FMC Aquatic Coaching Staff
|
Dave Krotiak National Team |
Coach Dave Krotiak joined FMC Aquatic as Head Coach and Director of Facility, Programs & Events for the FMC Natatorium at Ty Warner Park.
|
||
|
Mike Adams
|
Coach Mike Adams is in his second season at FMC. Before that he worked with Coach Dave for 3 years at FOX Swim Club. |
||
|
Conor Ozog |
Coach Conor Ozog began coaching with Ultimate Swimming in 2015, his main responsibility was working with the senior athletes. Soon thereafter, the numbers grew. Over the following two years, his athletes began qualifying for senior championships, Speedo sectionals and NCSA’s. He continued to progress his athletes from participating to scoring. Through Conor’s leadership, his athletes learned to realign their goals and soon discovered their true potential. Conor looks to further develop his knowledge in all aspects of swimming with his expanding role at FMC Aquatic Swim Team.
Conor’s passion is assisting athletes in realizing that they have untapped potential and motivating them to compete with confidence. He believes in setting challenging goals and illustrating that commitment and dedication helps foster improvement throughout an athlete’s season. In and out of the pool, Conor puts an emphasis on mental training, nutrition and recovery. Conor personally has many interests so he understands that having balance in life is important. His coaching style reflects that an athlete can have fun, enjoy the sport with teammates and friends while still taking time to enjoy their successes and accomplishments.
Conor began his swimming career with the Downers Grove Swim & Racquet Club and Express Swim Team, finishing with Westmont Swim Club. Specializing in breaststroke, Conor was a summer junior national qualifier and 4-year Division 1 swimmer.
When building a pool was first considered, Conor was instrumental in taking the idea from a “sketch on a napkin” to what now stands. He was invaluable in bringing suggestions to the planning process throughout the entire development.
Outside of the pool, Conor is a Firefighter/EMT at the Western Springs Fire Department. After completing the full fire academy in 2015, Conor went on to EMT school to advance his life saving training. Emergency Medical Technicians are trained to assist with cardiac, trauma and respiratory emergencies, medical assessment and rescue techniques. With the WSFD, he also has trained in vehicle operations, HazMat and fire-ground tactics. Conor’s training and background bring valuable life-saving skills to the pool deck every day, in addition to a calm and professional response to any emergency situation.
|
||
|
Barb Grosshans |
Coach Barb Grosshans has been part of the coaching staff since 2005 as the team has gone from Westmont Swim Club to West Swim Club, and, now FMC Aquatic Swim Team. Barb has been in and around the pool as a swimmer, instructor, coach, meet director, parent and volunteer for many years. She enjoys coaching every level of swimmer at any age. She is committed to coaching proper technique in a positive and productive manner. Barb believes in promoting self-confidence, best effort, TEAM and FUN. She teaches swimmers to focus on the little things because they become the big things that make a difference.
Barb began her competitive swimming career at age 6, following her older brothers into the water. She has been an instructor of all ages (age 5 – adult) since her teens. In addition to her age group swimming, Barb was a two-time Nebraska High School State Champion in the 100 butterfly. She placed in the top 5 in State in a variety of events all four years of high school. Barb swam as a scholarship athlete at the University of Kansas. Again, she placed in the top 5 of her events at the conference championships, with her team winning the conference title. Barb received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communication from the University of Nebraska.
In addition to coaching at FMC Aquatic Swim Team, Barb swims with our early morning Masters group. She has swum around Manhattan Island in New York (28 miles, about 7 ½ hours) and swam in the freezing waters of Antarctica!
Barb and her husband have three children that all swam for Westmont (WEST) Swim Club and Hinsdale Central High School. Their youngest is currently a member of the Miami University-OH Men’s Swimming and Diving Team. Barb enjoys an active lifestyle and being outdoors. She loves spending time with her family at her parent’s home in Jackson Hole, WY.....
|
||
|
Deryl Leubner
|
Coach Deryl Leubner has a background both as an athlete and coach at the highest levels. Deryl brings 30 years of coaching experience. He has mainly worked with 13 & Older, both in high school and club swimming over the last 20 years.
