Warren Lager
Head Coach
Email
Head
Senior Team Coach and Owner Marin Pirates Swim Team
The
Senior Team is coached by Warren Lager, who begins his 30th season
at the helm of the Marin Pirates Swim
Team.
Warren
has coached numerous swimmers to
the Olympic Trials, Nationals and All American rankings plus over
one hundred swimmers to collegiate teams. In addition to his duties
as a coach of the Pirates,
Warren
is a physical
education instructor at the
College
of
Marin
where he has coached the
Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Team for the past
26 years. He is a
member of the Pacific Swimming Board of Directors and former
Chairman of Pacific Swimming Zone 3. He is the past President of the
California Community College Swimming and Diving Coaches
Association and has served as the Coaches’ Representative to
the Bay Valley Conference for the past 20 years.
Warren’
s swimming career
included qualifying for the National Championships while on the
Marin Aquatic Club and two years of Varsity Swimming at
UCLA.
Warren and his wife Amy have lived
in
Novato
for 19 years. They have two children,
Jordan age 18 and Rachel, age 15. Jordan is on the U.C. Davis Swim
Team. Both children are members of the Marin Pirates Swim
Team.
Phone: 415
898-0249
Fax: 415
898-9619
Tom Evers
Age Group Head Coach
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Tom has been coaching for over 18
years and is an ASCA level 3 Coach. Tom began his coaching
career with the Walnut Creek Aqua Bears and Concord
Terrapins as an assistant coach in the early
90’s. He spent 11 years as a Marin Swim
League Head Coach and was voted "Coach of the Year" in 2002
before leaving the Marin Swim League at the end of the 2004
season.
Tom began his affiliation with the
Marin Pirates in 1999 and has been the primary coach for the
14-under swimmers ever since and has produced numerous Far Western
finalist and several NRT (National Reportable
Time) swimmers.
Tom swam competitively for 13 years
on the national level including his years competing for
the University of Iowa. Tom was inducted into the Iowa High
School Hall of Fame in 1999.
Tom and his wife Liz have lived in
Novato
since 1995 with their two
children, Justus, age 14 and
Georgia
, age 11 (both are Marin
Pirate swimmers). Liz
and Tom started the SwimAmerica Swim School in 2003 to bring the
only nationally recognized swim lesson program to College of Marin’s Indian
Valley Campus and now has expanded the program with two addtional
pools in Petaluma. Tom
is currently the program director for the IVC pool.
"Swimming is and always has been an integral
part of my life. The
life lessons I have learned from those who have coached me to those
I have coached and now coach have helped form the values and
discipline by which I try to live life today."
Phone: 415-892-2269
Jim M Larson
Assistant Coach IVC Age-Group
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Raised in Novato,
Jim started coaching
in the Marin Swim League twelve years ago with the
TidalWaves. A year later, in 1998 Jim took an assistant
coaching job with the Rolling Hills Stingrays and has not looked
back. In the winter of 1997 he also started coaching USA
Swimming with the Marin Pirates Age Group program under Tom Evers.
From 1997 until 2003 Jim coached the Pirates in fall and
winter, but in 2004 Jim left the MSL and began coach with the
Pirates year round. A former San Marin High School student,
swimmer, and water polo player, Jim was the head coach of San Marin
High School’s water polo teams from 2001 - 2004. Jim
has also recently finished his eighth season as the head coach of
San Marin’s Swim Team.
Jim
attended College of Marin, swimming and playing water polo for the
Mariners (under Coach Warren Lager) before he moved on to Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo. In 2001 he graduated from Cal Poly with a
degree in Philosophy. Jim then attended
Dominican University in 2004/05 and earned a Multiple Subject
Teaching Credential. He is currently in his second semester
at SF State, earning an Administrative Teaching Credential and
Master’s Degree in Educational Administration. Jim has been working at San Jose
Middle School, in Novato, for the last four years teaching
English and History.
Jim
has been married for four years to his wonderful wife
Jennifer. Jennifer shares coaching duties with him at San
Marin and she has recently started a new job in yearbook design and
sales. They have a one-year-old son, William and are
expecting their second child in December of 2009.
"Coaching
dedicated swimmers with all the outstanding coaches of the Pirates
has truly been a
blessing in my life. I feel fortunate to be included in one
of the most well regarded swim programs in Northern California and
the country."
