The Current - Coaches

Chris Sheppard - Head Coach/Owner

As an athlete, Coach Chris has been fortunate to train under some of the nation’s great swim coaches. He learned to swim with the University of Florida’s USA Club, now Gator Swim Club, led by Randy Reese. He also trained as an age group athlete with Former American Swim Coach Association (ASCA) President and US National Team Coach Paul Blair at the Little Rock Racquet Club Dolphins. While training as a distance freestyler & backstroker at the Bolles School under Gregg Troy, the 2012 Olympics US Men’s Swimming Team Head Coach, Coach Chris earned his first US Nationals qualifying times and National Age Group Rankings.

Under Coach Chris' guidance, The Current has placed one athlete on the US National Junior Team and the US World Junior Championship Team, 2 x Olympic Trials Qualifier, 3 US National Qualifiers, 7 US Junior National Qualifiers and 10 Academic All-Americans and the team and individuals have broken dozens of New England records. More than 25% of the team earns New England Top 10 designations each year, and and more than 15% earned Top 100 in the US in 2018.

While performance is important to Coach Chris, it is not the most important. Coach Chris' coaching philosophy revolves around developing the whole individual and community together. High performance is not likely, and not nearly as valuable, when it comes at the sacrifice of strong character. This philosophy is tangible on deck at practice and at meets through the loud, visible support demonstrated by Commonwealth athletes and coaches.

In 2019 Coach Chris was voted "Dorsi Raynolds New England Coach of the Year" for overall club performance by his peers in New England. This was the second time Coach Chris has won such an award; in 2009 he was voted New England Age Group Coach of the year.

Prior to founding Commonwealth Swimming, Coach Chris spent 9 years as the first Head Coach of the CRA Dragons (2006-2015). Under his leadership Coach Chris led the growth from 25 swimmers to 179, with more than 9 New England Records, multiple National Age Group Rankings, Scholastic All-American athletes and National and Junior National Qualifiers. In 2017 Coach Chris was selected as a coach for the Eastern Zone Select Camp.

In 2009 Coach Chris was named New England Age Group Coach of the Year. He is currently an ASCA certified Level 3 coach and was chosen as a part of the 2011 American Swim Coaches Association Fellows class where his topic of study was “Coaching Boys”. He has been a member of the New England Swimming Board of Directors for 9 years, presently in the role as Performance and Development Chair. He currently sits on the USA Swimming National Diversity and Inclusion Council.

In his free time Coach Chris enjoys caring for his dogs, live music, game nights with friends and a beautiful night at Fenway Park.

Stephen Andersen - Senior Assistant Coach, RipTide Coach, Team Admin

Email: [email protected]

Coach Steve began swimming at age 8 for the Concord NH YMCA team and juggled swimming and baseball until his junior year of high school. After high school, he went to Saint Michael’s College and swam all four years being named Captain his senior year. After graduating in 2017 with a degree in Economics and Math, he found a job in Boston and connected with Chris and the commonwealth staff shortly thereafter to help the team where they might need him. Coach Steve was brought on as a full time assistant coach and team administrator in September of 2021.

Coach Steve self describes as a swim nerd and enjoys keeping up to date on the swimming world in New England, the US, and around the world. When he is away from his desk job and the pool deck, coach Steve enjoys biking, hiking and skiing.

Ellen Caruso - Age Group Coach, High Tides Lead Coach

Email: [email protected]

Coach Ellen started swimming at the age of five at her local club team. Ellen swam for her club team S.E.A.S. in Brockport, NY. She completed her competitive swimming career after graduating from Niagara University as a Division I athlete where she specialized in the 100 and 200 fly/back.

Prior to joining Commonwealth Swimming, Ellen spent 10 years as a swim instructor and 10 & Under coach alongside of Coach Chris at the CRA Dragons. Ellen is currently a 5th grade Special Education Teacher at a charter school in Somerville. Coach Ellen received a Masters Degree from Lesley University in 2006 in Curriculum Instruction/Literacy and from Simmons College in 2011 with a degree in Special Education.

In her free time, Coach Ellen enjoys cooking, especially Italian.

Jenna Willis - Age Group Coach, Undercurrent Lead Coach

Email: [email protected]

Coach Jenna began swimming competitively at eight years old. She was a member of the University of Kentucky Women’s Swimming & Diving team, specializing in the 200 and 100 yard breaststroke events, as well as the 200 IM. In her senior year, Coach Jenna was named team Captain.

Coach Jenna received her BA in Psychology from the University of Kentucky in 2012 and her Masters Degree in Social Work from Boston College in 2006. Coach Jenna is now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and works full time as the Assistant Membership Director at the Oak Square YMCA.

Coach Jenna has coached swimmers of all ages and provided swim lessons to many young children new to the sport. She has spent the last year as an Associate Head Developmental Coach working with 12 & Unders. At Commonwealth she will be in charge of our Undercurrent program. In her free time, Coach Jenna enjoys going to the movies and swimming.

Alex Santos - Age Group Assistant

Coach Alex began swimming at age 13 for the Windsor High School Swim Team (Windsor, CT) to cross-train for spring soccer season and ended up falling in love with the sport. He went on to study Psychology (’14) and swim for Clark University (Worcester, MA), where he completed his tenure as a 4-year varsity scholar-athlete and co-captain. During his time as an undergraduate, Alex spent two of his summers (2011 & 2012) as head coach for the Windsor Water Rats Express’ (WWRX) 8 & Under swim team. Alex remained at Clark for a 5th year to earn his master’s degree in public administration (’15), and work as an assistant coach for the varsity men’s & women’s swim teams.

After completing a pre-med post-baccalaureate program, Alex pursued his master’s degree in Medicinal Chemistry (’19) at the Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal), where he specialized in neuroendocrinology while working at the Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology. Since graduating Alex has been a cell & gene therapy (CGT) scientist in the greater Boston area, working for companies such as Bluebird Bio and Be Biopharma.

Alex continues to work in the CGT field as a Regulatory Scientist & CMC consultant. While he loves his day-job, it’s coaching the kids on the Current that fills his cup. In his free time, Coach Alex likes to read, surf, and hang out with his feline familiar, Felix.

Quinn Beattie - Senior Assistant Coach

Coach Quinn began swimming competitively when she was seven for her club team in Northern California, AquaSol. Quinn continued swimming through college at Concordia University in Irvine, CA. After college, Quinn moved to New England and here she spent time coaching for Solo Aquatics in Exeter and Haverhill along with working as an ocean rescue lifeguard at Hampton Beach. Coach Quinn then had the opportunity to move to Thailand to continue coaching swimming for the British International School of Phuket. Since returning from Thailand in 2020, Quinn earned her Masters degree in School Counseling from Merrimack College and is now working in student support at an elementary school in Chinatown.

When she is not working, Quinn loves cooking, working out, and hanging with friends.

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