Coach Ray grew up in Orangeburg, NY (Rockland County) where he swam competitively at Tappan Zee High School '78-'81.  During his HS swimming career Tappan Zee compiled a record of  72-1. He was selected Captain his Senior year and was first team All County selection. He was a member of the 1980 record breaking Section 9  400 freestyle relay and was voted by his peers as the most dedicated swimmer.  He went on to attend Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ ‘81-‘85 on a Division One swimming scholarship and was named freshman of the year for his overall outstanding swimming performance.
He currently is an ASCA level III coach, who has had a tremendous amount of success at the High School level. He  landed at his Alma mater Tappan Zee High School in 1999. In his 14 years coaching both the Boys & Girls teams, he produced State, Section & League Champions and two State team Championships. He coached 12 All American swimmers and a National Gold medalist, as well as two Olympic Trail Qualifiers. Ray has sent over 25 swimmers onto Division One Colleges with scholarships. He had an overall winning percent-age of .761 during his tenure at Tappan Zee.

Ray also coached a highly competitive USA team working with the New York Sharks swim team for two years. He also coached a Competitive Summer league team for 13 years starting the program with just 30 swimmers and he finished with close to 100 swimmers ranging from 5-18 years of age. Each year all his swimmers have improved their personal best times and stroke techniques. 

Ray comes from the Hunterdon County YMCA in Flemington, NJ  where he was also the Competitive Aquatics Director/Head coach since 2014. Ray was responsible for working with about 110 swimmers. He sent many swimmers to the state and national meets and really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of YMCA swimming while maintaining the core values of the YMCA…Honesty, caring, respect and responsibility. . Ray brings a passion of swimming that he instills in all of his swimmers, and makes it fun for everyone. He is a strong communicator, and has wonderful people skills that makes him easy to get along with.

Ray has been the head Coach of the program since Augist of 2017.

Ray enjoys spending time with his wife; Suzanne and their four children, Chelsea (34), Meagan (32), Sean (32) and Katie (29 and his three beautiful grandsons!  He loves to travel, and is a lifelong Yankee and Giant fan. He resides in Hamburg, NJ

We are thrilled to have Sarah as part of our coaching staff.  Sarah's first coaching job was as an assistant for the Highland Lakes summer swim team in 2000-2004.  After graduating from Ithaca College, Sarah was a grad assistant with Montclair State University from 2004-2007. She taught physical education in Paterson from 2007-2015 and took a break from coaching during that time. Sarah got back into coaching in 2016 when her oldest started swimming for Aqua Gems. She coached at Aqua Gems in Orange County, NY  from 2016-2022.  Both of Sarah's daughter's are part of our swim team now as well!

Casey Murphy swam at William Paterson University. She is on the record board there for top ten most points of all time. After graduation, she helped coach William Paterson’s swim team and the Akrug Aquatic Club. Casey has eight years of coaching experience. She is currently the head swim coach at Pequannock Township High School. Next year will be her ninth season coaching and teaching swim lessons at Lake Stockholm. Casey is in her second year (2022)  coaching the Swordfish. We are thrilled to have Casey on our coaching staff!