NCAT COACHING STAFF
Eric Peterson
NCAT Director / Shaker Site Head Coach
Coach Peterson served as Head Coach of the Shaker Sharks for 20 years before becoming the director of the North Coast Aquatic Team. Prior to that, Coach Peterson spent 10 years in Kent, Ohio as the Head Coach of the Western Reserve Seariders and as the Head Coach of the Kent Roosevelt High School Swimming and Diving Team. Coach Peterson also coached the Tallmadge Middle School and High School Teams. Since coming to the Shaker, Coach Peterson has been named Coach of the Year for several high school conferences numerous times. He serves on the Executive Board for the Ohio High School Swim Coaches Association. He has coached several state champions, numerous state qualifiers and has had 7 All-Americans. Coach Peterson has been involved with Lake Erie Swimming, serving on the Board of Directors and multiple times as Head Zone Team coach. He has also worked as a counselor and the Director for the Stanford National Swim Camps. Coach Peterson is married to his wife; Sarah and they have 5 children- Oliver, Paige, Charlotte, Isabelle and Jack.
Dave Perchinske
Solon Site Head Coach
Coach Perchinske is entering his sixth year as Head Coach of Solon Swimming, previously with the Solon Stars and now as part of NCAT. In addition to these duties, he teaches in the Solon City Schools District and serves as the head coach of the high school program and pool director. Previously, Coach Perchinske worked for six years with the Shaker Sharks and two years with the Dublin Sea Dragons, as well as several high school swim Teams (South Columbus, Shaker Heights, and Cuyahoga Heights High Schools). Coach Perchinske graduated from John Carroll University with a BA in History and a minor in Education. He also holds an MEd in Social Studies and Global Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an EdS in Administration and a Ph.D. in Leadership from the University of the Cumberlands. As a competitive swimmer, Coach Perchinske swam for the Solon Stars, Solon High School, and John Carroll University swim Teams. In his spare time, he enjoys lifting, playing banjo, RVing with his wife and dog, and attending music festivals.
Steve Jacobs
Shaker Site Head Age Group Coach
Coach Steve joined Shaker Swimming in the fall of 2020 as the Head Age Group Coach. He also serves as an assistant coach on the Shaker Heights High School Swim Team. Before joining the Sharks, he was the Associate Head Coach of Cleveland Elite Aquatics (formerly University Swim Club), where he lead the Euclid High School site which produced perennial Zone and National qualifiers and saw multiple swimmers achieve NAG Top 100 times. He was also the Head Coach for both the Euclid and Wickliffe High School swim teams. Steve is passionate about helping swimmers learn to challenge themselves while developing the passion, drive, and discipline required to take their next step, be it their first NAG time or their first national level cut. Steve grew up swimming in Northeast Ohio and competed collegiately at Case Western Reserve University, where he earned his degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Outside of the pool, he is an engineer and consultant in product design and development, working with startups and entreapreneurs to develop their ideas. He is a recreational tri-athlete, runner, loves live music, and is quite possibly the world's biggest Star Wars fan.
Chris Marquiss
Solon Site Head Age Group Coach
Chris started his swimming career at age 6 on a recreational team in Jacksonville, Florida. At age 9 he moved to Brookfield, Wisconsin and joined his first competetive swim team. At this time his main events were sprint freestyle and backstroke,which were good enough to qualify him for the Wisconsin Zone Team. At 14 he moved to Ohio and swam with the STARS through high school. During this time, he transitioned into a mid-distance swimmer then back to sprint freestyle and butterfly. He qualified for the Junior National meet at 18 just before going to Case Western Reserve University where he would swim for two more years. He ended up joining the STARS as a coach in 2013 and has coached just about every group since.
Kelly Fussner
Shaker Site Dev 2-3 Group
Coach Kelly joined Shaker Swimming in 2021 and has loved getting to work with so many of the different groups! Before joining the Sharks, Kelly was an assistant coach for Cleveland Elite Aquatics (formerly University Swim Club) with Coach Steve. University Swim Club was also Coach Kelly’s home as a young swimmer from Middle School through High School. Kelly has been a swimmer since age 5, where breaststroke was quickly her favorite and best stroke, swimming for and eventually coaching a summer recreation team out of Aurora, Ohio. Kelly also swam for Club Swimming at Ohio State in college. She loves working with swimmers of all ages helping them realize and reach their personal goals! Out of the water, Kelly is a Middle School Math and Science Teacher. Her favorite things to do are spend time with her husband and their dog Captain hiking and kayaking!
Brendan Pham
Solon Site Dev 1 Group Lead
Douglas Champoir
Solon Site Dev 2-3 Group Lead
Doug has been a competitive swimmer since the age of 9, competing for the Massillon Gators, Perry High School Team, and the Division I Cleveland State Vikings. His specialty strokes were the 100 & 200 Breastroke, as well as the 200 & 400 Individual Medley. He has coached for 15 years across all Developmental groups and enjoys focusing on improving swimmer technique and overall effort and passion for the sport.
Emily LaVigne
Solon Site Senior Assistant
Charlie Lownes
Shaker Site- Senior Assistant, Dev 1-3 Coach
Charlie brings with him over 30 years of coaching experience alongside an impressive career of his own.
Charlie has been the head coach of Cleveland Elite Aquatics, formerly University Swim Club since 1995. Under his leadership USC/CE has seen impressive triumphs including having been to the Olympic Trials, produced six US Nationals qualifiers and over ten Junior National qualifiers, been a regular presence on the Lake Erie Zone team, placed as high as 2nd and the Lake Erie District Championship meet.
Charlie began coaching at Paul Hannah Swim Club in Granville, OH where he coached several swimmers ranked in the US Top 16 and one swimmer ranked in the Top 25 in the world. While in the Peace Corps from 1988-1991 he coached the Guatemalan National Team. Following his time in the peace corps, he coached high school and club teams in Cincinnati until 1995. Charlie was voted Coach of the Year, 2002-2003, for Ohio High School Swimming.
Apart from his extensive coaching experience he boasts notable accolades from his time as an athlete. He is a four year letter earner, Lownes is a 16-time NCAA All-American swimming at Denison University from 1985-1988. In his first season at Denison, he was named the NCAC’s Most Outstanding Swimmer and in 1987 and 1988 he received the team MVP award. A captain as a senior, Lownes was named to the NCAC’s 10th Year Anniversary Team in 1994. He was a four-time conference champ in the 200-yard breaststroke and also won NCAC titles in five other events at the NCAC Championships. This outstanding list of accomplishment contributed to his being inducted into the Dennison University hall of fame in 2004.
Preme Prasannil
Shaker Site Assistant Coach
Ethan Goldfarb
Shaker Site Assistant Coach
Grace Chen
Solon Site Pre-Competitive Group
Sophia Chen
Solon Site Pre-Competitive Coach
