Coach Kirk joined the WNCY Piranhas coaching staff in 2013 and shortly after became the Director of Competitive Swimming for YMCA of Western North Carolina. Since joining Piranhas he has coached National Group swimmers to 5 YMCA individual national titles.

In 2013 Coach Kirk moved to Asheville from Tallahassee, Florida where he was an Assistant Coach with FSU, where he coached for  3 total years over two separate stints. During his time there he coached multiple NCAA All-Americans and served as the Men's recruiting coordinator. FSU earned top 5 finishes at ACC's for both Men's and Women's teams during the 2013 season.

Prior to coaching at FSU, Coach Kirk spent 6 seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Iowa. During this time, he helped build the Hawkeye program. He assisted in improving their finishes at Big Ten Championships setting new school records and climbing the CSCAA rankings. The 2011-12 season was historical for the Hawkeyes as Kirk helped guide the Men's team to their best Big Ten finish (5th) since 1996. They completed the season ranked 14th in NCAA Division I. In 2012 he also coached 14 swimmers to Olympic Trial Cuts and coached a Canadian National Champion. 

Coach Kirk was a nine-time All-American swimmer at Auburn University from 1998-2002, where he helped the Tiger's  achieve a 1999 NCAA team title, and received the Auburn Swimming Award in 2002. Kirk finished 3rd in the 200 backstroke and 8th in the 200 IM at the 2002 NCAA Championships. He was also SEC Champion in the 400 medley relay in 2002.

Kirk earned his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Auburn in 2002. He received a Master's degree in Physical Education-Sports Administration from Florida State in 2006. Kirk is an ACE YMCA certified strength and conditioning coach. Kirk hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He and his wife, Kendra have 2 sons Pierce and Kirby, both are Piranha swimmers.

 

Coach Megan began working as an Aquatics Coordinator at the Reuter YMCA in 2021. When dropping down to part time she began coaching with Piranhas in 2022. Megan graduated from Appalachian State University in 2019 with a degree in Recreation Management and Exercise Science. Since then she has been working in recreation all over Western North Carolina. She has been in Asheville since 2021, still loving it even after Helene.

Megan, ironically, grew up in the wrestling and volleyball realm of athletics in grade school and college. She wrestled competitively in and out of school for 10 years and played volleyball for 8 years. She currently swims on the Piranhas Masters Swim Team, enjoys long distance, and loves to play pick up volleyball at Highland Brewing in the sunny season.  

Coach Megan currently resides in South Asheville with her cat, Ferguson. She enjoys the outdoors, especially climbing and biking, and loves to share those hobbies with family and friends. If you see her around, she would love to hear about your travels to give her an idea of where to adventure to next.

Coach Darian joined the WNCY Piranhas coaching staff in September of 2018. Darian coaches the elite level age group swimmers in Chomp Group and helps out with the other groups when needed. He started swimming at a young age, spending his summers always around the pool. Darian swam at Hendersonville High School for 4 years. During those years he was a team captain, swam at regional and state finals, and set a school record in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Coach Darian's favorite events are the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. 

Coach Darian is a real estate agent as well, with Weichert Realtors-Mountain Executives. He is grateful that he can pursue both of his passions at the same time!

 

Coach Michelle is a long time Piranhas Coach and has recently returned to the Asheville Staff. She has had 3 children on the Piranhas team that went on to swim at the college level. Michelle swam as an age grouper in Trinidad.  Her family later moved to Miami where she swam for Miami Dade Stingrays during high school years. Michelle then went on to swim collegiately at Emory University and was an all American and part of NCAA DIII National Championship teams.  She and husband Rick both swam at Emory.  She taught 3^rd and 4^th grade for 5 years. Michelle started the summer league program at Biltmore Park and was the coach for 9 years prior to joining the Piranha staff.  Coach Michelle brings a solid teaching and coaching background to the Piranha program.

Competitive swimming has been a part of Coach Celeste’s life since she was very young, when she began swimming in age groups when living on the island of Oahu, Hawaii at age 8.   As Coach Celeste grew up as an Army Brat she was required to move often, and always found a home in the pool.   Her last competitive team was in high school while living in Maryland.

 

After a long career as a litigation paralegal, having a family of her own reorganized her goals and Celeste became a Certified Precision Alignment Yoga Instructor in 2018.   Her daughter quickly caught the swimming bug and began competitively swimming at age 5, at which time Coach Celeste began getting involved in her daughter’s teams, leading to her coaching with the Piranhas beginning in January of 2023.   Coach Celeste still enjoys swimming, long distance running, and yoga

Coach Paige joined the WNCY Piranhas coaching staff in August 2021. She coaches the Asheville Senior Development group. Her coaching experience begins with being the Assistant Coach (for 6 years) of the summer league team, the Westpark Marlins, in Irvine, CA. This is the team she started swimming with at the age of 7, where she found her love for being in the water.

Tim is a lifelong swimmer and has nearly 20 years of coaching experience. He started swimming in Naples, Florida at the age of 7 years old, successfully competing in year-round swimming through his collegiate vears. He attended wright State university on a swimming scholarship and graduated with an B.S. in Exercise Physiology. Following graduation he coached at Cleveland State University prior to moving back to Southwest Florida. Tim then competed in Masters swimming and open water swimming while coaching the T2 Masters team in Naples. Tim, his wife Jennifer, Mitchell the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, and Abe the 3 legged cat relocated to Asheville in 2022 to be closer to family. In Asheville, Tim has been seen coaching the T.C. Roberson High school swim team, swimming in our local pools and lakes.
gravel biking in the Arboretum. and hiking the beautiful surrounding mountains

Hailing from the unlikely swimming mecca of the high plains of Texas, Coach Doug swam for the Amarillo Aquatic Club (AAC) during the 1970s. AAC was notable for being picked to host the very first U.S. Masters swimming championship in May of 1970. Young Doug swam for three years as an age-group swimmer under Doug Russell, another West Texas (Midland) product and the first gold medalist in the inaugural 100 butterfly at the 1968 Olympics. Young Doug was a regional finalist in West Texas UIL high school swimming for the 100 butterfly in 1978 and an A.A.U. Senior Circuit qualifier in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM in 1979.

Doug comes back to swimming after a long and productive career as a water-quality hydrologist and geospatial mapping analyst for the state of Arizona, retiring from those professions in 2020. Doug and wife Debbie (with 20 yr. old cat Mushi) moved from Arizona to North Carolina in 2023, where they revel in the more temperate climate of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Coach Doug has three grown step children (two in NC, one in AZ)  and two grandchildren in the Raleigh area. In his spare time, Doug enjoys bicycling, hiking, qigong, playing keyboards, reading and writing. Fun facts: Coach Doug did a bicycle tour of the U.S. west coast in the 1980s, covering over 1500 miles in about five weeks. He still has the same bicycle. And Coach Kirk and Coach Doug both swam meets in the same pool on the Texas Tech campus about 15 years apart!