Coaches and Directors
Coach Taylor started swimming when he was 8 years old for the EASC in Blue Island, and he hasn't stopped swimming since. After graduating from Eisenhower in 2010, he went to Wittenberg University, where he swam for four years, swimming distance freestyle and butterfly.
After graduating from Witt in 2014, he took the opportunity to help restart his former club team, the EASC. He coached for the EASC and the Eisenhower High School boys team from 2014-2019. At EASC, he helped increase enrollment every year and worked to improve the team’s conference standing. At Eisenhower, he worked to increase attendance and commitment, resulting in several new school records and raising the conference ranking from seventh to third in three seasons.
When Taylor accepted a teaching position at Shepard High School, he began coaching the girls’ and boys’ team at Shepard. It was difficult to say goodbye to his Eisenhower teams, but he is happy to be serving his school community here at Shepard. He has been coaching the Shepard girls team since 2018, where he currently serves as the assistant coach, and the boys team since 2019, where he is the head coach. In his time as head coach, the Shepard boys have moved up their conference ranking, sectional ranking, and have consistently shown improvements in performance, dedication, and attitude.
Taylor has been helping out with PASS for the last two seasons, and is excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the local swimming community.
Coach Joe brings decades of competitive
swimming experience to the pool deck. Joe competed for Great
Illinois Swimmers and Victor J. Andrew High School. He continued
his career at the collegiate level, swimming for the Illinois
Institute of Technology, where he was a multi-year NAIA National
Championship qualifier. He currently swims US Masters with the
Fossil Fish at FMC natatorium. Joe coached several summers for
the GILLS and has been a PASS coach since 2024. He is dedicated to
fostering a supportive and high-energy environment that helps
swimmers of all levels set and achieve their personal bests, in and
out of the water.
Coach Nico is currently coaching his 3rd season with PASS & has been with the program for a year now. He swam competitively throughout high school for Dwight D. Eisenhower & specialized in freestyle sprints like the 50m, 100m, & 200m. He graduated from Wisconsin-Madison University in the spring of 2024 with a bachelors in Animal & Dairy Science & is currently working full time with Charles River Laboratories as an Animal Care Technician. In his spare time he enjoys reading, working out & hanging out with friends. His favorite parts about coaching are the pre-race pep talks with the swimmers & the community between swimmers, parents/guardians, and coaches.
Coach Kiwi has been working at Shepard High School as the pool manager since 2019. He has coached the Shepard boys' team with coach Taylor since then, and he is currently the head coach of the Shepard girls team. He swam in high school in both Texas and in Chicago.
Coach Lauren comes to PASS with over 10 years of coaching experience. Since she was 17, Coach Lauren would spend summers teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding in Naperville and Oak Lawn. She went to North Central College, where she swam primarily backstroke and freestyle. Upon graduating, she became the Director of Youth Aquatic Programs, where she tripled attendance and had over two hours in time drops during her first year as the head coach. She was also the Assistant coach for the North Central college men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. The summer before completing her masters program at North Central, she became the Co-Head Coach for a summer swim team in Naperville - Maplebrook II, as well as coaching for Mavericks swim club. Once Coach Lauren finished graduate school, she moved out to Denver, where she swam for the University of Denver Masters team, and worked as the Assistant Aquatic Coordinator at Highlands Ranch Community Association. She worked closely with their learn to swim programs, competitive age group swimmers, and assisted with the Masters team and summer swim teams.
Lauren may look familiar. She was the head coach for POSA for 3 seasons before joining PASS in 2023.
