Coach Joe joined Aulea in May 2014. Prior to that he worked as an assistant at Punahou beginning in 2004 and took over as head coach in 2008. Coach Joe is an American Swimming Coaches Assocation (ASCA) level 4 swim coach, which is in the top 10% of all coaches in the nation, and was named ASCA's Hawaiian Swimming Age Group Coach of the year in 2011. In 2016, his second season with Aulea, Joe was one of 100 coaches nationwide named as National Junior Team Coach. He has coached swimmers to all levels including junior and senior nationals and has had many swimmers reach national top 10 rankings.  He has coached swimmers to over 30 new Hawaiian Swimming records as well.  During his time with Aulea he has already helped the team to accomplish the following:

-Aulea achieved Bronze Medal Status (top 200 club nationwide out of almost 3'000) in 2016, 2017 and 2021

-Grew the club from 90 to 250 members

-Jumped from 13^th place at age group state championships in December 2013 to 2nd place in July 2015 and sustainted top 3 finishes in every age group championships since then

-Jumped up from 10th place at Hawaiian Swimming Senior championships in November 2013 to 2nd place in November 2014 (SCY) and June 2015 (LCM) and almost every senior championships since then

-Top 10 team finish at Senior Sectionals in both 2015, 2016 and 2021.  Previous to 2015, no Aulea swimmer had ever attended sectionals.

- 9 summer junior national qualifiers with multiple medalists including a runner up finish in 2015, 10 winter junior national swimmers and over 40 futures qualifiers.

-2 USA swimming national junior team members (2016 and 2021) and 3 Olympic trials qualifiers (1 in 2016 and 2 in 2021), 3 of the 4 age group athletes in Hawaii to qualify for the last two olympic trials.

-Aulea swimmers have broken over 30 age group records during his tenure and currently hold half of the 17-18 boys individual records along with 2 relays.

During his time at Punahou, Joe also worked as a social studies teacher at Farrington High School and was also the head swim coach at Farrington High School from 2006-2013.  He revived a program that had been dormant from 1997-2005 to a top-10 finish in the OIA and it’s first state qualifying individual swimmers and relay swimmers in over 40 years. 

Joe grew up in Santa Rosa, Ca and swam club from the ages of 6-18 with the Santa Rosa Neptunes qualifying for and competing at the Junior National level.  After high School, Joe went to Denison University in Ohio where he studied economics and was a four year member of the varsity swim team which twice finished as runner-ups at the Division III swimming and diving national championships.  Joe won multiple All-American honors during his tenure and served as team captain during his senior year.  Immediately after college Joe returned to the bay area and worked in the mortgage finance industry helping mortgage banks with interest rate risk management.  Shortly after moving to Hawaii, Joe received his teaching license in secondary social studies. During his time at Farrington High School, Joe was named an Ola Pono award winner in 2008 (one of ten winners statewide) for his work in promoting safe, healthy and drug-free lifestyles.  In addition, he was featured in a front page article in the Star-Advertiser in 2012 for his work in reviving the Farrington High School swim program.  After taking the Aulea job, Joe decided to make a full plunge in to windward aquatics and as of 2014 he serves as the head Coach of the Le Jardin Academy Bulldogs.

Joe and his wife Melissa live in Kaneohe.  They have a ten year old daughter named Maya and a 5 year old son named Aidan.  In addition to serving as head coach of Aulea, Joe works as a stay at home dad!  Joe can be found doing open water swims, surfing, hiking, biking, raising chickens and ducks and enjoying time with his family.

Coach Kimi was an elite age group swimmer in Canada, consistently ranking in the top 10 nationally in the sprint freestyle events. As a senior national level swimmer, Kimi competed in numerous Canadian National Championships as well as the 1990 Commonwealth Games Trials and 1992 Olympic Trials. At 1993 Short Course Nationals, she teamed up with future Olympians to win bronze in the 200 freestyle relay. Kimi earned a full swimming scholarship to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where she swam 4 years and was an Academic All Big Ten Scholar Athlete.
After climbing the corporate ladder in the retail and wholesale fashion accessories industry, Kimi found her way back to the pool as a swim parent, official and coach.
Prior to joining Aulea in 2021, Kimi spent 5 years as a coach for the Wyckoff YMCA Sharks working with swimmers ranging from intro through Junior National qualifiers, and 7 years as a YMCA/USA Swimming official. In addition to working with Aulea, Kimi served as head coach for the Kalaheo High School swim team from 2021-2024 and she will assist Coach Joe with Le Jardin Academy JV/Varsity swim beginning November 2025. She is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1).
Kimi and her husband Brian have 5 children and reside in Kailua. When she's not coaching dryland or swim, or shuttling her kids to their various sports, she enjoys hiking and CrossFit. Coach Kimi is thrilled to share her passion for swimming and fitness with the team.

Coach Yan  joined Aulea in September of 2017 and serves as our National Prep group coach.  Coach Yan is a retired Chinese National team swimmer. She won a Gold medal at 4×200m freestyle at 1997 FINA Short Course World Championships. Later that year at Chinese National Games, she broke world record at 400m individual medley. ^[1]  She then won 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle at 1998 Perth World Aquatics Championships. She participated in 1996 and 2000 two Olympic Games.

She started college in China and transferred to UH Manoa in 2002 as a sophomore. She earned her BS in 3 years, and swam on an Full Scholarship.  After her undergrad, she completed a master's degree at UH and has been working in recreation management with the Sheraton hotel ever since. She was both the head age group coach and head coach for Punahou Aquatics in Honolulu, HI from 2008-2016.  Her time at Punahou was extremely productive.  She coached swimmers to over 50 state age group records and coached state, regional and zone champions as well as multiple national top 10 swimmers.

