We are here to support your needs. If your questions are related
to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, and other swimming
related needs, please contact one of the coaches. For all questions
related to administrative, such as dues, safety, or policy issues,
please contact one of the board members.
A
swimmer since the age of nine, Matt was instilled with a sense of
the need for correct stroke technique and constant feedback to the
swimmer. In high school, Matt played water polo and swam in Los
Angeles, CA, and broke the school record in the breaststroke.
At Pasadena City College Matt earned All American swimming honors
while helping his team to the highest national finish in school
history.
At 19, while still swimming for PCC, Matt became the head coach of
the South Pasadena Seat Tigers swim team. With a lot of enthusiasm,
some knowledge of his sport, and experiences from his past, Matt
took a team of 25 swimmers, gave them good instruction and
feedback, and grew the team to 125 swimmers within a year.
Matt kept them swimming by helping them reach their goals while
having fun, and learning how to be focused and competitive at the
same time.
Many of the swimmers from South Pasadena Sea Tigers team developed
into collegiate swimmers that attended schools such as Brown,
Princeton, Duke, USC, UC Irvine, and many other California schools.
The most important thing to Matt was that the swimmers were able to
take a sport they loved and use it to better their lives.
Matt’s experiences in life and the sport of swimming have
directly impacted the philosophies developed in coaching new and
experienced swimmers alike.
While taking a break from coaching swimming, Matt graduated from
CSULA with a B.S. in Physical Education and later an M.A. in
Education. He has taught Physical Education to elementary
students up through high school, been an Athletic Director, and has
coached baseball, softball, basketball, flag football, tennis, and
more. Through all of his other coaching experiences, he felt
the need and desire to go back to coaching swimming.
Matt’s education and experience with children, as well as his
understanding of how children learn and accomplish physical
movements has been crucial in the development of a swimming
program, including Sunfish Swimming Lessons, which later fueled the
beginning of the Meridian Streamliners swim team (Idaho), founded
in late 2007.
Meridian Streamliners grew quickly into a larger team in the
Treasure Valley, and had many swimmers place in the top three in
events, as well as high point scorers for meets. Within a
year and a half of becoming an official team with USA Swimming, the
team grew to over 100 swimmers, from novice to sectional and zone
athletes.
Betsy Ball is an American Swimming Coaches
Association (ASCA) certified Level 3 United States Swimming Coach
with over 10 years of extensive experience in stroke development
and age group coaching for both USA swim programs and highly
successful summer league teams in several states. Coach
Betsy’s swimmers have achieved "Top 16" national time
recognitions in United States Swimming and have broken several team
records. She brings a strong background of stroke technique, a
love for swimming, and a passion to see kids excel in the sport and
in life. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from California
State University, Sacramento and is married with two
children.
Coach Marks retired in 2008 from public
education after a 31-year career as the swimming coach at Churchill
High School in San Antonio. Coach Marks’ teams won 9 state,
38 regional and 51 district championships. He coached 113
NISCA All-Americans, 15 individual state champions, and has a
proven track record of teaching/developing swimming
talent. Al Marks also coaches Summer League at Shadow
Cliff for his 21th season with the Sharks where he has led
Shadowcliff to 21 straight Divisional
championships.
Coach
Lauren has been a member of the WAVE family since she was six years
old, 12 years as a swimmer and the last 7 as a coach. She also
swam for Churchill High School and Marymount University. Coach
Lauren has over 10 years experience coaching for the Hollywood Park
Hammerheads and the Vinceyard Vipers (local summer league
teams). She truly loves the sport of
swimming!
For the
San Antonio WAVE, she coaches the elementary/middle school groups
at UTSA. She just can’t get enough of her swimmers
energy, insight, and humor! Coach Lauren graduated in
May of 2006, with a bachelor’s degree in education with
teacher certification at the middle school level. She is a 6th
and 7th grade reading teacher at Rawlinson
Middle School.
Coach Taylor is on her second year as
a WAVE coach and she has been coaching summer league at
Shadow Cliff Swim Club for the past 5 years. For the San Antonio
WAVE, she coaches the Age Group 1 (MWF) and Age Group 2 (MWF)
groups.
Taylor graduated from the University of Texas at Austin
(Hook Em’ !) in May of 2008 with a major in Kinesiology
and a minor in Psychology and is currently working on her Masters
degree in Exercise Physiology. Her goal with all her
young swimmers is to foster a lifelong love for swimming!
Jim has been swimming since
the age of six. He swam for four years at Churchill High
School and for two years with the Wave, where he was a district and
regional champion, and recieved TISCA All-State and NISCA
All-American honors. After high school he swam at Ohio
University and competed in the Mid-America Conference Championships
for two years.
During high school, Jim coached under former Wave coaches Mel
Allick and Kevin Gallivan for the Hidden Forest Piranhas as an
assistant coach. In college he participated in the Bobcat
Swim Clinics as a stroke instructor under Ohio Universty Assistant
Coach Brian Peresie. Currently, Jim is attending UTSA,
studying biology, and plans to graduate in May.
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