Coach Brown has over twenty years of coaching experience. Before joining the NCAC staff in 2017, Coach Brown coached at the University of Arizona (2014-2017) and with the Sarasota Sharks in Sarasota, FL (1994-2014). Coach Brown’s coaching career began after swimming at Ball State.

Coach Brown’s most notable coaching accomplishments include USA Swimming Jr. Pan-Pac Staff 2012, USA Swimming Jr. World Championship Staff 2013, Third place team at Summer Junior Nationals 2010 and 2013, Coaching multiple National Age Group Record Holders, and YMCA National Team Champions 2006-2013. At the University of Arizona, Coach Brown coached PAC-12 champions and NCAA All-Americans.

Coach Brown’s consistency, loyalty, and honesty and integrity are some of the reasons that NCAC has experienced recent success and growth.

Steve has been married to his wife Anne since 2001-and they have three girls Avery 15, McKenzie 13, and Riley 12 and a golden retriever named Wrigley.

Get to know Coach Brown…

Favorite Drill: Breaststroke 1 pull/3 kick drill

Favorite swimming memory: Watching his athletes represent the USA in International Competition with the American Flag on their cap.

Favorite quote: “mind-numbing consistency”

According to Coach Brown, “Through the hours of meets and training, many times difficult training, bonds are formed between teammates that cannot be replicated or duplicated in the real world. This is what will carry the athletes through the rest of their lives. These events or workouts or meets that they had to rely on their teammate(s) to help get them thru that is what makes the sport so special.”

Lead Coach--Performance Red and Performance White

Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach Oshkosh YMCA 5 years; Head Age Group Coach Newburgh Sea Creatures 1.5 years; Head Coach South Central Swim Team 1 year; Head Coach Fox Cities YMCA 7 years; Assistant Coach Oshkosh West Cross Country 4 years.

Favorite Drill: Body Position Kicking

Favorite Quote: Perfection is not attainable, but in the pursuit of perfection we will catch excellence. We will pursue perfection recklessly. 

Christopher comes to NCAC most recently from Madison, WI where he was coaching with the Madison Aquatic Club. However, he spent the majority of his coaching career in Beaverton, OR as the Associate Head Coach with the Tualatin Hills Swim Club  

At T-Hills, Christopher develpoed swimmers from the ages of 13-18. He also helped guide the team and athletes to several Futures Top 3 finishes Summer Junior and Senior National appearances and even a future Olympian. He was twice nominated for ASCA Age Group Coach of the year (the winner being Coach Watts).

As a former collegiate cross country and track athlete, Christopher is still and avid runner and participates in the Hood to Coast relay every year. he regularly run, walks, and plays frisbee with his two dogs Nitro and Goose. When he's not outside, he's either devouring the stack of books next to his bed or working hard to become the best home chef this side of the Mississippi.

Get to know Christopher…

Favorite Drill: Band Pull

Favorite Swimming Memory: At the 2016 Speedo Sectionals in Federal Way we wanted to win the meet on both the guys and girls sides. We decided to take a risk and split both of our 800 free relays on the first night. It was a risky move but we ended up going 1-2 with both the guys and girls and that set us up for one of the best meets we've ever had!

Favorite Quote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose” 

Challenge and Dynamo Group Lead Coach/Safe Sport Coordinator

Coach Watts has almost forty years of coaching experience. Before joining the NCAC staff in 2018, Coach Watts coached with the Sarasota Sharks in Sarasota, FL (1984-2018).  Coach Watts’s coaching career began teaching swim lessons which evolved into full-time coaching.

Coach Watt’s most notable coaching accomplishments include dominating age group swimming in Florida with the Sarasota Sharks from 2004-2018. Coach Watts is an ASCA Level 5 age group coach and has coached Age Group champions, NCAA champions, and Olympic and Para Olympic swimmers. But, Coach Watts is most proud when a swimmer hits their first time standard; Coach Watts says that when a swimmer achieves their first time standard and they are “beaming with happiness, knowing that the hard work paid off… that’s it for me.”

Coach Watts has earned both Illinois Age Group Coach of the Year and the Florida Age Group Coach of the Year several times. Recently, Coach Watts was awarded the ASCA/Fitter and Faster National Age Group Coach of the Year (2016) and the North Carolina Age Group Coach of the Year (2020).

Coach Watts’s consistency, stroke mechanics expertise, and ability to motivate his athletes is what makes Coach Watts special and why his athletes are so eager to work hard for him.  1 Cor. 9:24

Get to know Coach Watts…

Favorite swimming memory: Winning the Gulf Coast League Championships in 1976. The lowly Sarasota YMCA beat power house SSC for the first time!

Best thing about a new season: Experiencing a group of swimmers come together as a team early in the season.

What makes swimming special: you work for what you accomplish and that goes for coaches, too!

