Windermere Lakers Aquatic Club Team Coaches

 

Kyle Goller
Head Club Coach
Lead Coach: Senior National
Contact: [email protected]

Coach Kyle Goller is an accomplished figure in the world of swimming and coaching. He earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Management with a minor in Sports Studies from Thomas University in May 2016. In addition, he holds a Masters Coaching Certificate from Florida State University.

During his collegiate years, Kyle's passion for swimming shone brightly. He was a key member of both the Thomas University and Florida Southern College Men's Swim Teams. Notably, he contributed to Florida Southern's success, helping the team secure a remarkable 2nd place at the Sunshine State Conference and the 2012 DII NCAA National Championship meet.

Before his collegiate career, Kyle demonstrated his swimming prowess at Maclay School in Tallahassee. There, he competed for seven years, serving as captain for three of them. His dedication and skill earned him first-team All-Big Bend recognition for three years, and he competed at the FHSAA Class 1A State meet for three consecutive years.

Coach Goller's coaching career is equally impressive. He served as a coach for the ATAC High School Group from 2014 to 2017 and joined the Windermere Lakers Aquatic Team in April 2018. With his guidance, he has coached swimmers to success at various levels, from FLAGS and Sectionals to Winter Juniors, Summer Juniors, US Open, JR Pan Pacs, World JR Championships, World University Games, Pan Pacs and Olympic Trials while also placing kids on the US National Team and US National Jr Team.

His professional affiliations underscore his commitment to the sport. Coach Goller is a LIFE member of both USA Swimming and the American Swim Coaches Association. He is also an active member of esteemed organizations like the National Federation of High School Sports, the  International Swim Coaches Association, NISCA (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association), and the College Swim Coaches Association of America. His involvement in the Florida Zone Team, National Select Camp staff and 2024 Jr Pan Pac USA Staff, as well as his contributions to various Boards and Committees related to FSHAA Swimming and Florida Swimming, highlight his dedication to the swimming community.

As a testament to his coaching expertise, Coach Goller holds a Certified Level 4 American Swim Coaches Association certification. He has been recognized as one of the "2022 Top 50 Age Group Coaches in the US" and was honored with the title of "2023 Florida Age Group Coach of the Year."

Beyond his professional life, Kyle treasures time spent with his fiancé, Danielle, and their two dogs. He's an avid sports enthusiast, with a particular passion for FSU Football. Raised in a military family, his father, Colonel (Retired) George Goller, and his mother, Linda, instilled discipline and dedication. Furthermore, Kyle is a distinguished Eagle Scout.

 

Kyle Casias
Head Senior Coach
Lead Coach: Senior I, Senior II, Pre-Senior I, Pre-Senior II
Contact: [email protected]
Kyle Casias brings along nearly a decade of experience in the world of aquatics. Before he began coaching the in of Fall 2015, he swam at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs for two years, where he majored in Foreign Area Studies with a focus on Africa and a minor in the French language.
 
Although he only started swimming in his freshman year at Fleming Island High School, he rose quickly as a leader and hard worker. His accolades include being a 3-time finalist in the FHSAA State Meet, the 2010 Champion for Senior Championships in the 100 Butterfly, a Top-10 finisher in the 100 and 200 Butterfly at the 2011 YMCA Nationals, a Winter National Qualifier, and a two-time Scholastic All American.
 
Kyle hopes to become a multi-dimensional asset to Laker Aquatics by teaching a core philosophy of developing an athlete from the inside out.  In addition to being a decorated swimmer, he was also an Eagle Scout and holds character and morals to a high standard. He wishes to develop everyone he teaches to be more than a fast swimmer, but a champion of the journey!

 

Larry Jukes

Head Age Group Coach
Lead Coach: Blue, White
Contact: [email protected]

Larry Jukes has been a professional swim coach for over 17 years. He has found success at every location and level he has coached. In addition to coaching for Windermere Lakers Aquatics, Larry also coaches with Peak Performance Swim Camps, which has brought him opportunities to work at camps across the US and the world. Larry is also the head coach for the Windermere Preparatory School swim team.

Larry has qualified swimmers to the elite national level of USA Swimming from both high school and age group categories. He has also had numerous FLAG qualifiers and champions. Larry has a passion for teaching Olympic-level technique and continuing to develop the next generation of Lakers.

As a swimmer, Larry began swimming in summer league and continued to swim all through college. He served as captain of the swim team at the University of Evansville. While attending college, Larry earned an accounting degree and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Larry enjoys spending time with his wife, Susan, and their three children.

 

Annie Pegues

Assistant Club Coach
Head Lessons Instructor
Lead Coach: Red 2, Red 1
Contact: [email protected]

Since birth, Annie has been encompassed by the world of swimming. Both her mother & father were swimmers through college and moved on to become accomplished swim coaches. Annie grew up near the water, learning the tricks of the trade at a young age. She swam competitively ages 5 through 18, from club to varsity high school, to summer league. 
 
