Head YNS Swim Coach/Director of Competitive Aquaitics

John Ogden: John came to YNS in 2006 and in his first year at the helm, the team finshed 5th at the YMCA Summer National Championships, it's highest finish every in a National Meet. Prior to joining the YNS program, John was head coach at the Glens Falls YMCA in upstate NY. John's swimmers have achieved over 100 YMCA All-AMerican recognitions & numerous state level championships. He received the American Swim Coaches Excellence Award when his swimmer achieved Olympic Trials, US Nationals and Junior National qualifications. John has coached at the High School Varsity level and at the Division 3 College level, most recently at Skidmore College in NY. He has been named Coach of the year at the High School and State levels. John earned a BS from St. Bonaventure University where he set the school record in the 1650 yard freestyle. He has been involved with Master's swimming as a coach and swimmer. John lives in Beverly with his wife Sally.

Site Coordinators

Haverhill: Cheryl Deveaux: Cheryl began the 2007-2008  season as the Haverhill Site Coordinator/Age Group Coach for the Haverhill Training Site. Cheryl has been coaching for YNS since 2004 when her three children joined the YNS team. Prior to joining the YNS staff, Cheryl
was a coach for youth gymnastics and soccer. She has traveled to the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado as a chaperone for an Andover YMCA Swim Camp

Ipswich: Cecelia Tripp: Cecelia joined YNS in September 2007 as the Ipswich Site Coordinator/Age Group and Masters Swim Coach. Cecelia met Head Coach, John Ogden, years ago when she swam in the Adirondack LSC where he coached with the Glens Falls YMCA. Cecelia graduated from Hamilton College in 2005 where she swam for four years
and also had the opportunity to coach for the local age group and high school
teams. She has worked at several swim camps during her summers, including
Stanford International Swim Camp where she spent a month coaching last
summer. Most recently, Cecelia spent two years at St. Lawrence University in
Canton, NY where she worked as the assistant swim coach for the men and
women’s swim team. She is working on competing graduate courses in
education.

Marblehead: Susan Guertin (Head Coach) in her 30th year as head coach of the Marblehead Group. She is also in her eighteenth year as the Head Coach of the Marblehead High School swim team. Susan has an impressive record with both the high school and YMCA team's. Her high school team was runner-up at the 1998 girls N. Sectional championships, placed third at the State Championships that year. Marblehead has won nine consecutive Northeast Conference Meet titles. Susan has thirty-six years experience teaching at the YMCA and has wontwo Eatern Mass YMCA District Division II titles and an overall girls team championship in 1992. In 1990, the Marblehead 9 & 10 Girls won the YMCA New England Championship. In 1995, Susan had a group of nine swimmers qualify for the LC National Championships (her first qualifiers). She has had two swimmers qualify for the SC Nationals and 14 for the LC Nationals as well as one All-American. Susan graduated from Salem State College in 1993 with a degree in Aquatic Management. She is a Level 3 ASCA recognized coach. Susan holds a top 10 time as a swimmer in the 100 Back and 1650 Free for NE Master's Swimming. She also set the record, for her age group, in  the 200m Backstroke at the Bay State Summer Games in 2006.

James Houlihan: (Assistant Head Coach) has been coaching with YNS for 9 years now. He was the Head Coach for the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club from 1975-1988. Jim has been a professional firefighter for Logan Airport since 1984. He is a graduate of Boston State. Jim was the Admistrative Coordinator of the Charlestown Community School's program from 1980-1981 and Director of Co-Ed Programs at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club from 1975-1980. Jim has worked with numerous national qualifiers in his time with the Marblehead training group. Jim's daughter, Breegan, swims for the Marblehead Training Group and his other daughter, Brigid, is attending Roger Williams College, where she swims.

