Joseph Shelly - Head Coach

Born and raised in Mount Vernon, the local YMCA and swimming have always been a big part of Joseph’s life. He began his journey as a swimmer at the Mount Vernon Y back at the old location on Fulton, starting with swim lessons at the age of 6. Eventually, he would go on to join the swim team as a 9 year old in 2007. With this team, he competed in many meets over the span of 12 years, ending with a final meet at Y Nationals in 2019.
Joseph has worked as a lifeguard, swim instructor, and assistant coach for the Skagit Valley Family YMCA. He is a state licensed math teacher; graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education at Western Washington University and has experience working for the Issaquah and Mount Vernon School districts. Before accepting the position of head coach for SVYT, he was the head coach for Mount Vernon High School’s boys swim team, as well as the head coach for the Y’s Special Olympics program.
Joseph’s goals have always been to maintain an inclusive environment that supports the physical and cognitive development of young swimmers, both in and out of the water. His biggest priorities are keeping swimming fun and engaging for the team, and to help athletes attain their goals in the sport through honing technique, building confidence, and promoting camaraderie with swimmers, parents, and staff.
To contact Coach Joseph directly, please email [email protected]

Artemiy Lisitskiy - Assistant Coach

Kiril Leckrone - Assistant Coach

Andrea Dryden - Assistant Coach

Andrea has always loved being around the water. She joined the swim club at the age of 8 and continued to swim competitively through high school. She became a lifeguard and taught swim lessons in high school and college, water safety has always been a top priority to her. Teaching swim lessons has still been her favorite job ever.

Andrea has a Master of Nursing degree and works as a nursing instructor and now loves to run, but was brought back to the pool when her daughter joined the SVY Tritons swim team in 2022. She became a swim official in 2023 and started coaching in 2024. Andrea loves watching kids succeed both in and out of the pool, as swimming teaches many lessons that hard work and perseverance pay off. She loves helping push swimmers that little extra bit to accomplish goals and seeing the smiles on swimmers faces when they do!

Gabby Fernandez - Assistant Coach

Jenn Radford - Substitute Coach

Jenn has a profound love of the water and has been involved in the sport of swimming since she was a child. She joined a club swim team at a young age and continued swimming competitively through college. There is something about the peacefulness of the water combined with the challenges of swimming that has captivated her from the moment she jumped into the pool!

Her love of swimming led her to start teaching lessons as a summer job in high school, and since then, she has taught and coached in various settings. Prior to coming to SVYT, Jenn was the Head Coach of a USA team in Colorado and previously worked as a Lead Coach for a large USA team in Texas. In addition to her experience with club swimming, Jenn also has been involved in learn-to-swim lesson programming, coaching adult triathlon and Masters swimmers, coaching summer league and Special Olympics teams.

She received her Bachelor's degree in Recreation Administration with Minors in Exercise Science & Special Education, as well as her Master's degree in Exercise Science from Texas State University.

Jenn's priority as a coach is to give her swimmers the opportunity for growth, development, and success. She believes that supporting individuals in achieving these things while being a part of a team requires an environment where all swimmers have appropriate training and quality instruction. She prioritizes teaching and enforcing proper technique and stroke mechanics, as those areas can severely limit or enhance a swimmer's long-term achievements. She also values the fact that swimming offers the opportunity for growth and success outside of the pool. There are so many life lessons that can be learned through sport, and Jenn is thrilled to take on the challenge of not only building up individuals as athletes but also as successful human beings!

You can email Coach Jenn at [email protected].

Isaac Smith - Substitute Coach

Isaac has been a competative swimmers for 10+ years. He is the current record holder in the 50 freestyle for Mount Vernon High School and the current record holder for multiple records for the Skagit Valley YMCA Tritons. He is also a 3 time YMCA National Qualifier in the 50 free and 200 Medley Relay and a YMCA Regional Champion and State Champion for 5+ years.

Having grown up through the team, Isaac has also lended his talents to the Y as a lifeguard and swim instructor. As a swim instructor, Isaac has taught a variety of levels and has been constantly involved in the Y's 4th grade swim lesson program; a program that selects students from the Mount Vernon School District and offers free swim lessons to promote water safety and reduce drowning rates in the community. He is now a fully fledged police officer for the city of Burlington, but still stops by and gives back to the swim community. 

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