Liz Evers
Assistant Coach IVC Age Group
Email
Liz feels very fortunate to be able to
do one of the things she loves most, coaching swimming! As most of you know, this is her
sixth year with the Marin Pirates Age Group Swimmers. She was taught to swim at the age
of 4 and encourages every child to learn to swim and to pursue
swimming. Since being
married to Coach Tom, swimming has become their livelihood. Her two children, Justus
and Georgia, have been swimming since they were babies and have
been on swim teams since they could walk. Liz truly believes that swimming
is the most rewarding individual and team sport available. Not only are children
constantly learning and improving their own abilities, they are
developing self-discipline and motivation. Reaching goals when they are
older will be more attainable for these children.
Liz’s favorite moments as a Marin
Pirate coach comes from seeing the look on the
swimmer’s faces when they know they have mastered something
new or have done something well, like a best time. A big smile under the swim cap
and goggles is so gratifying.
Ashley Karell
Assistant Coach IVC Age Group
Email
Ashley Karell
is happy to be coaching
her fifth season with the Marin Pirates. Ashley was born in Puerto Rico,
raised in
Novato
and graduated from San
Marin High School in 2003. She started swimming
competitively in 1991 at the age of six. She swam with the Stingrays, then
IVAN and moved to the Pirates as a high
school freshman.
During high school with the Pirates, Ashley was a 5 time MCAL
champion and was a 3 time top-eight finisher at North Coast
Sectionals (NCS). Ashley qualified
for Junior Nationals as a junior in high school. Most recently,
Ashley was named the 2007 Bay Valley Conference Swimmer of the Year
while competing for College of Marin (under Coach Warren
Lager). She also made the Community College All-American Team
in 3 events.
Ashley is a great coach who
understands both the technical aspects of coaching and who also has
a great rapport with the swimmers.
Jill Ruppenstein
Assistant Coach Seniors and Age Group
Email
Jill comes to the Pirates with over 16
years of competitive experience. As a USS swimmer, she was a
Junior National qualifier in the 100 yard back. While
attending the
College
of
Marin
, she was a
California
State
Junior College
swimming champion in the 100
yard backstroke. At the
University
of
California
,
Santa
Cruz
, she qualified for the NCAA
DIII Swimming Championships ten times. At the end of her
college career, she was a four time All-American.
In 2005, Jill graduated with a BA in psychology from UCSC.
She recently earned her MA in Sport Management from
the
University
of
San
Francisco
. Prior to coming to
the Pirates, she was the assistant master’s coach and the
head age-group coach at The Olympic Club in
San
Francisco
.
Jill will be coaching the Southern
Marin age-group program beginning November 16th,
2009.
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Cokie S Lepinski
Head Coach Masters Team
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Cokie is a
member of the United States Masters Swim program and has been
consistently ranked top ten in the US and world in her age group
for breaststroke and IM events since beginning her masters career
in 1991. She participates in masters competitions in all four
strokes in the US and throughout the world as well as open water
swims. Cokie lives in Novato with her husband,
Tim.
Also a member
of the American Swimming Coaches Association, Cokie is certified as
a masters coach and she is also certified as a coach with USA
Swimming. She has organized and coached several swim clinics
specializing in development of stroke technique. With a background
in teaching and training, she brings to her coaching an approach
that reaches a wide variety of learning styles. Cokie is energetic,
positive, encouraging and passionate about swimming. Swimmers leave
practices excited, enthused, improved and hungry for more. You can
contact Cokie by email at:
swimnut@mac.comor by phone
at 415-827-5672.
Tom Sweeney
Age-Group Coach Southern Marin
Email
Tom has coached high school
swimming, masters swimming, and developmental age group swimming.
He has instructed at various swim schools and provided
private instruction to both novice and advanced competitive
swimmers of all ages and abilities. He believes in the
strength of each individual athlete as well as the swim community
as a whole and is grateful for all the opportunities he has had to
participate within the sport. He teaches a foundation in
technique, positive work ethic, and passion for the water.
Over the course of his own athletic career, he was blessed
with truly wonderful coaches that positively influenced his life.
Combined with his joy for the water, he was inspired to
follow a career in coaching the sport of swimming. He is
committed to providing a safe environment wherein each student can
find as much success as possible and he enjoys sharing his
competitive athletic background and aquatic knowledge with all of
his students.
