Jonathan Mayer
Head Senior Coach
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We
are thrilled to confirm that Jonathan Mayer has accepted our offer
as Head Senior Swim Coach. Jonathan has been Nick
Baker’s second in command at Peak Performance Swim Camps for
the past five years. Here Jonathan has spent significant time
building his technical training and vast administrative leadership
organizing camps around the world. Coaching swimming for 8
years now, with 6 in the head coach position. Currently,
Jonathan is the head coach for the Athens Texas High School Swim
Team and a high school math teacher (in geometry). He was
voted District Swim Coach of the Year for both 2007 and
2008. Jonathan has built the swim program from the ground up
in Athens Texas.
An
avid swimmer from a young age in Oklahoma, Jonathan moved from
swimming to coaching his two younger brothers when he saw they had
tremendous talent and he was a better coach than swimmer
himself. His swimmers characterize him as patient, caring and
always positive with the athletes.
Connie X Wu
Head Junior Coach
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It
is with great pleasure we announce that Connie Wu has accepted the
Head Junior Coach position for the our new Marlin Swim Team
curriculum. Connie has also agreed to start in her new role
effective May 25 Connie will help get all administrative details up
and running for next fall
Connie has been an ardent swimmer practically from
birth. Growing up in China and training diligently from an
early age earned her 2nd in the Chinese National
Championship in the 200 IM as well as National Age Group first
place champion. In addition to being a champion swimmer
personally, Connie coached one of the Chinese National team members
that competed in the 2004 Greece Olympics.
Connie has also placed in numerous competitive swim events in
the U.S. while also attending UCONN where she is currently studying
for her Master in Exercise Science. She competes most often in
open water events where in 2005 she completed in the Swim Across
the Sound where she came in second place for the 16 mile
course and in 2007 placed 3rd. In 2008
Connie was also the assistant swim coach at UCONN.
Connie is no stranger to our Greenwich Family Y with her past
coaching and competitive private swim lessons. We are thrilled
to have her lead our Junior levels going forward.
Jeremy Cochran
Head Novice Coach
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Jeremy
Cochran is originally from Morristown, New Jersey and was a swimmer
for the Morristown High School Colonials. The majority
of his competitive experience was as a freestyler however he
has raced in practically every event. He attended West
Virginia University and graduated with a B.S. in Sport and Exercise
Psychology. He is currently spending the summer with Peak
Performance Swim Camps as a Coach with the Advanced Technique
Group. This past year he was the Assistant Swim Coach at
Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ and had 6 swimmers
qualify for conference championships, where all of them made it
back to either consolation finals or top 8. Along with his
responsibilities on the pool deck, he also created a strength
and conditioning program for the FDU Team.
He has taught swimming lessons since 1997 starting out at
summer camps while still in school and progressing to being the
Assistant Manager and a Lead Instructor at two swim schools in NJ
after graduation from WVU. He has also been an AFAA
Certified Personal Trainer and a NJ Adventure Bootcamp
Instructor.
If you think
he looks familiar, you have probably seen his identical twin
brother, Jason, on deck as he has been coaching at the Darien
YMCA Piranhas. Jeremy will be joining the Greenwich YMCA Marlins
Swim Team starting with the 2009 Fall
season
Cheryl Blenk
Dry-land Coach
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Cheryl Blenk
is originally from the Connecticut area where she competed for the
Badger swim team, and then continued her swimming career at the
Univeristy of New Hampshire. Cheryl brings an incredible
amount of knowledge and experience in strength and conditioning to
the Marlins coaching staff. She is a certified athletic
trainer strength and conditioning specialist. She has trained
individuals for competition in swimming, lacrosse, tennis, and
triathlons as well as working as an athletic trainer and strength
coach for professional teams, high school teams, and college
teams. In addition to working many years at the Hospital for
special surgery in the performance research center in sports
medicine, Cheryl oversaw the entire PSAL football programs medical
coverage program. She has also, worked for Equinox as
the Senior Manager of Education nationwide for their Equinox
Fitness Training Institute.
Most
recently, Cheryl has worked as the Director of Athletic Training
for Norwalk Fitness and Tennis designing programs for the
top 20 kids in the North East in the High Performance
Program.
Matt Cristantiello
Assistant Coach
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Originally
from New York, Matt grew up in Greenwich, CT. He has a degree
in exercise science and is a certified personal trainer. Matt has
designed and implemented strength and conditioning programs for
tri-athletes and master swimmers, as well as for people dealing
with multiple sclerosis, cancer and obesity. He was an avid
football, baseball and rugby player - having played for the
Greenwich Cardinals and Hofstra University. Matt spent this past
summer working for the Greenwich Family YMCA, the Marlins Swim Team
and Peak Performance Swim Camp. He has a real passion for helping
people achieve their goals.
Ben Levine
Assistant Coach
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Ben Levine is
originally from Granby, Connecticut and was a former swimmer and
coach for the Aqua Bears Swim Team. He began swimming at an
early age, and trained under his Father (Jon Levine) all of his
competitive swimming career prior to attending the University of
Connecticut. While attending the University of Connecticut he
swam 4 years and trained in the distance, sprint, and stroke
programs. He was awarded UConn’s Strength and
Conditioning Iron Husky Award, given to the top three athletes from
each team who demonstrated excellence in the weight room.
Throughout his 4 year college career he competed in every event,
and was a Big East Championship qualifier in the 50 Free, 100 &
200 Butterfly, 100 & 200 Backstroke, and the 200 Individual
Medley.
He was a 2009
University of Connecticut graduate, and currently holds a degree in
Economics, and a minor in Business
Administration.
Tessa Campbell
Assistant Coach
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Tessa is
originally from Old Greenwich, CT where she grew up swimming here
locally in Connecticut Swimming as well as for the Greenwich High
School Cardinals. She swam collegiatly for two years at
George Washington Univeristy where she graduated with a degree in
Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. Tessa coached for
the Stamford Yact Club swim team the past 5 summers and spent
a year instructing swimming for the Darien YMCA. Most
recently, Tessa was a volunteer in the Health Education Peace
Corps in Mauritania, Africa
We are very
excited to add Tessa to the Marlins coaching
staff!
Tobey Saracino
Assistant Coach
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Tobey Saracino grew
up in
Rye
,
NY
swimming
for Middies, Badger and
Rye
High School
. She
specialized in the 100 and 200 Breastroke as well as the 200 and
400 Individual Medley. She then
attended
Springfield
College
and
became a 6-time All-American. At
Springfield
, Tobey
graduated with a BS in Physical Education. She returned after graduating to
complete her MEd in Athletic Administration and Sports
Marketing. Tobey spent
10-years in the sports marketing industry before changing her
career to focus full time on teaching and coaching. She is currently teaching
Physical Education at
Edgemont
High School
in
Scarsdale
,
NY
.
Tobey began coaching
and teaching private swim lessons in 1993. She worked with kids ranging from
2-years old through High School focusing on teaching swimming
techniques, competitive training and mental focus. Tobey’s goal is to help
each swimmer reach their fullest potential.
In 2005, Tobey
decided to begin competing in open water events. In 2006, she completed her first
marathon, the Swim Across the Sound (Port Jefferson, NY
to
Bridgeport
,
CT
). In 2007, she returned to
compete in the Swim Across the Sound and was lucky enough to break
the solo swim amateur record. In 2008, Tobey completed an
arduous swim across the English Channel climbing the shores
of
France
after 13
hours and 33 minutes of continuous swimming. She is currently training
to compete in the Manhattan Island Marathon in June 2010.
