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Coaching Staff
Phone: 919-719-9606
Prior to joining YOTA, Jerry was the Susquehanna University Men’s and Women’s Head Swimming and Diving coach from June 2009 – June 2019. In addition to his duties as Head Coach, Jerry was named the Assistant Director of Athletics in 2016. In 2019, the Susquehanna women captured an unprecedented ninth-straight Landmark Conference team title and the men finished a strong second for the eighth time in nine years under Foley. During his tenure at Susquehanna, his teams achieved multiple individual Academic All-Americans, Landmark scholar-athletes awards, the school’s first-ever swimming All-American in 2013, and the Universities Valedictorian in 2016. He and his staff were honored on five occasions as the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. He attributes his success to his ability to focus on individual skill development and inspire his athletes to achieve their best for the team.
He also led Bucknell University men and women swimmers and divers to an array of athletic and academic successes from 1998 – 2006. Some team highlights include winning five Patriot League titles including a span of four in a row for the women from 2003 to 2006. Five individuals also achieved NCAA standards during his tenure. He was recognized as Patriot League Coach of the Year on five occasions. He was the head assistant coach at the United States Military Academy, West Point from 1994 – 1998.
Along with coaching at the collegiate level, from 2006 – 2019, he was the Head Coach for the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA swim team (formerly called Sunbury Branch YMCA) developing state and national qualifiers and champions. In 2013 his women placed 6th and men placed 8th in 2009. While at GSVY, Jerry developed five individuals to earn national titles during his tenure. His swimmers have been recruited by all divisions within NCAA swimming.
Foley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and a Master of Arts degree in physical education and health. Jerry and his wife Beth are lifelong activists of fitness, health, and wellness. In 2008, Jerry started a health and wellness camp for youth, called Camp ENERGY. During 2017 – 2018 he attended the Thrivent Fellowship leadership program and developed the “RISE UP” leadership curriculum. He has two daughters, Emily a graduate of Gettysburg College ’16, and Caitlin a graduate of Kenyon College’19.
Jamie Bloom is honored to be the head senior coach with YOTA. Prior to coming to YOTA, Jamie was at the YMCA of Greater Westfield in Massachusetts, where she had been the Head Coach of that program since 2005. Previously, she was the top assistant for the women’s swimming and diving team at the University of Tennessee (2000 – 2005). Before her job at Tennessee Jamie was the Head Coach of James Buchanan High School and the Mercersburg Area Swim Club in Pennsylvania (1982 – 2000). Jamie got her start in coaching with the Slippery Rock Eels in Slippery Rock Pennsylvania (1980-1982).
Jamie is a proponent of learning the “process” of swimming and long-term athlete development. Jamie believes in placing the individual over the athlete and helping develop character, especially through the lessons of the YMCA’s core values. She sees competitive swimming as a vehicle to teaching life lessons.
Jamie volunteers on several national level committees for USA Swimming as well as YMCA Swimming. She is currently the vice chair of the Coaches Advisory Committee, is a member of the YMCA National Competitive Aquatics Advisory committee and was recently named to the USA Swimming HOD working committee. Jamie also serves as the DEI Chair for the North Carolina Swimming Board of Directors. She is also the women's leadership director for Streamline Teams. Recently Jamie has worked on the Governance Committee for ASCA. Additionally she is a national team manager for USA Swimming. Most recently she was the Head Manager of the National Diversity Select Camp. Additionally she was part of Team USA as a manager at the 2013 Duel in the Pool in Glasgow, Scotland; as well as the World Junior Championships in Singapore in 2015 and Indianapolis in 2017, as well as serving as a manager at several select, zone and LSC camps.
Originally from Lexington, Massachusetts. Jamie earned her undergraduate degree in health and physical education from Slippery Rock University in 1982 and her master’s degree in physical education and athletic administration from Western Maryland College in 1989. At Slippery Rock, she was the women’s swim team manager for three years and was a member of the school’s nationally-ranked women’s water polo team. Jamie and her wife Magdalene have 2 daughters in college. In her spare time, Jamie enjoys walking her dog, playing golf, and cooking. She is a life-long Boston Red Sox fan as well as a big fan of many other sports.
