Courtesy: American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA)
The American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) and Fitter & Faster are pleased to announce the 2026 TOP 25 AGE GROUP COACHES OF THE YEAR for small, medium, large and extra-large teams.
The results were compiled by USA Swimming’s data staff and ASCA staff using data from the SWIMS database. The results include swimmers ages 10-14 with qualifying time standards from the 2025 Long Course season and 2025-26 Short Course season. Coaches of record were collected for swimmers who achieved these times to populate these 2026 Top Age Group Coach lists.
The top 5 finalists for each category will be announced on July 15, 2026. All 20 finalists will be introduced and presented with awards on September 9, 2026, on stage at the ASCA World Clinic at the Rosen Centre Resort in Orlando. Then, the winners for each division will be revealed! Â Â For more information on the 2026 ASCA World Clinic in Orlando, go to www.ascaworldclinic.com
Congratulations to the following outstanding coaches (in alphabetical order):
SMALL TEAMS (fewer than 76 swimmers)
| Name | Club | LSC |
| Rich Bennetts | Farmington Family Y Stingrays | MI |
| Matt Benedict | Roadrunners of Albuquerque Aquatic Club | NM |
| Sam Busch | Ventana Canyon Swim Team | AZ |
| John Chen | Xtreme Swim Club | NE |
| Michael Curley | Highlander Aquatic Club | FL |
| Stephen Duckett | Roadrunners of Albuquerque Aquatic Club | NM |
| Oleksandr Filimonov | BeFirst Swim Team | MA |
| Robert Fletcher | Thibodaux Regional Swim Club | LA |
| Jeff Helms | Conroe Area Team Swimmers | GU |
| Nazarii Kosylo | SwimRight Team | FG |
| Rebecca Kuhn | Fort Meigs YMCA Stingrays | OHO |
| Robert MacLeod | Uncle Sam Swim Team | AD |
| Tim Manley | Anthem Arizona Swim Club | AZ |
| Todd Mann | Highlander Aquatic Club | FL |
| Dan Morse | Anthem Arizona Swim Club | AZ |
| Daniel Olsen | YMCA of Middletown Barracudas | MR |
| Kevin Pan | Dragon Swim Team | PV |
| Lori Petrimoulx | Columbia Swimming | SC |
| Kevin Rosepapa | Berkeley Aquatics | FL |
| Andrew Scheerhorn | West Michigan Swimmers | MI |
| Jim Skirboll | Racer X Aquatics | AM |
| Dave Stannert | Fort Meigs YMCA Stingrays | OHO |
| Ryan Wedl | YMCA of the Chippewa Valley Barracudas | WI |
| Cindy Woods | Lynchburg Aquatic Club | VA |
MEDIUM TEAMS (76-175 swimmers)
| Name | Club | LSC |
| Tim Bean | Treasure Coast Aquatics | FL |
| Michael Brooks | York YMCA | MA |
| Kevin Clements | South Orange County Aquatics | CA |
| Susan Curnutte | Tampa Bay Aquatic Club | FL |
| Cristian Davalos | Stamford Sailfish Aquatic Club | CT |
| Mujahid El-Amin | Dekalb Aquatics | GA |
| Olga Espinosa | St Croix Swim Club | MN |
| Brennan Gravley | Hydro Swim Club | FL |
| Don Heidary | Orinda Aquatics | PC |
| Judy Lalier | St Croix Swim Club | MN |
| Sean McCrudden | Lakeland Hills YMCA | NJ |
| Jeremiah Moren | Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics | MI |
| Chris Morgan | Revolution Aquatic Club | NE |
| Tenzin Norbu | Twisters Swim Club | MR |
| Juan Carlos Ramirez  | Blue Marlins of Hialeah Garden | FG |
| Rich Rogers | Florida Atlantic Aquatics | FG |
| Miranda Rowan | Club Husker | MW |
| Skyler Shinn | Highlands Ranch Aquatics | CO |
