NCAT COACHING STAFF
Eric Peterson
NCAT Director / Shaker Site Head Coach
Coach Peterson served as Head Coach of the Shaker Sharks for 23 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 Lead
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
Shaker 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.
Brittany Miller
Shaker Site Assistant Coach
Coach Brittany joined Shaker swimming in the fall of 2018 as one of the developmental coaches. She also serves as an assistant coach on the Shaker Heights Middle School Team. Brittany enjoys helping our novice groups fall in love with the water and begin to view swimming as a sport. She loves to watch that “lightbulb” go off when learning and perfecting a difficult stroke combination or cheering for completing that first 100! Brittany grew up swimming in Northeast Ohio and competed collegiately at Cleveland State University for two years before taking an opportunity to study abroad for a year. She studied Early Childhood Education and was a preschool and Pre-K teacher for 13 years at Le Chaperon Rouge schools before becoming a mom just last year! Brittany is married to her husband, Cory and they have 1 son, Everett. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking in the Metroparks, trying out new local restaurants, and loves attending sporting events.
Sarah Haley
Shaker Site Assistant Coach
Coach Sarah joined the NCAT Shaker site in the Spring of 2021. She has been coaching since 2016, previously as an assistant coach for Cleveland Elite Aquatics and as an age group coach for her first swim team, the Willowick Wildkats. She swam competitively for 13 years in Northeast Ohio on recreational and USA teams, and went on to swim collegiately at Grove City College where she was a 4-year varsity team member and served as team captain in her senior year. She’s been a breaststroker ever since the beginning, and also competed in individual medley and freestyle events. Sarah earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Grove City and will be graduating from Cleveland State University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in December 2022. She is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and her hobbies outside the pool include trying lots of land sports like running and weightlifting, hiking and paddle boarding, and hanging out with her dog Lacey!
Campbell Patterson
Shaker Site Assistant Coach
Coach Campbell started coaching NCAT at the Shaker site in the fall of 2021. He works as an assistant coach for the age group program. Campbell loves to work with swimmers on improving their technique, and helping them appreciate the lessons swimming teaches. He’s in the process of completing his degree in Psychology and Cognitive Science while competing collegiately at Case Western Reserve University. He swims sprint freestyle and loves the relays. Campbell also works at the athletic center on CWRU’s campus and as an undergrad research assistant.
Forrest Campbell
Solon Site Assistant Coach
Forrest joined NCAT in the Spring of 2022. He grew up swimming for the Solon Stars, and went on to compete for Solon High School and John Carroll University. His favorite memory is swimming at the Diviision III NCAA National CHampioship with coach Jonah during his senior year at John Carroll. Outside of the pool he loves to hike and play ultimate frisbee.
Jonah Venos
Solon Site Assistant Coach
Jonah went to Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. He is currently studying Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science at John Carroll University. Coach Jonah and Coach Forrest swam together at John Carroll University. Joanh's favorite memory is finishing 5th at D3 Nationals in the 200 Medley Relay with Coach Forrest.
Grace Perlberg
Solon Site Pre-Competitive Group Lead
Grace Perlberg started coaching in 2021 and has been teaching lessons since 2020. She is a current student at Solon High School who will be graduating in 2023 and is planning on going into Physical Therapy for college. She also has been swimming competitively since she was 8 years old and her favorite event is the 200 IM. She is currently a 2x state qualifier and GCC swimmer of the year for 2022 along with holding a multitude of Solon Stars Records. She plans to continue her swimming career in college and in her free time she enjoys baking and coloring.