Tom Hazelett
West Senior 1 Coach
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 919- 818-8626
Coach Tom Hazelett has been with YOTA since 2006. Tom is originally from Danville, Indiana. Tom started and built the Downtown Durham Site for YOTA and coached there from 2007-2019. He has been coaching the West Senior 1 group (Durham/Chapel Hill) since 2019. Tom is also on staff as a Paralympic coach for Team USA.
In his time at the Durham Site and Senior 1, Coach Tom has been blessed to work with and coach many very talented athletes including several YOTA team record holders, multiple NC State champions and YMCA National qualifiers, a handful of Winter and Summer Junior National qualifiers, multiple Scholastic All-Americans, and several state record holders.
He has been a US Paralympic Trip Coach since 2012 and had the great honors of representing YOTA on the Paralympic stage serving on the coaching staff for Can-Am in Montreal and Toronto Canada as well as the Head Coach of the 2017 Can-Am in Charlotte. In addition, Tom served as Head Coach for the US Coaching Staff at multiple World Para Series events. With YOTA, he coached Lucas McCrory (S7) from 2012-2016 where he became a Can-AM Champion in multiple events and a YMCA National Qualifier. He also had the honor of working closely with YOTA swimmer and Paralympian Hannah Aspden (S9) from 2012-2016. While working with Hannah, she broke multiple American records, earned several international medals, and became part of the US National teams. Hannah earned 2 Bronze Medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio as the youngest American medalist in swimming at both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Tom is a 2-palm Eagle Scout, an ASCA Level 3 certified coach, and recipient of the ASCA (American Swim Coaches Association) 2010 Doc Counselman Creative Coaching Award. In addition, he was the recipient of USA Swimming's Jimi Flowers Disability Coach of the Year Award in 2016 and is a member of the Olympic Committee’s Order of Ikkos (given to him by Hannah).
In addition to coaching, he continues to be an integral part of the very successful WBP Annual Campaign and has led individual teams with YOTA that have raised more than $800,000 for the community between 2008-2022.
When not coaching, Tom loves to be with his family and friends and is an active member of his church. An avid golfer, he also enjoys tennis and basketball. He is a loyal Boilermaker with a bachelor's degree in History from Purdue University. Tom has a beautiful daughter (Emily- 9 years old).
George Vlahos
West Age group Select and Senior II Coach
Email: [email protected]
Rachel Muller
East Age Group Select, Senior II and Masters Coach
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 919-719-9696
Coach David is an American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 Coach. He grew up in the Philadelphia, PA area, swimming for his club team, and was a 4 year - Varsity Letter winner in High School. In college Coach David swam three years, until an injury ended his swimming career. He graduated from Ursinus College - Collegeville, PA with a degree in Human Performance and then went to Ohio University earning his Master's Degree in Sport Science in one year.
Coach David started coaching during his high school years, working for summer league teams, while in college he took over a High School and Age Group Team. During Grad school he was an Assistant Coach for Ohio University, and worked with the local Age Group and High School teams. From there he coached in Kentucky, Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, California and Arkansas before taking over the YBAC Hurricanes in July 2008. David's swimmers have gone from just joining the team to the National Level. His swimmers have placed in the top 16 at Olympic Trials and placed as high as 3rd at Senior Nationals under his direct coaching. Swimmers who he coached as Age Group swimmers have been at every Olympic Trials since 1992. His swimmers have gone onto many of the top colleges in the nation, both academically and for swimming.
Coach David is married to Roberta (an USA Swimming Referee) and they have one child Elizabeth who is attending and swimming at Drexel University in Philadelphia PA.
Macy Blake
A.E. Finley Site Director
Email: [email protected]
Macy is a 2019 graduate of Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in Biobehavioral Health. During her four years at Penn State, she coached for the Nittany Lion Aquatic Club. In her fourth year, she served as Head Coach and led her swimmers to numerous victories. Many of her age group swimmers have been Middle Atlantic Jr. Olympic Champions and consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally.
