Head Coach, White Sharks, Juniors and Masters Coach
Born and raised in Minnesota, Eric began swimming with Team Foxjet and later New Hope Crystal Plymouth. Initially thinking he was a backstroker or sprint freestyler, he later found his niche in the longer stroke and freestyle events. A former MN state record holder in the 800-meter Free, Eric earned a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin. While at Wisconsin-Madison, Eric earned degrees in Biochemistry and Genetics as well as completed additional coursework in exercise physiology.
Eric began coaching a small swim club in 1995 where he coached his first state qualifiers, champions, and zones qualifiers. In 1999, Eric began coaching with Badger Aquatics Club (BAC) as Head Site Coach-Middleton. During the next three years, he coached numerous zone qualifiers, state champs, and several top 16 swims, and he helped lead BAC to a combined team state championship in 2000.
The opportunity to coach in Minnesota brought Coach Seversen and his family to SEMS in the spring of 2003 where he assumed the role of Head Age Group Coach. In the fall of 2004, Eric was promoted to Program Head Coach. In the years since joining the SEMS coaching staff, Eric has seen our enrollment nearly triple and our team standing rise to top 10 in Minnesota.
Eric lives in Woodbury with his wife, Gayle, and their two children, Gunnar and Maggie.
Head Developmental Coach
Elizabeth grew up in Coon Rapids, Minnesota and has always loved anything to do with water. She swam for her high school team and was part of the area's club team, Northern Lights Aquatics.
She swam at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where she specialized in swimming the butterfly and majored in History and Elementary Education. While at Eau Claire she met her husband James, who was a diver for the University. They now live in Cottage Grove with their two children Gavin and Kaia, who swim for SEMS, and their springer spaniels Ariel and Jasmine.
Elizabeth is a firm believer that swimming is for everyone and loves to pass on her passion for the sport. She is deeply committed to building up her swimmers’ abilities to tackle life challenges both in and out of the water and has always believed that participation in sports in one of the very best ways to teach our youth the life skills that wil contribute to their future sucess.
Head Senior Coach
Zach re-joined the SEMS staff in 2012 and is the primary coach for the Senior Groups.
Zach grew up in Columbia, Missouri and swam for the Columbia Swim Club starting at seven years old. Zach attended Hickman High School and graduated in 1997. At Hickman he was 10-time Missouri All-State, High School All-American, and school record holder.
Zach attended college and swam for four years at the University of South Dakota; he has a BS in Education (2002) and a Master of Arts Degree in Education (2003).
Zach coached at the Columbia Parks and Recreation Summer League (1996-1998), Siouxland Sharks Swim Club in Iowa (2002-2003), SEMS (2005-2008), Park High Schools Boys & Girls (2004-2008), Rapid City Racers in Rapid City, South Dakota (2008-2010), Lawrence Aquahawks in Lawrence, Kansas (2010-2012), and he is now back with SEMS (2012-present).
Zach has a wide range of coaching experience as he has worked with novice swimmers to Olympic Trials qualifiers in 2012 and 2016. Zach has coached multiple swimmers to team and state records in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Missouri Valley.
Given his accomplishments Zach, is an American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) member and he has achieved ASCA Level 4 Certification.
Along with his coaching duties Zach was formally a Special Education Teacher at Park High School in Cottage Grove, is currently the Supervisor of Special Services at Cannon River STEM School and owns Body Rhythms Massage in Woodbury with his wife Rachael. Zach and Rachael have three children (Averie, Aaron, Addison).
Assistant Developmental Coach
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