Coach Leubner's background:
Athletic Achievements:
1988 YMCA Two-time All American
Fie time NCAA Division I All-American 1989-1991
USA Swimming Senior National and US Open Finalist 1990-1993
1990 USA Swimming All-American 50 freestyle
1992 Olympic Trials qualifier
Top 100 world ranking in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle form 1990-1993
Member of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team which won the Senior National Championships from 1991-1993
Coaching Experience:
Head Coach – Triangle Area Golden Gators, 1993-1996, Eustis, FL
Assistant Senior Coach – Academy Bullets, 1996 – 1997, Aurora, IL
Head Coach – Oswego Coop, 1997-2021, Oswego, IL
Head Coach – West Suburban Dolphins, 1997 – 2004, Oswego, IL
Head Coach – Delta Aquatics, 2004 – 2021, Oswego, IL
Professional Awards:
Five-time Sectional Coach of the Year, Naperville Sectional
Three-time State Coach of the Year, Illinois
American Swim Coaches Association Certificate of Excellence recipient 2019, 2017, 2018 USA Swimming World 100 athlete
School District 308 Excellence in Education Award Recipient 2018
Coaching Achievements:
During my almost 30 years of coaching, I have coached all levels of swimmers from novice to the elite. I have had numerous Illinois age-group, senior state, IHSA, NCSA, USA Swimming Winter Junior National, USA Swimming Summer Junior National and USA Swimming Summer National qualifiers, and finalists. I have coached IHSA State Champions and record holders. In addition, I have coached numerous swimmers to the ational top 16 age group awards.
|
||
|
Andy Seibt |
13/14 Coach FMC Aquatics
Head Coach FMC Fossil Fish
National Team Coach Illinois Masters
Andy Seibt is a nationally recognized award-winning coach, who has taught and coached swimming at every level over the past 50 years.
He is the Illinois Coach of the Year and the US Masters Swimming Kerry O'Brien Coaches Award recipient.
As a six-time FINA World Champion, he brings elite level competitive swimming experience to enhance his knowledge and the ability to relate and communicate to his swimmers from the pool deck. He has been mentored by several legendary swimming coaches, including Don Watson, Jack Nelson, and David Krotiak.
Coaching experience:
Fort Lauderdale Swim Team and the Jack Nelson Swim Camps – 4 years
Brigham Young University, a NCAA Division 1 Top Ten program -2 years
Utah Valley Dolphins -2 years where he had the privilege of coaching David Lundberg, a future US National Team member and World Championship Gold medalist.
Westmont Swim Club – 4 years with Dave Krotiak.
Hinsdale Swim Club, Lane Tech College Prep and Hinsdale Central, where he is on IL High School State Team trophies as both a swimmer and a coach.
Fossil Fish Masters - 28 years as co-founder and Head Coach.
Illinois Masters Swim Club - National Team Coach.
Competitive Swimming experience:
3-time IL High School State Champion and IL State Record holder.
3-time High School All-American and National High School Champion.
His #1 High School All-American Award is recognized in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
5-time National Jr Olympic (Jr National) Champion.
3-time NCAA Division 1 All-American and American Record Holder.
USA Olympic Trial Qualifier in 6 different events.
Andy continues to be one of the most accomplished athletes in US Masters Swimming history as he approaches 400 US National Top Ten swims with 49 #1 All-American awards and 12 National Records.
He has also amassed 72 FINA World Top Ten swims, including 6 World Championship titles and 1 World Record.
In Long Distance Pool National Championships, he has won titles in every discipline: 1hour, 5K, 10K, 3000 yard and 6000-yard events.
He also has won every Open Water National Championship distance event;
1 mile Sprint, 1-3 mile Middle, 3-6 mile Long, 6–9-mile Marathon, as well as the 1 mile and 2-mile Cable swims in National Record times.
As an Illinois Championship swimmer, he has won the High Point MVP award 27 out of 28 years.
Andy is the first and only swimmer to be the overall winner of America's 3 most iconic inland/open water races and is also the oldest overall winner in each of the 3: Big Shoulders @ 51, Trans Tahoe @ 52 and Alcatraz @ 60.
Leadership and Service:
Central Masters Swimming Assoc (CMSA) - Board of Directors, Communication and Marketing Chair.
Illinois Masters Swimming Assoc (ILMSA) - Board of Directors, Pool and Open Water Sanctions Chair, Long Distance Chair, Championship Committee Chair.
US Masters Swimming (USMS) - National Board Committees for Fitness Education and Sports Medicine. 8-year Illinois representative to the National House of Delegates.
Andy has again been selected to be the US Masters online coach for Stroke and IM and appointed to write workouts for the 60,000-member organization through the USMS Workout Finder. His infamous high intensity workouts have been rated as expert by the Swim.com weekly subscription platform and can be downloaded and streamed directly to smartwatches in the pool.
