Coaches and Directors
Coach Erica Thomas joined the USSC Coaching Staff in 2001 as the Head Age Group Coach and became the Head Coach and Aquatics Director of the program in 2006. During her time at USSC, the team has nearly tripled in size to over 300 year-round athletes and has become one of the highest performing teams in the state and country, earning a Bronze Medal in USA Swimming's Club Excellence recognition program in 2022 and 2023. Since becoming Head Coach, USSC has broken hundreds of team records, set multiple Michigan Swimming state records, and has qualified swimmers for every level from Central Zone Sectionals to Summer Junior Nationals.
Coach Erica is proud of USSC swimmers who go on to represent their high school swim teams. Many become their team's captains because of the leadership skills and confidence they gain swimming for USSC.
Swimming with USSC has also opened doors for many of our athletes to continue swimming at the collegiate level. USSC has had swimmers go on to swim in the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Horizon League, Sun Belt, GLIAC, MIAA, and President's Athletic Conference.
Erica holds a BA in Psychology with a Minor in Exercise Science, and graduated with a Masters in Counseling in 2009 from Oakland University. Beginning in 1999, she coached various high school teams in Macomb and Oakland County. Eventually she became the Head Coach for Boys (2010) and Girls (2018) at Stoney Creek High School, our club's home facility.
Ahern lives in Oxford with his wife Traci and his children, Ashlyn and Grady.
Coach James DeWitte joined the USSC Coaching Staff in 2010 and has held many coaching positions during his time with the team, working with all ages and abilities within the program. For the first several years of his tenure, he was the lead coach of Age Group 2 and, alongside former USSC coach Tim Hickey, brought the 12 & Under State Team to it's first ever runner-up finish at the 2016 Short Course State Championships. In the years that followed, James transitioned to the lead coach of the Senior Development group, where he directly oversaw the development of swimmers that achieved National Age Group Top 100 rankings and the team's youngest Sectional and Junior National qualifiers. After working for a few years on a part-time basis assisting at every level from Novice to Senior, James returned to full-time coaching in the the fall of 2023.
James joined USSC at the age of 6 and swam competitively as a Polar Bear for 10 years. He was a 12 & Under State Champion and Sectionals qualifier with USSC, as well as a MHSAA Division 1 State Champion in 2007 while attending Brother Rice High School.
Coach James holds a Bachelor's degree (BS) in Health Sciences and a Master's in Public Health (MPH) from Oakland University.
Coach Kat joined the USSC Coaching Staff in 2016 and is the Lead Coach of our Novice program.
Coach Chris Hackett joined the USSC Coaching Staff in 2020 as an assistant coach, working primarily with our Intermediate and Junior groups. Starting in 2023,, Chris became the Lead Sr White Coach. He also works with age group practice groups as needed.
Coach Chris began his coaching career in 2011 as the Head Age Group Coach of the North Oakland Waves. Chris has over 30 years of competitive swimming experience. He represented Solon (OH) High School and the Solon Swim Club at the State and National Level as a middle distance freestyler. He swam at the University of Michigan for Hall of Fame coach Jon Urbanchek, and has remained active in swimming as a Masters Swimmer. He competes at Masters Meets in the pool but really enjoys open water racing. In 2011, he won the high point award at the Michigan Masters State Swimming Meet. In 2009, he was the 10K Open Water National Champion for his age group. In August 2024, he scored for the 16th time in his age group at the Harbor Springs Coastal Crawl. In his 16 swims he has won 12 times.
Liz Stone joined USSC in the fall of 2023. She works with Age Group 2 and Senior Silver groups.
As an athlete, she represented the United States at the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She also swam for the United States at the World Para Swimming Championships in 2006 & 2010. She earned medals at Beijing, London, Durban and Eindhoven.
Coach Ben has over 8 years of coaching experience. He worked with a variety of swimmers ranging in abilities from new swimmers all the way to National Age Group Top Ten performers.
He also has 15 years of experience in competitive swimming as an athlete. Coach Ben swam at Denison University (2011-2015) and earned NCAA All-American honors and also contributed towards the men’s team winning the national championship in 2012.
Prior to joining USSC in 2021, Will coached at the Greater Kalamazoo Crocs (Portage, MI) for 5 years and Wise Swim School located in Apple Valley, Minnesota for 6 years.
Coach Auben Nugent joined the USSC coaching staff in the fall of 2023. He works primarily with the Novice groups.
Coach Auben had a long age group swimming career in Michigan. After high school, he swam for the Florida State University Seminoles. This fall he has returned to Michigan and is now swimming for the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. He is highly ranked in all strokes, with high power point swims in the 200 Fly and 200 IM.