In September of 2019, Macy made the move down to North Carolina and has become an invaluable member of our family. Over the past few years Macy has led our swimmers to great improvements and has helped them find success both in and out of the pool. As the leader of the Finley YMCA YOTA Site, she creates a strong foundation for our age group swimmers and enjoys preparing them for all that lies ahead of them when they move into our senior programs. Macy is motivated by the character development of her swimmers and loves to see them build upon their skills each year.
Macy values the mental health of our athletes and leads many mental wellness initatives for our team. She has recently earned her Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Stanley Bass
Downtown Durham YMCA Site Director
Email: [email protected]
Coach Stan is entering his fourth year as the Durham Site Director for YOTA. Coach Stan started working as a part-time lifeguard and swim instructor in 2001. After graduating from Jordan High School, he enrolled in North Carolina A&T University studying Graphic Design. While in Greensboro, he continued working for the YMCA as a swim instructor at the Bryan Family YMCA. After college, Coach Stan returned to Durham and continued his YMCA career. Coach Stan started coaching YOTA in Durham during the 2008-09 season as an assistant to Tom Hazelett. Once the season concluded, he was named as the Assistant Aquatics Director for the Durham Ys. He developed a passion of teaching swim lessons to a diverse population. As a person of color, he knows the importance of getting kids swimming especially those who that look like him.
In 2016, Coach Stan was offered the Head Coaching position at Voyager Academy High School. Currently he still coaches at Voyager and has coached numerous swimmers who placed in the top 10 individually at States, and even swimmers who won their individual events to become state champions. Many of these swimmers have continued swimming in college. In 2021, Coach Stan was name the YOTA Site Director for Durham. Along with that position, he is also the Senior Aquatics Director for Durham. He continues to provide passion about the sport of swimming through his excitement of the development of swimmers physically and mentally.
When not at the pool, Coach Stan enjoys traveling to different places in the US and have even ventured out of the country. He also enjoys playing and spectating the sport of basketball in forms of Duke and the Miami Heat. One fun fact about Coach Stan is that he LOVE shoes and his feet is always on point.
Brian Nelson
Taylor Family YMCA Site Director
Email: Brian.Nelson@ymcatriangle.org
Amy Battaglia
Kerr Family YMCA Site Director
Email: [email protected]
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Amy is a 2019 graduate of Southern Methodist University. Along with earning her degree in psychology, she was a member of the varsity swim team (Go Mustangs!) and taught swim lessons throughout college. After graduation, she spent a year as an au pair in France before returning to coach with the Dallas Mustangs and Bishop Lynch High School. While she was coaching at Bishop Lynch, the girls’ swim team won their first-ever state championship in 2022.
Amy moved to North Carolina in 2022 to become the Head Developmental Coach at RSA. During her time there she coached numerous Age Group Champs qualifiers and was a recipient of the ASCA 30 under 30 grant in 2023. She joined YOTA as the Kerr Site Director in August of 2025.
When not on the pool deck, Amy enjoys reading, knitting, traveling with her husband, and spending time with her family.
Jonathan Watson
Alexander Family YMCA Site Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Coach Jonathan grew up swimming at the Raleigh YMCA in the 1970s. He swam at UNC-Chapel Hill and graduated in 1981 with a BA-Journalism. He coached with the Tarheel Aqua Racers 1981-1985. He started New Wave Swim Team in 1985 and was the Head Coach until 2006, Watson started with the Marlins of Raleigh 2006-2023 as an Age Group/Senior Coach for the Central Raleigh site. Since February 2024, Jonathan was the Head Age Group Coach with the Carolina Aquatic Team in Durham. Jonathan has been active in North Carolina Swimming (NCS) having been General Chair, Age Group Chair, Coaches Rep, Technical Planning Chair and Secretary on the NCS Board. Jonathan is currently the Age Group Zone Chair for the Southern Zone. He has coached summer league at Northbrook Country Club for seven summer seasons between 1977-2008.
