages 10-14 with qualifying time standards from the 2024 Long Course season and 2024-25 Short Course season. Coaches of record were collected for swimmers who achieved these times to populate the 2025 Top Age Group Coach lists.
This year, there will be three winners of the Fitter & Faster ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year (one for each size category). Winners will be revealed on September 2, 2025, on the opening night of the ASCA World Clinic at the Peppermill Reno Resort. The top five finalists for each category will be announced on July 16, 2025. The finalists will be introduced and presented with awards by Fitter & Faster at the World Clinic. For more information on the 2025 ASCA World Clinic in Reno, go to www.ascaworldclinic.com.
Congratulations to the following outstanding coaches (in alphabetical order):
| Small Teams (less than 200 athletes) | |
| Coach | Team Name – LSC |
| Anna Abakumova | Clifton Boys & Girls Club -Seahawks – NJ |
| Will Barker | Champaign Cnty YMCA – IL |
| Dragos Coca | Twisters Swim Club – MR |
| Matt Cox | Germantown Academy Aquatic Club – MA |
| Chris Fay | Northern KY Clippers Swimming – KY |
| Long Gutierrez Feng | Crow Canyon Sharks – PC |
| Brennan Gravley | Hydro Swim Club – FL |
| Rick Guenther | Corvallis Aquatic Team – OR |
| Don Heidary | Orinda Aquatics – PC |
| Andrew Marsh | Surge Aquatics – ST |
| Alex Nowjack | King Aquatic Club – PN |
| Kevin Pan | Dragon Swim Team – PV |
| Nick Rice | Bluefish Swim Club – NE |
| Alex Roberts | Life Time Southeast – SE |
| Paul Root | Arizona Dolphins – AZ |
| Thomas Schwingen | Patriot Aquatic Club – IL |
| Jim Skirboll | Racer X Aquatics – AM |
| Gabriela Sofia | Highlands Ranch Aquatics – CO |
| Gwen Sorensen | Des Moines Swimming Federation – IA |
| Ronson Webster | Supernova Swim Team – MI |
| Patrick Wenzel | Allegheny North Swim Club – AM |
| Ryan Woodruff | Lynchburg YMCA Swim Team – VA |
| Connie Wu | Stamford Sailfish Aquatic Club – CT |
| Kevin Zakrzewski | Patriot Aquatic Club – IL |
| Jen Yingjuan Zhen | Whitewaters Swimming – NJ |
| Medium Teams (201-400 athletes) | |
| Coach | Team Name |
| Brian Pajer | Aquazot Swim Club – CA |
| John Alaimo | Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics – MR |
| Dwight Anderson | Bellevue Club Swim Team – PN |
| Joshua Billotte | North Coast Aquatics – SI |
| JB Bruenning | Sarasota Sharks – FL |
| Tony Carroll | Club Wolverine – MI |
| Frank DeMaria | Blue Tide Aquatics – GU |
| Andrew Eckhart | Sarasota Sharks – FL |
| Justin Fernandez | Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club – IL |
| Carle Fierro | Westchester Aquatic Club – MR |
| Kristen Foley | Southwest Stars Swim Club – FL |
| Kyle Goodrich | Central Ohio Aquatics – OH |
| Tom Himes | North Baltimore Aquatic Club – MD |
| Ira Klein | Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team – FL |
| Emmanuel Lanzo | Ridgefield Aquatic Club – CT |
| Deryl Leubner | FMC Aquatic – IL |
| Joe Loftus | Pleasanton Seahawks – PC |
| Pedro Pereira | Bellevue Club Swim Team – PN |
| Kian Quigley | Parkway Swim Club – OZ |
| Franz Resseguie | Tualatin Hills Swim Club – OR |
| Andreas Roestenberg | New Jersey Race Club – NJ |
| Jason Swaim | Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA – VA |
| David Tambuwun | San Ramon Valley Aquatics – PC |
| Graham Thatcher | 757 Swim – VA |
| Joey Waldorf | NASA Wildcat Aquatics – IL |
|
Large Teams (greater than 400 athletes) |
|
| Coach | Team Name |
| Mikaela Bagley | Minnetonka Swim Club – MN |
| Richard Barth | Alto Swim Club – PC |
| Allison Brol | Nitro Swimming – ST |
| Michael Casper | Lakeside Swim Team – KY |
| Joe Finke | Saint Petersburg Aquatics – FL |
| Dave Greene | Rockville Montgomery Swim Club – PV |
| Rod Hansen | Irvine Novaquatics – CA |
| David Jimenez | Rose Bowl Aquatics – CA |
| Kyle Johnson | Carmel Swim Club – IN |
| Mike Julian | NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc – VA |
| Russ Kasl | SwimMAC Carolina – NC |
| Nick Kulick | Occoquan Swimming – PV |
| Ken Maczuga | Phoenix Swim Club – AZ |
| Mike Mahroum | SwimAtlanta – GA |
| Luke Nelson | NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc – VA |
| Robert Norman | TAC Titans – NC |
| Peter O’Donnell | Long Island Aquatic Club – MR |
| Ricky Perez | Tide Swimming – VA |
| Christopher Pfaffenroth | North Carolina Aquatic Club – NC |
| Alan Pfau | TAC Titans – NC |
| Luba Pohilenco | Santa Clara Swim Club – PC |
| Dale Porter | Bolles School Sharks – FL |
| Trent Sandwisch | Texas Ford Aquatics – NT |
| Nathan Smith | Lakeside Swim Team – KY |
| Sherwood Watts | North Carolina Aquatic Club – NC |
The above press release was provided to Swimming World by ASCA and Fitter & Faster.
