Coach John Coffman has been with NAAC as Head Coach since 2010 and will lead the way for NAAC again this year.  He has been a Swim Coach since 1990, helped to create the Faster Swimming program with former NAAC Coach Brad Burget, and has presented at the National Level on swimming and athletic performance.  John has helped make NAAC what it is today through his expertise as well as the ever present help of all of the NAAC Coaches, Staff, Board, and Team Families, both past & present.

     John originally joined NAAC as a Coach in 2001 and has been with the team since his family’s return from Florida in 2010.  He has been coaching at the HS and Club level since 1990 and has coached many State Champions in multiple sports at the HS level (Swimming, Diving, Track & Field), as well as multiple individual and relay Jr National Champions in Swimming, and in 2023 coached a member of the USA World Jr Team that helped set a World Jr Record with Team USA in winning the 400 Free Relay World Jr title.  John has been voted Coach of the Year for Ohio Swimming twice and NSCA Jr National Coach of the year in 2022.  John has coached over 70 seasons at the HS level across sports and over 150 seasons across sports at the HS and Club levels combined.

     John has worked with a multitude of high-level athletes as a Performance Coach across many sports and professions (Track & Field, MMA, PGA, WTA, NFL, Special Forces, SWAT, etc) and prides himself on being able to keep up with his athletes in any type of strength, conditioning or speed work.  He practices as he preaches in regard to training, nutrition and sleep and asks the same of all his athletes.  John has also been a Sailing Instructor since 1991 and hopes to one day sail around the world with his wife, Sacha, and daughters, Jenica & Sunshine - and maybe their dog, Coconut.

     As a successful Coach with well over 150 seasons of practical experience across multiple sports, a veteran performance coach, and a competitive athlete himself - John has a true understanding of elite performance.

    Jen Bernsdorf has strong roots in swimming dating back to her childhood.   During her early years, Jen was a competitive swimmer swimming for Greater Columbus Swim Team and Westerville Aquatic Club where she excelled in the Backstroke and IM. She is a graduate from Westerville South HS. Jen graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Child and Family Development and then earned a Bachelor’s Plus degree in Education with a concentration in grades one through eight at Ashland University.

      During her college years, rather than swim competitively, Jen continued her love of swimming by beginning her coaching career at her alma mater, Westerville South High School as well as coaching summer league for 5 years for the Highlands Park Otters. Jen also worked for the City of Westerville as an Aquatics Manager and taught in the Westerville City Schools district.

      Jen is currently the Assitant Head Coach for New Albany Aquatics Club, the Lead Kahuna coach and distance coach . Jen has strong foundations in NAAC, having all three children go through the program where each have gone on to swim collegiately. She believes strongly in developing the swimmer not only strong technically but also into confident, supportive athletes and teammates. Her love for the sport and the belief that the swimmer’s confidence should be developed hand in hand with a strong technical foundation has produced multiple high achieving athletes in the program.

      Jen’s knowledge and passion for the development of the sport has twice achieved her the honor of receiving Ohio Swimming’s Age Group Coach of the year in 2014 and 2022. Jen’s family includes her husband, Chad, their 3 children Matthew, Andrew and Alaina (who are all 3 swim coaches as well) and their 3 yellow labs Cruiser, Finley and Baker. 

Matthew Bernsdorf grew up in Westerville, Ohio and attended WNHS, graduating in 2015.  He went on to swim at Ashland University all 4 years.  He will graduated from Ashland in Dec 2019 with a degree in Special Education and is a Special Education Teacher in the Central Ohio area. 

Matthew was a swimmer for NAAC for many years alongside his siblings (all now NAAC Coaches!) and is the oldest son of NAAC Coach Jen Bernsdorf.  He has been a lifeguard and taught swim lessons at Highlands Park Aquatic Center since 2013.  He is happy to be Co-Lead for the Bombora group this season, loves coaching at NAAC, and is excited to watch all of the NAAC swimmers learn & grow in the sport of swimming!

