Coaches and Directors
Coach David Stephens has been involved in swimming for over 35 years both as a swimmer and a coach. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and swam for the Dynamo Swim Club and was an All-American at Marist High School. He continued his swimming career at the University of Michigan and lettered all four years while swimming under Olympic coach Joh Urbanchek. Coach Dave then moved to Chicago for law school and became a swim coach along the way. He completed his JD program at the John Marshall Law School and passed the 2004 Bar Exam. He started the CWAC program in the fall of 2004. Coach Dave is the Development Accounts Manager at St. Ignatius College Prep and also serves as the head coach of the women’s varsity team. His high school teams have won 29 IHSA sectional titles the past nineteen years and produced over 200 All-American performances. Coach Dave was selected as one of the top 10 national age group coaches of the year in 2019.
Coach Dave Gass grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and swam for Space City Swimming and Grissom High School. He continued his swimming career at Delta State University and graduated with a degree in History. Dave also started coaching during these years with summer league coaching and then a graduate assistant coach in college, 2024 marks his 30th year in coaching. Dave moved to Oak Park in 2011 and started coaching with CWAC; prior to this he served as Head Age Group coach of Nitro Swimming in Austin, Texas and Metroplex Aquatics in Dallas, Texas. Dave has coached swimmers to USA Olympic Trials, Canadian Olympic Trials, and the Junior World Championships (Hungary & Philippines). During Dave’s time as the CWAC National Group coach the team has earned spots on the USA Swimming Club Excellence list; finishing as a Silver Medal Club four times and a Bronze Medal club one time.
Alyssa is homegrown EP. She started swimming at the age of 8. She swam for the Evergreen Park Stingrays, CWAC and Evergreen Park Community High School before a two year career at Western Michigan University. In addition to competing, Alyssa was a swim instructor for five years before entering graduate school. She is currently studying applied behavior analysis and works as an in-home therapist for children with autism.
Coach Brian Edgeworth began his CWAC career as a swimmer in 2007 and as a coach in 2008. One of his favorite Pack memories is the trip to the University of Minnesota for Speedo Sectionals 2010. Brian considers the team his extended family and loves watching the reactions of his swimmers as they achieve their goals. He has helped numerous swimmers break CWAC records and qualify for Regional, State and Zone meets. Brian not only challenges his swimmers---he challenges himself. Over the last several years he has competed as an open water swimmer; completed a Half-Ironman; finished multiple Wreck Bag races and the David Gossing Challenge—an event requiring a 4 mile run every 4 hours for 48 hours. He also competes in extreme obstacle course races. Later this month (September 2021), Brian will be competing in the 2021 OCR World Championships in Stratton Mountain, Vermont.
Coach Justin grew up in Chicago and swam for the Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club. He attended Lane Tech College Prep and was a four-year varsity swimmer. He attended the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and was an all-conference finalist for four consecutive years and senior team captain. Justin coached for Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, IL, assisted at his college swim camps, and fifth year coached the Mens' and Womens' swim teams at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. Since joining in 2018, Justin has developed and coached multiple Illinois Age Group State Champions, NCSA Qualifiers, and US Top 100 All-Time Age Group performers.
He also serves as the head coach of Saint Ignatius Girls' & Boys' Swimming & Diving programs and coached multiple NISCA All-Americans, IHSA individual and relay state finalists, and IHSA Top 10 team finishes.
Coach Sue’s passion for swimming has brought her back to CWAC this time as a coach. From 2009 to 2013 she was a parent of a CWAC swimmer, a stroke judge and a starter. Sue grew up in the Chicagoland area and swam for the Lake Forest Swim Club and graduated from Lake Forest College. At Lake Forest Sue was part of All-American relay teams that placed in the top 15th in the nation on a yearly basis. Individually, she finished sixth in the 50-butterfly and 10th in the 100-butterfly. Her junior season she was the Foresters' Most Valuable Swimmer. Sue was also a team captain as a junior and senior. Lake Forest was 38-4 in dual meets during Sue's four seasons and its ninth-place national team finish is, at the time of her induction into the Lake Forest Hall of Fame, the best in the program's history. She also helped the Foresters win their first conference championship. Most recently, Sue is active in scuba diving. She also competes in triathlons, and in US Masters Swimming meets.
