The CWAC Coaching Staff is here
to support your needs. If your questions are related to
workouts, meets, events, goal setting and other swimming related
needs, please contact your child's coach. For all questions
related to administration, such as dues, safety or policy issues,
please contact David Stephens at UIC or Erik Morales at EP.
Coach David Stephens has been
involved in swimming for over 27 years both as a swimmer and a
coach. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and swam for the Dynamo
Swim Club and was an All-American at Marist High School. He
continued his swimming career at the University of Michigan and
lettered all four years while swimming under Olympic coach Joh
Urbanchek. Following his graduation from the University of
Michigan Coach Dave moved to Chicago for law school and became a
swim coach along the way. He completed his JD program at the
John Marshall Law School and passed the 2004 Bar Exam. He
started the CWAC program in the fall of 2004. Coach Dave is
the Development Accounts Manager at St. Ignatius College Prep and
also serves as the head coach of the men’s and women’s
varsity teams. His high school teams have won 18 IHSA
sectional titles the past twelve years. Coach Dave served as
the head coach for Team Illinois at the 2007 Central Zone
Championship and is currently the Safety Chair for Illiniois
Swimming.
Coach Sarah Marshall,
previously Sarah Hassan, has been involved in swimming since she
was an 8 and under. Sarah attended Evergreen Park Community High
School and was a four year varsity swimmer, all-conference
performer and captained her team to a conference championship.
After high school, Sarah attended Moraine Valley Community
College and Northeastern Illinois University where she earned her
degree in Special Education. Sarah worked as a middle school
special education teacher for two years in a Chicago Public School
and is now a stay at home mom with her son, Gunnar. She has
been coaching the past seven years and has produced numerous
regional and state qualifiers. Sarah also serves as the coach for
the Evergreen Park High School girls and boys
teams.
Currently Josue is attending theUniversityofIllinoisatChicagowhere he has obtained a
Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and plans to
attendMedicalSchool. While attending college
Josue maintains an active life in the aquatic world. He was the
head coach atLaneTechHigh
Schoolfrom 2004-2007. While coaching at
Lane Tech, Josue set a school and city record for winning 13 City
Championships in just three years. Josue was recognized as the
youngest most successful head coach in the City ofChicagoamong CPS. In his 3 years as head
age group Coach Josue has coached numerous individual and relay
state champions and helped lead the team to its highest state meet
finish in the winter of 2011.
Coach Clarke has been involved in
swimming for thirty five years as a swimmer and a coach. He grew up
in Evergreen Park and swam for the Evergreen Park Barracudas, the
EP Stingrays and Ridge Park. He was a four year varsity swimmer, a
record holder and captain at Evergreen Park Community High School.
Clarke lettered in swimming at Lake Forest College and received an
M.A. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Coach Clarke
taught and coached at his Alma Mater EPCHS for ten years. In that
time, his club and high school teams combined to win ten conference
titles. He was named District 231 Educator of the Year in
2006-2007; SSC Coach of the Year in Girls 2008, Boys 2008-09, Girls
2009 and Boys 2009-10 high school seasons; He qualified IHSA State
Finalists in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009. EPCHS swim teams received the
SSC Sportsmanship Awards in four consecutive seasons and his
coaching staffs were two-time recipients of the IHSA SAWA (Sporting
A Winning Attitude) Report. Clarke has coached numerous Regional,
State and Sectional Qualifiers, CWAC record holders and a US
Nationals Qualifier in 2009. He is now an assistant coach at St.
Ignatius and returns to the CWAC program after a three year
hiatus.
Coach Steve has been swimming
since he was 7 years old when he started with the Sterling
Stingrays Swim Club in Sterling, Illinois. He continued
swimming and competed for four years in high school and four years
at UIC under Coach Paul Moniak. Throughout his college
career, Steve earned three individual team records in the 100 and
200 butterfly and the 100 backstroke and was a part of three school
record holding relays. He also hold the Horizon league record
in the 100 and 200 butterfly. After his college career, Steve
continued training with Jarod Schroeder and the Northwestern
University men’s swim team and competed in the 2012 Olympic
Trials in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly, placing 25th overall in
the 100. Steve graduated from UIC in August 2012 with a
degree in Anthropology and looks forward to the 2016 Trials.
Coach Dave Gass grew up
in Huntsville, Alabama and swam for Space City Swimming and Grissom
High School. He went on to be a four year letter winner and team
captain at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Dave
began his coaching career as a Graduate Assistant at Delta State
during the 1999-2000 season and has been coaching full time ever
since. Coach Dave was one of the founding coaches of Nitro Swimming
in Austin, Texas helping grow the team to over 750 swimmers and
helping the team become a power in the Texas swimming scene. His
next and final stop in Texas was the Dallas/Fort Worth area as Head
Age Group coach of Metroplex Aquatics, where the club was one of
only a few teams to place in the Top 10 at both the Texas Age Group
State meet and Sectionals. Dave has helped his swimmers reach many
milestones over the years including NCAA DII All-Americans, NSISC
Conference Champions, numerous individual Texas Age Group State
Champions, Texas State Record Holders, and USA Swimming Top 10
ranked athletes. His coaching philosophy centers around developing
well rounded swimmers who truly embrace and enjoy the challenges
necessary to take their swimming to the next level. Dave jumped at
the chance to relocate here along with his wife (a Chicago native);
giving them the opportunity to raise their son amongst family. He
is excited to be part of the CWAC staff and to begin the next
chapter of his life here in Chicago.