Dave Waltuch's competitive swimming career began at age 8 in the little Massachusetts town of Duxbury and competed all the way through the collegiate level. He competed with the National "Mythic" Champion team at The Mercersburg Academy Prep School achieving numerous All-American standards and recognition. After graduating in 1984, he moved with his family to Mission Viejo, CA where he then trained and competed for the Nadadores Swim Club under Mark Schubert during the summer seasons. Dave graduated from Kenyon College in 1988 and was honored to have contributed to the longest winning streak in NCAA history (31 consecutive NCAA III Men's Swimming titles) by consistently placing in the top 3 in his individual butterfly events and winning relays.

 

After moving to the area in 2016, Dave resides with his wife, Tavia and their three sons in New Albany, with all 3 boys competing for NAAC year-round as well as the Gators for summer swim league.

 

 

Beginner Talent Development

Jennifer has been part of the NAAC family since the 2012 season.  Prior to moving to Ohio in January of 2012 from the Nashville, TN area, she worked as the head coach for the Brentwood YMCA for seven years before coaching for the Nashville Aquatic Club. Jennifer grew up in Michigan where she swam for Michigan State University and graduated in 1998 with a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife. 

Jennifer also helps coach for the Plain Local Township Gators, under Coach Megan Labuhn.  Jennifer lives in New Albany with her husband and three children.

       Lisa has been coaching with NAAC since 2015 and served as a Lead Coach for Hurricane, Tsunami, and Wave training groups. She retired as a lead coach in May of 2025!  After a Summer off with no swim team attachment for the first time in about 40 years, her granddaughter asked to try swim team at NAAC for 25-26,  so she is back on deck helping with our youngest groups a couple of days a week this season to enjoy foundational coaching of very young swimmers, a role where she started coaching many, many years ago!  Lisa has been our webmaster since 2008 and her four sons all swam with NAAC.   

      Coaching our NAAC age group swimmers for over a decade, Lisa has coached and developed many Junior Olympic, Zone Qualifier and USA Top 10 athletes. She is the former President and Coach of the Chevington Woods Kingfish Swim Team in Pickerington and coached the Pickerington North and Pickerington Central High Schools swim teams. As a coach for the Kingfish and Pickerington High School teams she was privledged to develop a foundation of sucess for three 2016, and 2020 Olympic Trial Qualifiers and many NCAA division 1 and division 2 swimmers.

       Lisa coached swimming during her college years in Canton, Ohio. As a swimmer she loved Breastroke and the IM. She is an Ohio State University graduate and a veteran of the United States Air Force. She enjoys travel, photography and spending time with her family. 

Alaina Bernsdorf comes to us with strong roots at NAAC. Having grown up on the pool deck, she naturally took to swimming at the age of 5. She swam for NAAC as an age grouper until she ultimately decided soccer was her passion. After a soccer ending knee injury put her back in the pool her junior year at Westerville North where she graduated in 2020, she rejoined NAAC. Under the coaches at NAAC, she ultimately decided to swim in college at Ashland University where she was the top conference scorer in the freshman class.

Alaina is a Pre K-5th Elementary Education major with Intervention and will be graduated May 2024, and is now teaching 3rd Grade at her Elementary School Alma Mater. She has a strong foundation in instruction and does it all with kindness and passion that she is learning through her education background, and was also a Head Jr Coach at the Links. Alaina is passionate about creating self confidence, her dogs, fitness and family, and is excited for her new career in teaching, as well as helping our NAAC swimmers reach new heights!

Maura started with NAAC in 2021 and has served as a Lead Coach for Wave for several years, and will be Assisting this 24-25 swim season.

Maura grew up in Euclid, Ohio and started coaching summer swim team there in 2016. Maura graduated high school from Notre Dame - Cathedral Latin in 2017 and went to swim at Ashland University for four years. She is a teacher at Independance High School in Columbus, and coaches HS Softball there. 

Maura has coached Age Group Swimmers and taught lessons since 2016 - at University Swim Club, the Euclid Panther Swim Team, Ashland University Rec Center, and founded her own swim club – the Euclid Open Water Swim Club – during the pandemic shutdowns of 2020.  Maura brings both competitive and coaching experience and is looking forward to the new season and helping all of our swimmers improve across groups!

