Courtesy: American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – 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 5 finalists for each category will be announced on July 16, 2025. The finalists will be introduced and presented with awards by Fitter & Faster at 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 |
It’s ridiculous — someone is actually still on that list. Which one of the kids under him didn’t get their results from outside private lessons and extra training?
Leubner… How is that possible? He was fired from Delta Aquatics due to verbal abuse.
So proud of Coach Mike!!!!
10u swimmers once again getting excluded even though they are one of the largest groups.
“The results were compiled using a dataset provided by USA Swimming’s data scientists of swimmers ages 10-14″
Maybe not putting pressure on 9/Un is keeping them in the sport longer… just saying…
How would compiling data put pressure on them? How are 10 year olds able to handle that pressure?
I live in a state where 10u are an after thought at the LSC and Zone level. Time finals for AGS, only 6 individual events, and excluded from invitation opportunities regardless of times.
I must have missed the part in my sports psychology, human anatomy, and biomechanics classes where 9yr was so fragile and somehow 11yr is ready.
But my bias is evident in having dealt with it my younger kids so I’m not free from bias frustrations.
This is actually hilarious to believe this is a healthy approach to the sport. I feel sorry for your children.
Man, swim parents are the worst
well that one is.
Best of luck to you and Gabe! I personally think Indiana is a pretty cool LSC! This award for coaches doesn’t really work the way you think it does however – most coaches on here are receiving “credit” for their whole team and not just the kids they coach.
From Indiana is the cherry on top… One of the best performing LSC, pound for pound… Maybe THE best… But this dude has THOUGHTS
I feel bad for Gabe
You all should feel horrible for Gabe. He is punished when he doesn’t perform well and has the entire weight of our family’s future success on his shoulders.
The only real fruitful comment from SwimMAX90: yeah Indiana is a great LSC and I have few gripes (limited AGS format for 10u being one of the few). And I get that awards don’t rely on the success of a single swimmer, just stinks that my 9yr old is often given the message that he doesn’t count. He doesn’t count in trying to help his coach/team for things like this award, doesn’t count for club ratings, isn’t old enough to participate in many things.
For a sport that consistently comments… Read more »
keep up the wisdom dump .. we love it.
And like clockwork… “We’re different, we’re the exception to the rule”… *Insert Yer doin terrific gif*
Dude, he’s literally got 5 years to do that. Chill out.
Big picture! Let him be a part of a team, have fun, learn, and get better. In 3-5 years when it’s time to start doing some real work we’ll see where Gabe is. That will be a real testament to his coaches…….can they manage the expectations of everyone involved for the betterment of the kid!