Coach Sean has more than 20 years of coaching experience. He attended Villanova University and got his start in coaching as a freshman in college when his club team encouraged him to start. According to Sean "Nina Smith, my club coach, was a huge postive influence on my life and I was thirlled to have the opportunity to coach alongside her." Before joining NCAC in 2014, Coach Sean coached at Plymouth Witemarsh Aquatic Club.

Coach Sean has coached many athletes over the years that have earned swims at Junior Nationals and a membersherip on the Junior National Team.

Outside of swimming Sean enjoys spending time with his wife Briana and daughter Mila and is eagerly awaiting the birth of their first son. Sean also enjoys being physciall fit and has participated in strength training and bodybuilding. Coach Sean's patience, discipline, and work ethic help him to coach NCAC's young athletes on the rise. He is great at connecting with and inspiring his athletes to be their best. 

Get to know Coach Sean... 

Favorite swimming drill: 1 arm butterfly and 1 arm backstroke

What makes NCAC special: NCAC's outsdanding coaching staff, dedicated swimmers, parents, and administrators are all committed to being the best team we can be. 

Assistant Coach Performance Blue

Coach Rich is no stranger to NCAC! As the previous president of the club as well as the former Head Coach of UNC Swimming and Diving, he has been part of the NCAC community longer than anyone else! The wealth of knowledge and experience he brings to the pool deck is immeasurable. After swimming at UNC and then completing his masters at Duke, Rich has coached at some of the finest university progrems in the southeast and the country. 

Just a few of Rich's many accomplishments include leading the UNC Men to 15th, 14th, 14th finishes at NCAA's (the highest in 50 years). Coaching Stephanie Peacock to an NCAA championship and 1650 record. Coached team USA on at the 2000 Olympics and was 2 times head coach for the World University Games, and finally, coached Ashley Twichell to Gold in the 2017 OW 5k World Championships. 

Needless to say, NCAC is lucky Rich couldn't stay off deck in retirement!!!!! 

Get to Know Coach Rich:

Favorite Quote: "Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill

Favorite Swimming Memory: Stephanie Peacock's NCAA winning the 1650 free in 2012 -- long race, 4 women racing together the first 100, then 3, then 2 flup together at the last turn and race to the touch; coaches, parents & team [members] going crazy cheering Stephanie on to victory! 

What Makes the Sport of Swimming so Special?: Teaches us skills to use in all aspects of our lives & consistently working to your capacity usually yields success. 

Ashley has been involved in athletics since a young age. Ashley was a springboard and platform diver. She dove at Auburn University where she captained three National Championship teams at Auburn in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Ashley competed at the highest level in her sport and accomplished; she placed 6^th at the 2004 Olympic Trials, earned an individual USA Diving national title in 2006, and represented the United Stated in several international competitions. She was involved in USA Diving as an athlete representative and engaged in policy making throughout her career. After her athletic career, Ashley earned an MBA followed by a short stint coordinating events at NASCAR races and time serving as Marketing Coordinator at US Master Swimming. Next, Ashley earned a PhD in strategic management and spent the following decade in academia. During this time, she taught, focused on curriculum development, and engaged in research at the intersection of ethics, strategic leadership, and governance. Though never too far from the pool, she looks forward to returning to a full-time focus in athletics.

Ashley’s organizational skills and strategic thinking help her to see the big picture. She is a critical thinker in ways that help NCAC break down processes and procedures and reimagine them. According to Ashley, “NCAC has a long tradition of excellence and as it continues to evolve, responding to new opportunities and challenges, we will continue to seek out ways in which we can effectively serve NCAC swimmers and families.

Ashley and her husband Mark have been married for 15 years and have three daughters, all of which swim with NCAC.

Mark has been coaching for almost 20 years and currently serves as the Head Swimming and Diving Coach for the University of North Carolina as well as the President of NCAC. Mark attended Auburn University and was a member of the 2003 National Championship swimming and diving team; he captained the 2004 National Championship team. He represented the United States at countless international competitions and served as the Team Captain at many of them. His athletic career is punctuated by several World Championship medals and two Olympic Gold medals (2004; 2008).

Mark became a well-known swim clinician in the mid-2000’s traveling around the country coaching athletes of all ages. He coached at SwimMAC from 2007-2009 and served as the Volunteer Assistant for Auburn University from 2009 until 2012. He then served as Assistant Coach at the University of Missouri from 2012 until 2017 and as Associate Head Coach from 2017 to 2019 until he arrived in Chapel Hill in 2019.

Since his arrival at UNC, the UNC men’s and women’s teams have improved their finishes at both the conference and NCAA levels including top 15 finishes by the women’s team in 2021 and 2022 and several All-American honors.

Mark and Ashley Gangloff have been married for 15 years and have three daughters, all of which swim with NCAC.