Ross has been a part of NAAC family since the 2010 season. He was a Robotics Teacher at Ridgeview Junior High School in Pickerington, and is now on staff at NA Schools and helping Coahc the HS Cross Country and Track teams this year!  Ross was also the Head Coach for Team USA ITU Age Group World Championships for USA Triathlon! Ross is a competitive triathlete having won over 35 triathlons and finishing as national champion runner-up twice (2009 and 2013). Ross helps out across many of our NAAC groups and leads our Summer Open Water training group.

Shona and her husband Ricky have lived in Columbus for over 20 years and she is the mom of two boys, Kieran and Callan, who both swim for NAAC.  Shona works for Kroger and swims with the New Albany Masters group in her spare time, and will be an Assistant Coach with NAAC this season. 

Shona grew up in Canada where she started swimming competitively at the age of 8.  In high school she made the National Swim Team representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games.  She was a 3X Canadian National champion and held the Canadian record in the 50 fly.   Shona went on to swim at the University of Texas where she was a conference champion and finished her senior year as an NCAA finalist in the 100 fly, 200 fly, was a member of the NCAA champion 4X100 free relay team and received the Team Leadership award.    

Shona started coaching age group swimming after college and helped coach with Texas Aquatics in Austin and New Trier Swim Team in Illinois.  Upon moving to Columbus, Shona helped coach various masters swimming and triathlon groups as well as a volunteer coach with Buckeye Swim Team.   She has a passion for the sport of swimming and is excited for the new season at NAAC, where both of her sons swim!

Tyler grew up in Westerville.  In high school he competed for Westerville North High School and New Albany Aquatic Club, where he competed at the State and Jr National levels.  He competed on the OSU Swim Team and graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Construction systems management. Tyler was the head swim coach for Dublin Jerome High School for eight years. He has been the lead coach of the Wave, Tsunami, and Hurricane groups,and will be assisting across groups this season as well as leading our Elite Sr Sprint group.

Abby Stone grew up in Granville and swam for NAAC for several years. She attended Granville High School, where she was a 15-time High School All-American and was the DII State Champion in the 100 back her senior year.  During her time at NAAC, she achieved qualifying times for Winter Nationals, Winter Junior Nationals, Summer Junior Nationals, and NCSA’s.  She went on to swim in college for four years, spending one year at Virginia Tech and the next three at Miami University. 

Abby graduated the spring of 2020 from Miami where she majored in Kinesiology/Pre-Med. She completed PA school at Ohio Dominican and is now a Phycians Assistant. Abby has taught swim lessons in the summer for 4+ years, joined the NAAC staff in 2019 and is excited for the opportunity to continue coaching for NAAC.

Hey guys - I am Coach Ally. A little about my background :  I swam at NAAC when I was an age grouper and through HS and continued my career on a DI level. Throughout my college career I taught swim lessons focusing on the fundamentals and basics of swimming. After I graduated college with a Bachelors in Exercise Physiology I continued my love for the sport as a college swim coach in Florida. While coaching and trying to earn a Masters in Exercise Physiology, I discovered my passion lies with nursing!  I'm stoked to be working with my club team again at NAAC while working toward my goal career. Let's have a great year!

Jennifer has been our Financial Manager since the Summer of 2018, and has one daughter, Jolie, swimming at NAAC.

Cyndi Rubcich is with us at NAAC again and serving as our Entry Chair again this season.  Coach Cyndi brings over 30 years of competitive coaching experience and has worked with swimmers of all ability levels. Coach Cyndi most recently has worked with UAHS after her NAAC Lead Coaching, Distance Coaching, AO, Entry & Registration Chair for many years, and Coached for 8 years at WAC prior to her NAAC Coaching days. Cyndi helped produce numerous Junior Olympic, Zone and Sectional qualifiers as well as State champions, State record holders and National Age Group Top 10 swimmers.  She has also coached with Columbus Academy, NOVA of Virginia, Medallion Country Club and Westerville JC.

Cyndi is a graduate of The Ohio State University and worked as a public health grant writer and program coordinator in Ohio and Virginia. She and her husband, Dave, reside in Westerville and have two children – Murphy and Cristian, both former NAAC swimmers.