Jay Coleman has been a swim coach for over twenty years. His coaching career began in 1992 when he started as an assistant coach for Whitman College and the Walla Walla YMCA. In 1995, Jay became the Walla Walla YMCA Head Coach and two years later he was named the Head Swimming Coach at Whitman College.         

Jay enjoyed his own collegiate athletic career while attending Willamette University in Oregon, where he graduated in 1991 with a degree in English. He competed in both track and cross country and also participated in many triathlon events around the country. 

Jay began coaching at the Oshkosh YMCA in 2000.  He was instrumental in building the YMCA swimming program, increasing its size from 70 to over 150 kids.  Under his guidance, the team, which previously had a thirty-year drought of not scoring at national meets, went back to nationals and began to score points on a regular basis.

From 2011-2013, Jay was a site coach for the Sarasota YMCA in Florida.  He later returned to resume the Head Coach position of the OSHY Swim Team in August 2013. 

Jay’s primary benefit of coaching is seeing his athletes take pride in themselves and their accomplishments, whether they win or lose. His desire is that athletes get something more from swimming than just getting up and down the pool with fast times. “You can learn from every experience, whether it’s success or failure. The value of each experience is determined by your reaction to it.” 

Judy has over 11 years of coaching experience and a background as a competitive swimmer, with backstroke as a favorite event. She currently is working full time in the Oshkosh School District. Judy brings both technical expertise and a supportive, family-centered approach to the pool. A former swim mom, Judy is dedicated to helping every swimmer grow in skill, confidence, and love for the sport.

Mitchell started swimming when he was about 5 years old and began swimming competitively at the age of 12. He grew up in Perry, Ohio and graduated from Perry High School in 2012.

Following high school, Mitchell attended Ohio Northern University located in Ada, Ohio and graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Mitchell was a swimmer all four years of college; his main events being the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, and 100 Butterfly.  He competed all 4 years at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship Meet, and during his senior year he finished 2nd in the 50 Free, 2nd in the 100 Fly, and 3rd in the 100 Free.  He was also part of the 400 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay, 200 Medley Relay, and 400 Freestyle Relay, all of which finished in 1st place. Mitchell ended his collegiate swimming career by helping bring home a 12th straight OAC Championship title.

Mitchell began coaching with OSHY in September 2016. When Mitch isn't with the team, his full time job is working for Oshkosh Corporation as an engineer.  Though, you might also be able to find him swimming laps in the pool or playing golf at the local courses.

Coach Rachel is a Neenah native but got her start coaching in 2019 as an age group coach in Northern California. As a USA and ASCA level 2 coach, Rachel loves continuing her pursuit of knowledge as a coach and swimming enthusiast!

The birth of her second child is what brought Rachel, her husband, and her son back to the fox cities area to be near family. You will be sure to see Ike and Ari on deck often throughout the season. 

Rachel likes to refer to herself as a “Swammer”. Meaning she was once a competitive age group and high school swimmer but now still loves to challenge herself in the pool as a Masters swimmer and lover of fitness. She still finds joy in competition, having competed in the Alcatraz open water swim and many meets as an adult. You can even catch her jumping in for practice regularly to bond with the swimmers through a challenging practice. 

“My coaching philosophy is rooted in teaching swimmers to strive to be excellent and resilient in the highs and lows that come with sport. Getting swimmers to see that they are worth the risk it takes to accomplish their goals, is the ultimate success.”

Christopher comes to swimming and OSHY from a unique background.  He grew up and was a competitive distance runner in college, where he competed at the NCAA Div. III national cross country meet.  But, after finding his way to swimming he has never looked back. 

Christopher attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and went on to get his master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from Appalachian State in Boone, NC.  He has been fortunate enough to work with all levels of athletes, from HS all the way to Olympic Trials qualifiers on the track.  This background gives him a fresh look at the world of swimming and how to apply the principals he learned as a runner and in school to help his swimmers excel in the water.

Both USA and ASCA level 3 certified, Christopher strives to provide an environment that helps each swimmer reach their potential in the water and out.  He coaches the Age Group swimmers and assists with the Senior swimmers as well.  Christopher is always looking for ways to become a better coach and spends his spare time running and trying to stay as active as possible.

CiCi joined the OSHY Swim Team at age 8 and swam on the team until age 15/2024 when she moved to the coaching staff to work with swimmers from the dolphin group. Since then, CiCi has been dedicated to working with the whole dolphin team, as well as in small groups to make progress on stroke technique. CiCi also is often found helping swimmers in the water where she assists young students, demonstrates technique, and motivates the swimmers who convince her to come in the water!

Rosie will be assisting Coach Rachel, Coach Jay, and Coach Judy in the role of Coach for the Dolphin 3 group. Her role will focus on intro to swim team strokes, drills, and sport fundamentals. (Ex: circle swimming, streamline, stroke foundations focusing on swimming on front and back with confidence, kicking, and diving with a fun focused approach to keep swimmers engaged and excited to come back to the pool)

Rosie has been swimming for the OSHY swim team since August of 2018. She has done so many great things since being a part of the swim team, one of her greatest moments was hopping in the water during a Try It after her practice in the fall of 2022 years ago...that moment started something much bigger than she planned. Since that moment she realized her connection to the "littles" and asked Coach Jay if she could keep coming back to help them in the water as they got used to being a part of OSHY. She knew better than anyone how intimidating that can be and she just wanted to help them. Rosie would come volunteer her time after school and then hop in the pool after for her practice most days of the week for a few years. It was just this past year that she can now proudly call it her job :)