Salem Site Co-Coordinator: Jayne Mills:
Jayne is an enthusiast of all things aquatic. She is a certified lifeguard, swim
instructor; swim official, advanced open water scuba diver, boater & swim coach.
Growing up in Gloucester, she swam competitively for the Cape Ann YMCA.
30. She presently swims on the YNS Master's Swim Team. Jayne is the mother of
four and can multi‐task as though she invented it. She's had a daughter on the
YNS Sharks for the past five years and has served on the Parents' Advisory
Board. Jayne has coached age group swimmers in Ipswich and in Salem
as well as coaching the Master's Swim Team.

Salem Site Co-Coordinator: John Strom:

Assistant Coaches:

Beverly

Jan Boland: Jan currently swims with the YNS Master's Swim Team, with her husband Jim. At the YMCA Master's Nationals, Jan placed top 5 for all her key events, including a first place in the 400 IM. She consistently ranks in the Top Ten USMS in her age group and has set several New England Masters age group records. Jan also competed in triathlons and duathlons in the USA and New Zealand, placing first woman overall in a number of races. She was ranked 25th in the USA in her age group and was named an honorary member of the New Zealand World Championships Triathlon Team in 1991. Jan has a B.A. in Psychology from Whittenberg University and a masters degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University. Jan has two daughters who compete for the Sharks; India  (White Group) and Tasha (Black Group). 

Wendy Freeman: Wendy has been a member of the Beverly YMCA since age 6. She started swimming on the YMCA Swim Team at age 15, and is the first Beverly YMCA swimmer to qualify for YMCA Nationals. Wendy swam for Beverly High School and was the record holder in the 50 and 100 Breaststroke events at Salem State College. Wendy received her degree in Sports, Fitness & Leisure Studies and would liike to become a science teacher. She has been coaching with the Beverly group since 1992. Wendy was a coach for the 1998 New England Zone Team.

Adam Hickey, Ed.M: Adam has coached for the Beverly Training Group for over ten years. He is currently a faculty member at the Landmark School in Pride's Crossing. He holds Master's Degrees from Harvard University and Simmons College in Language and Literacy Acquisition and Education respecively. Adam swam competitively growing up and was the Aquatic Director at both the Sterling YMCA and the East Bridgewater YMCA for twelve years.

Julie McCarthy has been a swim instructor since 1984 and has been coaching with YNS since 1999. Julie graduated from Endicott College with an Associates Degree in Art in 1976. She has been a past aquatics director of the Beverly YMCA. Julie currently works at the Beverly National Bank. Her daughter, Robyn, swims in the Navy Group with the Bevelry training group.

Dr. David Swensen has been an assistant coach for YNS since 2002. David has a long history of success in the pool, where he started swimming  for a YMCA progam. He swam for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Division I team) for four years and was an assistant coach for the Minutemen from 1983-1984. David continues his swimming career, as a Master's swimmer for the YMCA of the North Shore. David was an assistant coach for the Palm Springs Piranhas (1984-85) and Fullerton High School (1989-1990). He has also coached with the Brea Master's and Whittier Master's programs (in California) from 1986-1990. David received his B.S. in Exercise Science and is a Doctor of Chiropractic. He is a certified chiropractic sports physician. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists, and is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. David, along with his wife Deanna, own and operate the Melrose Family Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center. Recently, David was hired by USA Swimming to answer questions for Splash Magazine.

Meghan McLaughlin has been coaching with the YNS program since 2004. She moved here from St. Louis, Missouri. Meghan has an undergraduate degree from Denison University and a Master's degree in Education from Linwood University. At Denison, Meghan was on the varsity swimming team. Her favorite events were the 200 butterfly and 400 IM.

Katie Krech has been a swimmer for the Salem branch of the YNS for the past 12 years. She has been a YMCA swim instructor at the Beverly YMCA since 1999. In 2005, she became a member of the YNS coaching staff. Katie attends Essex Agricultural and Technical High School and is studying ornamental horticulture, and will graduate in 2007.