Coach Taira grew up in Palos Hills, IL and found her passion for swimming at the age of 6. She went on to compete for numerous clubs in the Chicagoland area where she holds records from 2010-2015. She also qualified for her first NCSA Junior National meet at the age of 13. Taira continued her athletic career at UIC where she graduated with a Bachelors of Rehabilitation Sciences and competed for the Flames for 5 years. She served as team captain for 2 years and is also a two-time record holder for the Flames in the 200 Individual Medley and the 200 Breastroke events. Taira joined the CWAC family in 2021 and can be seen on deck as the head deck supervisor for the Pack Prep program as well as assisting other groups. Taira loves to motivate her swimmers to work hard, reach new heights, and have fun in the water!
Coach Ethan grew up in Skokie, Illinois swam club for the YWCA Flying Fish and Swift Aquatics, and was an All-American at Niles North High School. He continued his swimming career at the University of Illinois Chicago and transitioned from athlete to Volunteer Assistant Coach in 2020. Coach Ethan is entering his fourth year with UIC where he has helped coach multiple individual conference champions and program record-holders. In 2022, Coach Ethan joined CWAC and has coached a top-five age-group state finalist, multiple Age Group State qualifiers, and multiple Regional Champions. Coach Ethan also serves as the Assistant Coach of the Boys’ Swimming and Diving program at Saint Ignatius College Prep. where he has helped Coach Justin coach IHSA State Finalists and break multiple program records.
Paul Moniak is no stranger to the pool deck. Paul began is competitive swimming experience by swimming with Hinsdale Swim Club and Hinsdale Central High School in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, IL. He then went on to Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL) majoring in Political Science and was a four-year varsity letter winner on their Men’s Swimming team. Upon graduating from NIU, Coach Paul decided to head back to the pool deck in September 1991 – this time as a coach. After coaching in Milwaukee, Wi and Stockton, CA, he decided to come back to the Chicago area, where he has remained since 2001. Most recently, he was Head Coach at West Cook YMCA (The Oak Park Swimmers). Paul has worked with swimmers of every age and ability level; swim lessons, age-group, high school/senior level, Division I collegiate athletes, and Master swimmers. Among his accomplishments; coached numerous NCSA Jr. National qualifiers, numerous USA Swimming Jr. National & National qualifiers; athletes who qualified for the 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 USA Olympic Trials, and five time Horizon League Coach of the Year (UIC Head Coach - three times men’s and two time women’s). Coach Paul likes to create a fun (and hard-working) environment on the pool deck while paying close attention to proper stroke and skill technique.
Nicole was born and raised on the Southside and currently lives in the Beverly neighborhood with her husband Chris and three children: Delaney (6), Charlie (5) and Conor (3). Nicole found her passion as an educator for Chicago Public Schools, teaching middle school science for the last 16 years. She began swimming at the age of 6 and continued through her college career. Nicole has given back to the sport by officiating and coaching at the high school level. She loves the sport and loves sharing that passion with young swimmers.
Coach Jamie grew up in Houston, Texas where he swam for The Fleet (Cypress-Fairbanks Swim Club) and Cypress Creek High School, where he won five Texas high school state titles and was a multiple-time All American. He continued his swimming career at The University of Texas where he was an 18-time All American and a member of two NCAA team championships. Jamie represented the United States internationally on three occasions, including winning a silver medal as a member of the US 4x200 freestyle relay at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. After 15 years in finance, Jamie finally saw the light and got back to his endurance athletics roots. He’s been coaching triathlon and swimming for 5+ years.
Coach Nick started his swim career with the Chicago Park District with the Mann Park Marlins on the far southeast side of Chicago. Nick started his coaching career with several Chicago Park District teams. Nick creates a path to excellence by instilling key characteristics of all successful athletes; discipline, hard-work, and dedication. He believes in building a strong foundation for athletes while creating an environment that fosters a passion for swimming. Nick has coached numerous Regional qualifiers and NCSA National qualifiers. Coach Nick started coaching with CWAC in 2022
Coach Pete grew up in Chicago and swam for CWAC for over 10 years. He attended Mount Carmel High School where he was a four-year varsity swimmer and two-time captain. Pete went on to attend University of Colorado Boulder for two years where he swam on their club team, and finished his college career attending DePaul University. He has been coaching CWAC for the past four years and has loved every minute of it. Coach Pete is fascinated with the nuance of the different strokes and loves to dive deep with his swimmers on their technique.
