Jesse Schmidt - Head Coach
Lead Developmental, Lead Senior Gold, & Admin
Coach Jesse started his swimming career as a 7th grader on the Farmington High School Boys Swimming & Diving Team. He didn't even know the names of the four different strokes and was afraid to dive into the pool head first. Luckily, he quickly fell in love with the sport and excelled. One of his favorite memories as a swimmer was the first time he qualified for the high school state swim meet. He swam one season at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, but left the team to focus on his education and degree in Sports Pedagogy and Exercise Science.
Coach Jesse has been coaching swimming for nine years. He started as an assistant coach for a high school team and then coached for Lifetime. He is the head coach for the Northfield Swim Club. His favorite stroke is breast stroke. “Every great breaststroker has a different style with the same core techniques. It's also the hardest stroke to swim fast and you get to take a breath on every single pull,” he wrote.
It’s hard for Coach Jesse to pick his favorite thing about coaching, but above all he’s honored to have the opportunity to watch young athletes succeed after watching them work so hard in and out of the pool. He enjoys meeting new athletes and learning about their different interests and personalities. He says he’s always learning new things from his athletes.
When he’s not poolside Coach Jesse can be found in the pool swimming. He continues to train as a swimmer himself. He also enjoys golfing when Minnesota weather permits. He is always learning new ways to help his swimmers excel in and out of the pool.
Tony Parast - Lead Assistant Coach
Lead Age Group, Lead Senior Silver, & Billing
Coach Tony’s swim career started at the ripe old age of three when he cried and refused to enter the YMCA swimming pool for his lesson. Thankfully his brother’s confidence and courage was contagious and he quickly learned to love swimming. He began competitive swimming when he was four years old. As a child and teenager he swam for several different teams in Ohio and Illinois. He also played traveling soccer.
Coach Tony has a Bachelor’s Degree from Western Illinois (2011), a Master Of Arts in Sports Leadership from North Central College (2016), and an Associate Degree in Accounting from Dakota County Technical College (2018). He joined the coaching side of competitive swimming in 2013 and is currently the lead assistant coach for Northfield Swim Club & the Head Coach for the Farmington High School Girls Swimming & Diving team.
Coach Tony’s favorite stroke as a child was butterfly and he loves teaching swimmers how to skip across the water. As he’s gotten older, freestyle has become one of his favorites to swim and coach. He likes how efficient it is and how it can be swam for long distances.
Coach Tony’s favorite part of coaching has evolved as he’s grown. At first he simply wanted to make his athletes competitive and swim fast. Now the relationships he develops with his swimmers are most important. “As I have grown my absolute favorite part of this experience is the human interaction and the relationships we form with one another. I love getting to know my athletes and the things they enjoy outside of the pool, because at the end of the day they are not just swimmers, they are people. They have goals and dreams outside of the pool, and it's important to encourage and help them reach those goals and dreams,” wrote Coach Tony. He firmly believes skills learned in the pool transfer to all areas of life. Skills like goal setting, determination, perseverance, teamwork, honesty, having fun, taking pride in your work, and being open about your feelings.
When Coach Tony isn’t on the pool deck he can be found relaxing at home where he enjoys watching movies & TV shows, reading books, building LEGO sets, & listening to music. (He grew up playing oboe, saxophone & piano!) He also enjoys golfing with Coach Jesse.
Steven Will - Assistant Coach
Coach Steven started swimming in 7th grade. His favorite swimming memory was getting 7th in the 100 Back at True Team Sections and then making finals in the 500 Free and 100 Back at the regular sections meet. He attended college at Buena Vista University where he played tennis. He is currently pursuing a degree in Special Education & Elementary Education through an online university.
Prior to joining the Northfield Swim Club staff, Coach Steven coached for Lifetime in Lakeville. Before becoming a coach he spent 10 years teaching swim lessons. His favorite stroke is the backstroke because he likes breathing the whole time and said “when done right with the rotation it feels good and fast without working very hard.”
His favorite part about coaching is watching his swimmer work hard in practice each day and then finding success at swim meets. He loves celebrating all the time cuts, even if they are just tenths of a second at a time. He also really enjoys teaching swimmers stroke technique so they can swim faster and more efficiently.
When Coach Steven is not at the pool he can be found on the pickleball court, where he is training to go pro. So if you want to learn what the “kitchen” is when applied to pickleball be sure to ask him! (“Cookies” and “Flapjacks” are also pickleball things, not at all related to food or kitchens.) When it’s time to relax Coach Steven enjoys playing video games.
