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SIGN UP FOR SWIM AND DIVE TEAM HERE! (coming soon)
VARSITY TEAM
The Varsity Swim Team includes the swimmers on our competitive team and is open to children 6 years old to 18 years. Over 120 children participate in our swim teams each year! Varsity meets generally take place Wednesday evenings.
Varsity Practice Schedule:
MINI SWIM TEAM
The Mini Swim Team includes children 8 and under who do not have the skills necessary to compete on the Varsity Swim Team. Mini Team is a developmental program with an emphasis on stroke mechanics. Mini Team is for swimmers who are proficient in both freestyle (side breathing, face in the pool) and backstroke (able to stay afloat while moving arms).
Mini Team evaluations will be held on Monday, June 2nd
Practice schedule:
The mini team will have one intrasquad meet at the end of the season.
DIVE TEAM
Dive Team is open to children 6 years to 18 years old.
For the dive team, there are no tryouts or prior experience necessary! The only prerequisites are that divers are water safe and pass the deep water test. This is a great chance to learn the fundamentals of diving in a safe and supportive environment. If your child does wish to participate in the competitive diving meets, they are required to attend practices and be able to perform the minimum diving requirements for each meet. Dive meets are typically on Monday or Thursday evenings. This year, we will be offering one evening practice on Tuesday evenings!
The dive team will kick off preseason weekend practices during the first two weekends of June. Then, towards the middle of June, practices will transition to weekdays.
Divers will be split into 2 practice groups:
Dive Team Pre-Season begins Saturday, June 7th.
Practice Schedule:
COACHES
HEAD SWIM COACH
Ashley Suchecki
Coach Ashley has a passion for swimming and swam competitively for 14 years. Ashley was the Swim Team Captain for Gettysburg College. Ashley has previous coached and swam for The Stony Lane Swim Club under Dave Curtis and John McFadden. Ashley currently coaches all age groups at the Suburban Seahawks Club (SSC). Prior to joining the Suburban Seahawks Club, Ashley spent 10 years at Comcast creating, developing, and managing sales teams as the Senior Director of Digital Advertising Sales. Ashley applied the skills of discipline, perseverance, and team comradery, which she learned in the pool, to drive her career at Comcast. After having 4 children, she decided to turn back to the pool and focus on helping youth swimmers continue to develop and find their passion. Ashley holds a BA in psychology from Gettysburg College, an MA in Communication from Villanova University and an Executive Leadership Degree from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
ASSISTANT SWIM COACHES
Svetlana Panayotova
Coach Svetlana has worked with Age Group, High School, and National Level Swimmers for over 40 years. She has been coaching for over 25 years at St. Albans. As part of the St. Albans Championship Swim Team, she focuses on team comradery, competition, and fun. Her philosophy is to build a foundation on understanding and executing swimming fundamentals, which leads to continuous growth as her swimmers develop. Not only is Svetlana active in coaching, but she also provides swim lessons to children and adults of all ages and abilities. Additionally, Svetlana has been coaching and teaching at Suburban Seahawks Club (SSC) since 2000. She has developed a learn-to-swim program and has mentored State Champions and National Qualifiers. As a competitive swimmer, Svetlana swam at the national level in Bulgaria. She participated in international competitions including the 1982 World Championships (monofin) in Moscow, USSR. Coach Svetlana holds a Master of Science in Physical Education from The National Sports Academy of Bulgaria.
Brandon Block
Brandon is a rising senior at The Haverford school where he competes in water polo and swimming at the varsity level. He is also a member of The Suburban Seahawks Club where he swims all year round. In the summer, he works as a lifeguard at St. Albans and swims for the club. He has been a member at St. Albans for over ten years and this will be his first summer coaching.
Jacob Kellerman
Jacob has been swimming competitively for over 10 years. He has been swimming at St. Albans and at the club level since he was six years old. Jacob is a rising senior at Radnor High School, where he has been on the varsity swim team all three years.
Connor Simpkins
Connor has been swimming competitively since he was five years old. Connor swims year-round for the Suburban Seahawks Club. He has been swimming for St. Albans for two summers where he has qualified for the SSL Elite Meet, obtaining top three finishes for all of his events. Connor is a rising senior at The Haverford School where he is also a member of the varsity swim team.
HEAD DIVE COACH
Alyssa Pagani DeVincenzo
Alyssa has coached teams for Aronimink Golf Club and Rose Tree Woods. She is a former competitive swimmer and diver for Marple Newtown High School and Rose Tree Woods Swim Club. Alyssa is a speech-language pathologist at AIM Academy, where she also coaches and helped establish the school’s swim program.