Coach Ann began as a volunteer with Winchester Swim Team over 20 years ago when Shelly Lee coached. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Education from JMU and Master of Education from Virginia Tech. Her vast swimming experience includes: Water Safety Instructor since high school and President of the JMU Synchronized Swim Team
Quote to live by: Never quit or give up.
Coach Jessica began swimming at age 8 with her local summer league as part of the Shenandoah County Swim League. She began year round swimming under Coach Trey in middle school and continued to swim under him until she graduated high school. Unable to stay away from the pool, Coach Jessica volunteered with a USA swim team in Charlottesville throughout college. In the summers, she stayed very busy by working as an assistant coach for both her hometown summer league and previous USA team. Coach Jessica is also a certified Water Safety Instructor and has served as the youth swim lesson coordinator at the Woodstock Pool for the past five summers. Coach Jessica graduated from the University of Virginia with a master’s in teaching. She credits much of her success to the numerous life lessons she learned through swimming and truly believes she wouldn’t be the person she is today without the encouragement and support of her coaches and teammates throughout her swimming career. Currently, she is a 4th grade teacher at Frederick Douglass Elementary School. Although still living in her hometown, Coach Jessica calls Winchester her second home and is excited to be back on deck working with familiar faces and meeting many new faces all at the same time!
Coach Alisha has rarely been far from the water, as she grew up loving it, be it the pool or the ocean, from a very young age. She started swimming competitively at 8 years old in Indiana and competed in the sport through her senior year of high school. She started coaching novice swimmers during the summers at the beginning of high school. From her senior year through the beginning of her graduate school work, she coached age group swimmers year-round for 6 years. Alisha has a master's in sport and exercise psychology and a master's in counseling from Ball State University. She is currently working on her dissertation for her PhD in Sport Pedagogy from the University of Southern Mississippi. When she lived in MS, she found an opportunity to provide swim lessons at a wellness center in town. Missing the fun of coaching, the smell of chlorine, and witnessing swimmers' progress firsthand, she was overjoyed to join the WST at the beginning of September in 2019.
We're going to blame her volunteer hours running the clerk of course during meets this summer that got Coach Clare is back on deck. Now that her son, Owen, has made swimming his choice sport, Clare just couldn't resist diving back in. Clare swam competitively from age 8 through her senior year of high school participating up to state level competition. Her specialty was long distance freestyle, a quick start, and fast turns. She has a collective of 19 years coaching experience at all levels. She started assistant coaching during high school and throughout college for The Sherando Sharks on deck next to our very own Coach Trey. Upon graduating from The University of Virginia with a degree in studio art, Clare moved down to Martinsville, VA, and taught elementary art for Martinsville City Public Schools. While there, Clare became the head coach for the Martinsville High School Girl's Swim Team leading them to an undefeated district title all 6 years while under her direction. Additionally, while in Martinsville, Clare was the head coach of the local YMCA Marlins Swim Team and coached privately building her swimmers into collegiate level competitors for universities such as JMU. Clare returned to her hometown of Stephens City in 2011 with husband, BJ, and a new baby on the way, teaching middle school art at Robert E. Aylor Middle School. By 2013, she eventually found herself back at Jim Barnett Park- the place where it all began 22 years earlier. The place where Clare's Coach, Ann, taught her how to, "take a breath, blow bubbles, take a breath, blow bubbles." Clare's stay as an assistant coach for WST, however, was short lived as her family continued to grow. Clare planned to leave teaching and coaching to stay at home, raise her 4 children, and teach them how to swim herself, saving her family hundreds of dollars in swim lesson fees. All but one of those plans came true, as well as the surprising unplanned birth of her small handmade art business. Throughout this time, once Clare noticed that her second child, Owen, would only fall right to sleep at night on days he swam, she knew this was the sport for him and there was only one place to take him as soon as he passed his last swim lesson course. Clare is beyond proud to be back with her swim team family with one of her very own in tow, although admittedly slightly embarrassed that her own children wouldn't let her teach them to swim. Today, Clare is a professional artist and owner of Clare's Custom Studio, a small handmade business specializing in fine art and home decor (but we all know it's mostly wreaths.) At the pool, you'll see Clare mainly working with the white and blue practice groups alongside Ann at Westminster, where now they'll both be wearing vintage WST shirts and yelling, "take a breath, blow bubbles. Take a breath, blow bubbles!"
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I started swimming competitively at 8 years old for the Winchester swim team. I swam with WST for 10 years and competed in the sport through high school. In my Junior year of high school I began teaching swim lessons. In my senior year I started to coach the Competitive Swim Training program at Winchester Parks and Recreation, and have continued coaching the program for a 1 year and a half. I am currently going to school at Laurel Ridge Community College for a degree in Surgical Technology. After aging out of swimming for WST I was extremely excited in the summer of 2023 to continue with them as a coach.
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Board of Directors and Volunteers:
President: [email protected]
Vice President: [email protected]
Secretary: [email protected]
Treasurer: [email protected]
Member at Large: [email protected]
Splashcard Coordinator: [email protected]
Volunteer Coordinator: [email protected]
Director of Operations: [email protected] 703-283-9121