He is a top level 3 certified coach and one of the few certified Adult Learn to Swim instructors in Illinois. For the past 10 years, Andy has been the #1 rated and #1 requested private swim instructor/trainer in the Chicagoland area.
|
||
|
Kellie Logterman |
Coach Kellie began swimming at 7 years old for the Rockford YMCA Stingray Swim Team. She swam with the Stingrays for 11 years and made the YMCA national team in 2006. She then continued swimming all four years for Harlem High School in Machesney Park, IL and was lucky enough to have been coached by her dad for two of those years. She continued her swimming career at Eastern Illinois University where she still holds top 10 times in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Kellie still enjoys swimming and competing today at the masters level today. Kellie started coaching in 2010 after graduating college. She went back to her roots to coach for the Rockford YMCA and was even luckier to have gotten to coach alongside her dad at Harlem High School. Her dad passed the head coaching baton onto Kellie and she coached at Harlem for a total of 10 years. She was graciously named the NIC-10 Conference Coach of the year in 2016, 2019, and 2020. Her summers were spent running a competitive swimming program for middle school, high school, and college swimmers at the Rockford Park District as well as running a stroke clinic/swim camp at Harlem. Kellie also coached the Rockford masters swim team and triathletes at the YMCA as well as spent some time assistant coaching at Beloit College.
Currently, Kellie is the head high school coach for boys and girls swim team at Downers North.
|
||
|
|
Coach Pierre Ruffin has over 30 years of experience as a swim coach. His bio is different than that of most swim coaches you will read because his story is markedly different than that of most swim coaches. Most notably missing is a list of Pierre’s personal experience as a swimmer. This is because Pierre does not swim.
He came to swimming by a circuitous route. His four daughters wanted to participate in a sport and swimming seemed like a reasonable and somewhat accessible choice. Pierre attended their practices and events and became a student of the sport. A lifelong learner, Pierre began reading books to advance his knowledge of stroke and technique. To say that swimming changed his life, without being a swimmer, would be an understatement.
His 2014 interview with Gary Hall Sr. of The Race Club in Florida is included in this link
Part of what makes Pierre unique is that he can likely list the names of all the swimmers he has coached and tell you a distinctive story about each. It has been Pierre’s personal approach that has so endeared him to his swimmers. The motto he has hoped to instill in his swimmers is to “never give up”.
In addition to caring about each of his swimmers, Pierre also demands excellence and that each does his/her best. His attention to excellent form at a young age has prepared swimmers to excel as they advance in the sport.
His enthusiasm and passion for the sport bubbles over like a self-proclaimed kid in a candy store. He has touched countless lives and is, in part, one of the inspirations behind the creation of FMC Natatorium at Ty Warner Park.
|
||
|
John Akalaitis |
John began swimming at an early age for RAF (Rice Aquatic Foundation) and Westmont Swim Club during his age group days. He then swam at Fenwick High School, where he earned multiple All-American and All-State accolades. At Fenwick, John was a part of State Championship teams in both Swimming and Water Polo for 2 years straight, an honor no other Illinois team can claim. John continued his training with the last NCAA Division I swim team at Loyola University Chicago where he served as Team Captain during his Senior year, earned many team and conference awards, and broke several team records.
No stranger to the pool deck, John has coached at Lyons Aquatic for the past 12 years. Most of his coaching time has been spent with 11/12's & 13/14's. In addition, John has been on the Benet Academy coaching staff working with the men's team where he helped them win their first Sectional Title. This gives John a vast perspective of helping athletes develop and transition from age group to senior swimming.
John and his wife, Jenny, live in La Grange Park with their four children. John focuses his swimming efforts these days on open water events and will swim in his first 10K this summer. When not in the water, John spends time with his family, loves to fish, and enjoys golfing with his kids.
|
||
|
Tony Senkevicius |
Coach Tony Senkevicius has a wide range of experiences as a swimmer, swim caoch and aquatic director.
As a Park District, USA Swimming Age Group and High School swim coach, Tony has had the privilege of coaching a wide range of athletes. He's worked with all age levels but has has the most experience coaching 11-12s, 13-14s, and high school aged swimmers. Tony's skill set consists of proper technique, leadership skills and core values to further build upon.
Tony's 15 years of coaching experience started with summer leagues in the Naperville area. Tony continued to advance in his coaching working at the club level for Maverick Swim Club, Fox Valley Swim Team and now joining the FMC Aquatic Swim Team. In addition, Tony was an assistant coach for Naperville Central High School boys swim team, University of Illinois @ Chicago Aquatic Directors. We are excited to have Tony join our team as he will be working with the 11 - 12 team.
|
||
|
John Sullivan |
John Sullivan has been involved with swimming for almost 50 years as a swimmer and coach. He has been coaching for 35 years, at the high school, age group, and junior college levels. For the last 22 years, he was the head coach for the men's and women's teams at Deerfield High School and worked with the COHO age group program. During his tenure at Deerfield, John won
His personal belief is that proper stroke technique is the key to reaching one's potential. |
||
|
Todd Fridrych |
Todd joins 11-12 Blue Group Lead Coach Pierre Ruffin in setting the direction of developing our 11-12’s. Todd will be assisted by Tony Senkevicius, who joined FMC last season. Both Todd and Tony bring great energy and experience to one of our most important age groups. A positive approach is the backbone of Todd’s skill set in developing young athletes. Whether it is fundamentals, training as a team, teaching race strategies, or refining stroke technique, Todd believes a love of the sport is key.