Natlie Klobucher has been coaching with the Beverly Training group for three years. Natalie has also coached basketball and soccer. She has two children on the swim team (Andrew & Katrina). She is working with the Light Blue group and has worked with swimmers at the Black, Light Blue & Royal groups.

Beth Lott has been coaching with the YNS Sharks since 2003. She has years of experience teaching swimming and is currently the Aquatics Director at the Manchester Athletic Club. Her athletic experience includes running marathons. Beth is a graduate of Roanoke College with a degree in Buisness. Beth is married and the mother of three boys.

Ksenia O'Donnell has been coaching for the YNS Sharks since 2003. Ksenia was born and grew up in Russia, in the city of Yoshkar-Ola. Ksenia first started swimming at the age of seven. She had always wanted to become a swim coach. She was a memeber of the swim team that represented the Repulic of Mari-El and 3 times competed in the Russian National Championships. She graduated from Mari State Pedagogical Institute with a B.S. in Physical Education. Ksenia moved to the USA in 2000. She has worked for the YMCA in Beverly, since 2001, teaching swim lessons at all levels.

Ipswich Training Group

Marblehead Training Group
Katie Webber recently moved to Marblehead from the Western part of Massachusetts. Katie has taught at the Tower School for the last two years. She is a graduate from Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Science in Education and a minor in Spanish. At Bucknell, she was a member of the Women's Varsity Water Polo team. Katie attended the Williston Northampton School, where she was a three sport varsity athlete (swimming, water polo & lacrosse). For many years Katie has been involved with the Hampshire Regional YMCA in Northhampton, MA where she taught swim lessons and worked at the summer camp. This will be her third year as an assistant coach for YNS. Katie will be attending Boston University in the Fall to work on her graduate degree in Education.

Kristen O'Connor has lived in Massachusetts for seven years. She works for a software company and is in charge of national sales. Kristen has been involved with swimming since she was 7 years old. She swam the 200 Fly and the 200 & 400 IM at Fordham University in NY. Kristen coached for four years in Virginia for the York Swim Club. She is very excited for the opportunity to get back into coaching and sharing her love of the sport with the kids. This is Kristen's second year coaching with YNS.

Derek Walsh is a Senior at Salem State College. He swam for the Marblehead/ Swampsott Y for twelve years and eventually became captain. Derek swam for St. John's Prep for four years and also played water polo for the school. Derek has taught swim lessons at the YMCA for six years and is in his third year as an assistant coach at hte Marblehead group. Derek has found it very interesting to be on the other side of the pool (on deck).

Connor Gorman is in his third year of coaching with the Marblehead Group. He is a Junior at North Shroe Community College. Connor swam for the MSY while in high school and was part of the first year swim team at St. Mary's High School in Lynn. Connor has also taught lessons at the Eastern Yacht Club for the past three seasons.

Emily Korriku is joining us after completing her Bachelor's degree from Curry College and graduate degree in Special Education from Wheelock College. Emily swam for the Salem YMCA from 7 through Middle School. She also swam for Salem High School. She coached for the MSY while in high school.

Cheryl Verrette is a Marblehead resident who has been an avid swimmer her entire life. She is a certified lifeguard with first aid, CPR, AED & O2 administration training. In addition, Cheryl is a YMCA certified swim instructor who has enjoyed teaching children and adults to swim at the Marblehead YMCA for four years. Cheryl is also a YMCA certified Aqua-aerobics instructor. Cheryl graduated from Bentley College with a degree in Buisness. With two children on the team, Cheryl has been an active member of the team's advisory committee.

Salem Training Group

Katie White is going into her third year coaching for the Sharks. She has been involved with the Salem YMCA aquatics program, since 1996, as a swimmer, instructor, lifeguard and now as a swim coach. She attended Salem High School where she swam all four years and was the captain of the swim team her senior year. She is currently attending Salem State College where she hopes to receive a degree in Art History next spring.