Mark is in his fourth season with Northwest Arkansas Aquatics. He brings 25 years of coaching experience to NWAA, having coached swimmers of all ages and abilities from 8 & Under to Olympic Trials qualifiers. Mark graduated from Oakland University where he was a member of three consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship teams.

As a collegiate swimmer at Oakland University, Mark was a 16-time NCAA Division II All-American and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year in 1996. Mark also qualified for the USA Swimming National Championships and represented the Oakland Live Y’ers at that meet in the spring of 1998.

During his time with NWAA, the Sharks have achieved USA Swimming Bronze Medal Club status in the Club Excellence Program for both 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. For both seasons, Mark was named to the USA Swimming National Junior Team coaching staff. Additionally, NWAA recently became a USA Swimming Safe Sport Recognized program under his leadership.

Mark led the Sharks to victory during the 2021 Arkansas Swimming Long Course Combined Team Championship for the first time since 2007. Additional accomplishments under Mark’s leadership include:

• Over 80 broken program records in the 15-16 year old and Open categories
• Athlete participation in the USA Swimming Olympic Trials, US Open Championships, FINA World Marathon Swim Series, USA Swimming Open Water National Championships, USA Swimming Junior National Championships, NCSA Junior National Championships, USA Swimming Futures Championships and the Region VIII Sectional Championships

Mark is a mentor for NWAA swimmers as they pursue swimming at the collegiate level. Graduates from NWAA over the last four years are now representing both NCAA Division I and Division II programs. He is the Senior Vice-Chair for the Arkansas Swimming Local Swimming Committee (LSC) and holds a position on the USA Swimming Central Zone Region VIII Sectional Steering Committee. 

In addition to being the NWAA Head Coach, Mark is also the volunteer assistant coach for the Bentonville High School Boys and Girls swim programs. 

Before joining NWAA, Mark coached at the NCAA Division II level for 18 years (Wayne State University, Truman State University, and William Jewell College). As the head coach of Truman State University, he led the Women to two NCAA Division II National Championships in 2006 and 2008. In those seasons, his peers voted Mark as the CSCAA Coach of the Year. Mark also coached 9 years at the USA Swimming level for the Rockford Riptide and Oakland Live Y’ers.

Mark and his wife Emily reside in Cave Springs. Both of their children, Emma (9) and Mason (7) swim for NWAA.

Eric is in his third season as the Head Age Group Coach of Northwest Arkansas Aquatics. Eric swam for and graduated from Truman State University, holding Top Ten times of their program’s history in multiple events.

At NWAA, Eric has spent substantial time with every group in the Age Group program, working hard to improve each stage of age group development. Those efforts have produced multiple State Champions across Individual and Relay events for Boys and Girls. While excited about these achievements, Coach Eric is hungry for more!

As Head Age Group Coach, Coach Eric is responsible for the organization and development of swimmers and coaches in the Hammerhead, Great White, Tiger Shark, and Mako training groups.

Prior to NWAA, Coach Eric was the Lead Senior Development Coach at Rockwall Aquatic Center of Excellence (RACE). At RACE, Eric produced multiple Texas Age Group Championship (TAGS) individual/relay events, individual high point, and team age-group champions in addition to multiple Men’s/Women's Winter Jr. National qualifiers. Swimmers Eric has developed have gone beyond high school to swim in the finals for NCAA Division I Championships as well as the USA Swimming Olympic Trials finals.

Eric and his wife, Brittany, reside in Bella Vista and they have one son named Oliver.

Trey joined the Sharks coaching staff in May of 2019 after completing his undergraduate at William Jewell College with a degree in Sports and Recreation. While at William Jewell, Coach Trey competed under Head Coach Mark Gole from the fall of 2014 to spring of 2018. During his time at William Jewell, Trey broke the record in the 200 Breaststroke and holds the Mabee Center Pool record at his alma mater.

Trey began his Sharks career instructing and guiding the Makos group (ages 12-14) and is now the Lead Coach for the Senior I group and Tiger Shark group. Since joining the Sharks, Trey has coached NCSA Jr National qualifiers, Sectional qualifiers, Zones qualifiers, and multiple State Champions. In 2022 Trey was named the Arkansas Age Group Coach of the Year. 

Trey’s coaching career began in 2015 with the Ahwatukee YMCA Aquadawgs in Phoenix, Arizona. With the Aquadawgs, he coached swimmers between 5 and 12 years old. The following summer, he helped reform a swim team at the Tempe Family YMCA and served as Head Coach during the summer season.

Prior to joining the NWAA Sharks Coaching Staff, Coach Trey was with Tsunami Swim Team of Kansas City where he coached from December 2018 to May 2019. He was the Head Senior Development Coach and coached kids from the ages of 12 to 16, focusing on proper stroke mechanics and improving their aerobic base.

Trey also serves as volunteer assistant coach for the Bentonville West High School Boys and Girls swim teams and is the Head coach of the Pinnacle Penguin Summer League Team.

In his free time, Trey loves to cook and try out new restaurants in Northwest Arkansas.