Coach Samantha was born and raised in
Cincinnati, Ohio where she begin swimming for the Countryside YMCA
Torpedoes at the age of twelve. She was a four time varsity
letter recipient for Mason High school and a three time State
qualifier. Taking her swimming career to the college level,
Coach Sam swam at the University of Cincinnati before end her
swimming her career due to injury her sophomore year. Coach
Sam coached for several years in the Cincinnati area before moving
to Chicago for a marketing and sales position with Silverleaf
Resorts.
Mike is a seasoned swim coach with extensive
knowledge of teaching, learning, training, and motivational
techniques. His coaching philosophy focuses on developing
superb technique in order to swim fast without injury. His training
emphasizes quality over quantity. He believes that training more
efficiently in practices, results in racing faster in
competition. Mike is celebrating 50 years in
swimming in 2010. He began swimming at the Aurora YMCA at 10;
captained his high school team at Shattuck School in Faribault, MN,
and his collegiate team at Grinnell College. Where he was a
collegiate All-American. Mike continues to compete to the
present as an open water swimmer, master’s swimmer and
triathlete, He holds several Wisconsin Master’s records, and
completed Ironman Wisconsin in September ’09, winning his age
division in the swim. Mike has coached at Grinnell College,
in Liverpool, Australia, the Schroder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer,
WI, at Nicolet HS in Milwaukee, and started two master’s
teams in Milwaukee over the last 10 years.
Coach Jessica has been involved with
swimming for the last 20 years. She grew up in Naperville where she
went to Neuqua Valley High School and was a 4 time HIgh School
State Champ in the 100 yard Breaststroke. She continued
swimming in college at the University of Arizona where she
became a 10 time All-American in her four years there. In
2004 Jessica competed in the Olympic Trials in the 100 Breaststroke
where she finished 8th. She now works in Naperville
for her families Property Management
Company.
Brian Edgeworth is the Blue Level coach
for EP CWAC swimmers. Brian was a four year varsity swimmer at
EPCHS. During this time he was a co-captain, three-time MVP, and
five-time All-Conference swimmer in South Suburban Conference.
In 2006, Brian helped lead the EP Mustangs boys’ swim
team to their first conference championship in thirty years.
Brian currently trains with CWAC and is an Illinois Swimming Senior
State Qualifier and a USA Swimming Speedo Sectional qualifier.
Brian was an assistant coach during the 2009-2010 IHSA boys’
swim season. He holds/shares several CWAC sprint and relay records.
Brian swam age group for eight years with the Evergreen Park
Stingrays Swim Club. He will compete in the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim
in June, 2010.
Swimming has been a part of Coach Clair’s life since she
was born, from running around a pool deck while her Mom coached, to
swimming with the Waukesha Express Swim Team and with the UIC
Flames. While swimming with Waukesha Express, Clair was a
Junior National Qualifier and an All-American in the 100 backstroke
for Waukesha South High School. During her four years with
UIC Clair produced three individual school records in the 100 and
200 backstrokes and the 200 IM as well as being part of three
record holding relays. Clair graduated from UIC in May 2012
with a Bachelors Degree in Communications. She is excited to
continue in the sport as a coach with CWAC.
Coach Jessica graduated
from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009 with a
major in Psychology and minor in Sociology. She began her
competitive swimming career at the Chicago Park District (Curie)
around the age of 8. She moved to the West Communities YMCA
around the age of 9 and stayed for four years. She graduated
from Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, where she was a four
year Varsity swimmer. She was also a Sectional and State
qualifier. During the off seasons she played for McAuley's state
champion water polo team and swam at Rice Aquatic Foundation (RAF).
Jessica also taught swim lessons and assisted with the swim
team at a country club in Oak Brook, IL for five summers,
throughout high school and college. Jessica recently received
her Masters degree in counseling and is currently a 4th year
doctoral student with a forensic focus at The Adler School of
Professional Psychology. She began coaching at CWAC in August
of 2011 and is looking forward to another great
year.
After 30 years in the business sector, Coach Ursula decided to
follow her love of the water and childeren and is now a lesson
instructor for the Wolfpack Swim School. Having raised two
swimmers of her own she was anxious to get back into the sport and
help work with kids. Coach Ursula is exited to pursue her
passion for the water and is looking forward to work with the kids
and the program.