Todd brings over 20 years of teaching and coaching experience in applying his message and approach. Not everyone is the same which means they learn differently. Todd is a great communicator of ideas and can adapt to various learning styles. As a teacher, he is entering his 19th year at Riverside-Brookfield High School as a Physical Education teacher, with three years prior at Homewood Flossmoor High School. He has an equal amount of experience as a coach in swimming and water polo. He has coached at all levels of swimming from summer league, year-round club, to high school swimming in roles as both assistant and Head Coach.
Below is further information about Todd Fridrych’s background and accomplishments.
Education
Certifications
American Red Cross Lifesaving Instructor & CPR Instructor, IAPHERD
|
||
|
Rob Busby |
Coach Rob Busby brings more than 20 years of coaching experience at the age group and senior level. Coach Rob has served communities throughout the state of Illinois. He has had incredible success coaching and developing all levels of swimmers, from new age group swimmers to National and Olympic trial qualifiers. Coach Rob got his start coaching for a summer league team in Belleville during high school. His first year-round job was with the Champaign County YMCA while attending the University of Illinois, where he received a degree in economics. Upon graduating from the U of I, Coach Rob returned to the St. Louis area to obtain a teaching certificate in secondary education at Lindenwood University. During this time, he volunteered at a club in Belleville for two summers before returning to the pool deck year-round as the 8&U coach for the YMCA of Southwest Illinois. Coach Rob then joined the Edwardsville YMCA as the head age group coach and senior assistant coach for two years. Following Edwardsville, Coach Rob moved to the Springfield YMCA in 2010 where he served as the Head Coach for nearly a decade. After two and half years with Fox Valley Swim Team and a season with Metro East Titans Swimming, Coach Rob will join the FMC Aquatic Swim Team as the Lead 10&U Coach.
Coaching accomplishments:
Coach Rob’s long association with swimming began at the age of 8 when his mom forced him to join a summer league team in Belleville, Illinois. After moving to Wyoming at age 13, he began swimming full-time. Coach Rob swam for back-to-back Wyoming high school state championship teams with the Campbell County High School. He still spends time in the pool preparing for the opening leg of triathlons. When not on the pool deck, Coach Rob enjoys spending time at the dog park with his Pryedoodle Milo, his best friend Pluto and his owner, Annie.
|
||
|
Annie Gosselin |
Coach Annie found her love for competitive swimming at age 5 on the White Eagle Swim Team in Naperville, IL. She started club swimming that same year for the Naperville Riptides and then by age 9 found herself with the Academy Bullets where she’d compete for the next 10 years. During her time as a Bullet, she won multiple Age Group State titles as well as qualified and placed at NCSAs, Junior and Senior Nationals predominantly in the 200 fly, 200 back, 200 and 400 IM. She attended and competed at Rosary High School in Aurora, IL and then went on to swim 4 more years at Ohio University in Athens, OH. Outside of the pool, Coach Annie likes to be outside with her Great Dane Pluto, his best friend Milo and his owner, Rob. Annie started coaching in the summer of 2017 for Bobcat Swim Club (Athens, OH) where she worked with the 10 & Under age group. Upon graduating in 2021, she returned back to Naperville, IL and coached with FOX mainly working the 11-12 age group. Annie believes success comes from hard work, dedication, and FUN! |
||
|
Ariana Trekas |
Coach Ari started like most swimmers at the age of 8 years old in the summer leagues enjoying being part of the Naperville Otters. The following year she joined year around swimming with Fox Valley Swim Team, and trainer there until her senior year of High School. During this time Ari also swam 4 years at Neuqua Valley High School. She was the live wire on the team, always positive, smiling, and bringing out the better side of her teammates. She just loves swimming!
Ari’s coaching career began where it all started with the Otters Swim Team as an assistant Coach. A few years later she became the Head Coach of Ashbury Swim Team, with over 150 swimmers. Prior to joining FMC Aquatic Swim Team, she was a coach at FOX as an assistant coach primarily coaching the 11-12, & 13-14 age groups.
Currently, Ari is an assistant high school coach for the girls swim team at Oswego High School.
Outside the pool deck Coach Ari is beginning her third year teaching social studies at Oswego East High School.
|