| Stephanie Toth | Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg | NC |
| Kevin Vargas | SwimRise Aquatics | FL |
| Max Verheyen | Loyola Blakefield Aquatics | MD |
| Ronson Webster | Supernova Swim Team | MI |
| Lou Williams | Germantown Academy Aquatic Club | MA |
| Greg Yarnall | Lakeland Hills YMCA | NJ |
| Jen Zhen | Whitewaters Swimming | NJ |
LARGE TEAMS (176-350 swimmers)
| Name | Club | LSC |
| Dwight Anderson | Bellevue Club Swim Team | PN |
| Brent Arckey | Sarasota Sharks | FL |
| John Bruenning | Sarasota Sharks | FL |
| Jessica Chen | Los Angeles Swim Club | CA |
| Matthew Craven | Shawmut Aquatic Club | NE |
| Laura Koch Davis | Swim Streamline at Northampton | GU |
| Jeff Debettencourt | NASA Wildcat Aquatics | IL |
| Frank DeMaria | Blue Tide Aquatics | GU |
| Kristen Foley | Southwest Stars Swim Club | FL |
| Annie Gosselin | FMC Aquatic | IL |
| Carolyn Grevers | Patriot Aquatic Club | IL |
| Bryan Haile | Riverside Aquatics Association | CA |
| Patricia Helgren | Sarasota Sharks | FL |
| Tom Himes | North Baltimore Aquatic Club | MD |
| Sam Iida | Gold Medal Swim Club | AZ |
| Heather Jorris | The Woodlands Swim Team | GU |
| Larry Jukes | Laker Swim | FL |
| Ira Klein | Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team | FL |
| Deryl Leubner | FMC Aquatic | IL |
| XIN LI (Leon Li) | Pacific Dragons Swim Team | PN |
| Brian Pajer | Aquazot Swim Club | CA |
| Amy Silvestri | Madison Aquatic Club | WI |
| Colton Spark | Blue Tide Aquatics | GU |
| Dwayne Stewart | Bellevue Club Swim Team | PN |
| Jason Swaim | Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA | VA |
EXTRA-LARGE TEAMS (351+ swimmers)
| Name | Club | LSC |
| Christopher Barber | Sandpipers Of Nevada | CA |
| Jonathan Brandt | North Carolina Aquatic Club | NC |
| Raven Chastain | Nitro Swimming | ST |
| Nikita Denisyako | Santa Clara Swim Club | PC |
| Scott Erdman | Hinsdale Swim Club | IL |
| Leah Foreman-Keiser | Aquajets Swim Team | MN |
| Dave Greene | Rockville Montgomery Swim Club | PV |
| Rod Hansen | Irvine Novaquatics | CA |
| Hailey Hewitt | Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics | MR |
| Mark Imig | CSP Tideriders | OZ |
| David Jimenez | Rose Bowl Aquatics | CA |
| Kyle Johnson | Carmel Swim Club | IN |
| Russ Kasl | SwimMAC Carolina | NC |
| Colin Kennedy | Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club | GU |
| Chris Natoli | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | PV |
| Peter Odonnell | Long Island Aquatic Club | MR |
| Luba Pohilenco | Santa Clara Swim Club | PC |
| Dale Porter | Bolles School Sharks | FL |
| Kit Raulerson | SwimMAC Carolina | NC |
| Ryan Roy | SwimAtlanta | GA |
| Katie Schmidt | Mason Manta Rays | OHO |
| David Schreck | NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc | VA |
| Nathan Smith | Lakeside Swim Team | KY |
| Maryanne Svoboda | Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club | GU |
| Sherwood Watts | North Carolina Aquatic Club | NC |
Are the red linked coaches all of the top 4 in each bracket?
That is if the Head Coach doesn’t take credit for the age group kids success. Known plenty that hog the glory for themselves
That would be Sam Iida for Gold Medal Club. Two “I”s in their name.