Samantha Eckroth has loved the water since the age of two and a half when her mother watched in amazement as she chewed through her floaties. After deflating the water wings she was free to swim on her own. From that moment on it was apparent that swimming would be her sport of choice. Sam’s parents enrolled her in an Irvine Summer League swim team, the Courtside Stingrays, when she turned five. Then at the age of nine she joined NOVA, a year round club team. She started coaching for her old ISL swim team her sophomore year of high school and was later head coach for the Courtside Stingrays. Sam swam on the varsity swim team all four years of attendance at Northwood High School and was part of the girls 2nd place division II CIF team her freshman year. She has taught for the city of Irvine, Water Works, and Blue Ray aquatics over the past years. Sam has a tremendous passion for the water and teaching others. Coach Sam heads our Great Parks Neighborhood location.

Katherine is from Irvine, CA where she has competed and participated in many Irvine Aquatic Programs. She attended Irvine High School, where she was a varsity swimmer and water polo player. 

Katherine has always been involved in the Irvine community as she swam competitively from the ages of 5 to 18 for NOVA (briefly), and the Colony Red Hots (Irvine Swim League). She recently retired as the Assistant Coach at Colony Red Hots, where she had coached for 12 years. She also previously coached under Speed Aquatics from 2014 - 2019 before leaving to continue her education at UCSD.

Katherine is happy to return  to the club and assist as she takes a brief break after graduating from her graduate program at UCSD (June 2023). Katherine has with a Bachelors degree in Human Biology with a minor in Mathematics, as well as a Masters degree in Biology.