Due to her continued exposure to swimming, Annie discovered a passion for not only swimming but teaching. She began teaching swim lessons as a junior instructor at age 13 and began teaching her own group and private lessons shortly thereafter. Annie became the lead instructor at TideWater Aquatics Club at 17, and following her parents' footsteps, became a USA Swimming Coach at 18. 
 
Annie is a New Jersey native but considers herself a Florida girl, having lived here for the last 8 years. She moved to Florida in January of 2016 to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida. While studying as a full-time student, she also coached at Gator Swim Club. She moved to the Windermere area in October of 2018 and has been a coach and our head lessons instructor at Windermere Laker Aquatics for the past 5 and a half years. Annie has been coaching and teaching lessons continuously for the past 14 years, without losing her passion for learning and creating a love of the water for swimmers young and old. 
 
Outside of the pool, Annie is notorious for staying busy. She is a full-time middle school science teacher at Windermere Preparatory School. Whatever free time she has left is shared with her fiance Joe, and their dog and two cats. Annie loves to travel and is working on reaching her goal of visiting all 50 states before she turns 30 (she’s currently at 39 out of 50!).
 

Grace Khunduang

Assistant Club Coach
Lessons Instructor
Contact: [email protected]

Grace is a graduate of the Windermere Lakers Aquatics program, and is a current student at the University of Central Florida studying accounting. She was a national-level qualifier and an FHSAA State finalist for West Orange High School. Her skills especially shone through in breaststroke and butterfly. She has transferred her work ethic from in the pool to on deck, where she now works with our lessons program and coaches many of our developmental groups.
 
Coach Grace is also the Assistant Coach for the Windermere High School girls' and boys' swim teams. In their 2023 Fall Season, the girls' team placed second and the boys' team placed third overall in the Class 4A FHSAA State Championship meet. 
 

 

Rachel Barkowitz

Head Admin
Assistant Club Coach
Lessons Instructor
 
Contact: [email protected]

Rachel's love of swimming started on her local JCC team in Boston when the expectations of her parents and coaches were exceeded just by making it across the pool. After a hiatus into the world of theatre, Rachel swam for her high school varsity team in Massachusetts. She earned her first Red Cross certification during her CIT summer at sleepaway camp and then began working at her town community pool as a lifeguard and junior lessons instructor.

Shortly after beginning her freshman year at Sarah Lawrence College, Rachel pursued a job as a lifeguard but was struggling to find her place socially. Her first lifeguard shift was spent with the co-captain of Sarah Lawrence's swim team, who expressed all the reasons why he loved college swimming. Rachel left that lifeguard shift determined to continue swimming competitively, which she did for three years. Rachel also continued to lifeguard and assist with swim lessons at school. After three years, she transferred schools to Columbia University. Rachel graduated college in 2019 with two bachelor's degrees: one in liberal arts, and one in engineering.

After graduating, Rachel followed her family to Windermere. In 2019, she participated in the Walt Disney World college program as a lifeguard. She continued her work in Disney recreation throughout the pandemic, earning the roles of trainer, facilitator, and recreation coordinator. In August 2022, she was awarded the Walt Disney Legacy Award, which is given to less than 1% of all Disney Parks, Experience, and Products cast members across the globe and is considered one of the highest honors a cast member can receive.

Rachel began coaching for Windermere Lakers Aquatics in the spring of 2022 and is proud to say she's coached every Laker Swim and Dragon Swim Academy group at least once. She is grateful to help inspire a love of aquatics in the next generation of competitive swimmers.

 

Ali Isham

Team Admin
Assistant Club Coach
Contact: [email protected]

Coach Ali grew up in Milwaukee, WI, where she started swimming competitively with the club team SWAT for 6 years and swam in college at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse before a shoulder injury. Ali graduated from UW - UW-Milwaukee with a B.A. in psychology before moving to Los Angeles to attend grad school at the University of Southern California and earning an MFA in Cinema Production. 

Ali started coaching in 2010 in Palos Verdes, CA before becoming Head Site Coach for La Mirada Armada for 3 years. In 2015 Ali moved over to Beach Cities Swimming in Redondo Beach, CA, where she worked her way up to a high-performance Senior Coach working with all levels of athletes from Pre Competitive to Olympic Trials Qualifiers. Ali spent the last 5 years with a Senior group working primarily with Sectionals/Futures/National athletes and also helping with gym training. Coach Ali also coached high school for 9 years at Peninsula and Mira Costa High which included multiple school records, CIF winners/records, and 20+ All-American qualifications. 

Coach Ali has ASCA Level 4 and a CrossFit Level 1 certification. She believes in hard work, fun, and racing fast! She is looking forward to spending time on the East Coast, learning from the Lakers, getting to know a whole new group of athletes, and bringing some California fun. While not on a pool deck you can find Ali at a Disney Park or participating in a runDisney or Spartan race.