Coach Yan believes in a very technical approach with fundamental skills such as kicking and streamline at the core of her belief.  She is very goal driven and teaches her swimmers to be that way as well.  She shares not only swimming expertise with her swimmers but also her own life experiences both in and out of the pool.  We are very fortunate to have coach Yan leading the National Prep group.  When she isn't coaching or working at the hotel, she enjoys swimming herself and loves surfing!

Coach Tom joined Aulea in November 2015 after coaching at Sun-shine Aquatics since 2007 and the Oahu Club Masters team since 2011. Tom was also an assistant coach for the University of Hawaii Masters’ program for 10 years from 1989 through 1999. He has coached all levels of age group swimmers up to the National caliber, including swimmers achieving Hawaiian Age Group and Open records, USA Swimming National Junior Team and Diversity Camp selection, and USA Swimming National Top 20 rankings. Tom brings with him 40+ years of competitive swimming experience at the age group, national, collegiate, Olympic trial, open water, and masters levels. His coaching experience spans 3 decades across the age group, masters, and tri-athlete levels. Tom specializes in stroke technique, race strategies, mental preparation, and patience.

Tom began swimming competitively at the age of 7 in Calabasas, CA for Class Aquatics under Coach Brian Biro. During his age group years he was ranked top ten nationally several times mainly in freestyle and butterfly events.  After attaining All-America status in high school, Tom attended and swam for the University of Hawaii where he held school and Western Athletic Conference records, qualified and was a finalist at the NCAA Championships 1985-1988.  He was also team captain and voted most inspirational twice as he studied environmental sciences.  After participating in the 1988 Olympic Trials, Tom took his love for swimming to the ocean where he was a silver medalist at the 1991 U.S. National 10K Open Water Swimming Championships, was the Hawaii Open Water North Shore Series Champion (1991 and 2009) as well as placed 1^st, Masters Division, at the World Paddleboard Championships in 1999.

Since 1990 Tom has coordinated environmental programs for the State of Hawaii.  Tom and his wife Linda have two adult children, ‘Aukai and Nohea (both swam for AULEA 2015-2016).  ‘Aukai was a silver medalist at the 2015 USA Swimming Junior National Championships, a member of USA’s National Junior Team and represented AULEA at the 2016 US Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 freestyles and 200 IM.  Nohea competed for Hawaii at the 2016 Oceania Swimming Championships in Fiji where she earned bronze medals in both the 800 freestyle and 200 backstroke.  Tom can be found in the ocean with them when not on the pool deck.

Coach Kate started swimming at age 5 with the Green Bay YMCA where she continued through age 13 when she was a YMCA Nationals qualifier. As a high school swimmer at Bay Port High School, Kate was conference champ, sectional champ, and state qualifier all 4 years. A talented soccer player as well, Kate helped her high school team win conference champs 3 years and they were state championship runners up her senior year. Coach Kate swam 4 years at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in the D1 Horizon League where she competed in 100/200 fly, 200/400IM, 200 breast and relays.

Kate has over 15 years of experience as a lifeguard, swim instructor, pool manager and swim/water polo coach. She spent 2 summers coaching at the renowned Pine Crest swim camp in Fort Lauderdale under the tutelage of former USA National Coach Jay Fitzgerald and Polish Olympian and World Record holder Mariusz Podkoscielny. As Shorewood High School assistant coach, the team won D2 State Championships in 2012. Kate has taught swimmers of all ages and abilities from infants, intro to swimming, age group, high school, masters to Olympic Trials qualifiers. Coach Kate moved to Hawaii in 2018 and brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to Aulea.

Coach Sam joined Aulea in June 2023. A mom of 3, her 2 older ones were both Aulea swimmers in the Senior group with Coach Joe and are certified lifeguards. In addition to Aulea, Coach Sam has been the Assistant Coach of the Kalaheo Swim Team since 2021 alongside Kalaheo Head Coach, Kimi Regula.

Prior to Hawaii, Coach Sam was an age group coach for 8 years with 2 other teams. The Fort Smith Tideriders, a smaller team in Arkansas, and Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team, a large team in Florida. She was also selected to coach the FL girls 10 & Under All-Star team in 2020. Coach Sam has coached groups from stroke school through Junior level as a club coach, but Intro groups have always been where her heart is. Some may also recognize Coach Sam as Mrs. Groom, a frequent substitute teacher at Aikahi Elementary. When she isn't coaching or subbing, she can also be found cheering on the soccer sidelines.

Kate (Costello) Perry has spent the better part of over 20 years on and off age group coaching with USA swimming. Kate rejoined Aulea after a year as an assistant coach on the Big Island with Academy Swim Club. Prior to joining Aulea, Kate worked as head coach of Hickam Hurricanes (HI), mentor at Yuma Heat Swim Club (AZ), AG coach at Naval Academy Aquatic Club (MD), and Intro swim coach at Long Island Aquatic Club (NY).  

More recently Kate has won overall and age group swims in the North Shore Swim series multiple times and age group winner in the Waikiki Roughwater swim. Her favorite swims have been spotting a hammerhead shark during a rainy double roughwater race, and doing the Maui channel in an all-women relay. 

Kate moved to Hawaii to start a family after serving as an active duty Marine Corps officer.  She loves to surf, hike, and escort her kids in the ocean. She plans to rejoin Masters swimming to follow in her grandmother Charlotte Costello’s footsteps as a Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame member and former World masters record holder.