Town of Tonawanda Titans Swim Club : Coaches and Board of Directors

Coaches and Board of Directors

We are here to support your needs. If your questions are related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, and other swimming related needs, please contact one of the coaches. For all questions related to administrative, such as dues, safety, or policy issues, please contact one of the board members.

Coaching Staff

Scott D Vanderzell

Head Coach

Since 1994, Vanderzell has been the head coach for the Tonawanda Titans. During his tenure with the Titans, he has helped form the group into one of the premier swim clubs in New York State, illustrated by the fact that 24 of the club’s members qualified for the NY State Meet during the 2009-10 season. In 2010, the Titans qualified 25 swimmers for the Speedo Championships Series and sent 13 swimmer to Junior Nationals in Orlando, FL. During his years with the Titans, the team has grown from 75 swimmers to one of the largest in the Eastern Zone with over 240 members.

Vanderzell grew up in Hamburg, NY, where he attended Hamburg High School and was a state qualifier for the Hamburg Bulldogs swim team. He attended the University of South Carolina Spartanburg as a Soccer player, and after injury he returned to Buffalo State College where he swam for 3 seasons. He graduated from Buffalo State College with a major in History and a minor in coaching, and he has been coaching swimming for the past 22 years. He began coaching for the Tonawanda Titans in 1994, and he has been Head Coach since 1997. He also began coaching for the University at Buffalo as the Assistant Women's Swimming Coach in 1999, and he served 8 seasons with the Bulls. Scott is currently the Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach at Canisius College, and he holds a Level 4 ASCA certification. Scott was named Niagara District 2003 Senior Coach of the Year. He resides in Western New York with his wife Sherri and four children.

Tim M Bennett

Age Group Coordinator

Tim Bennett has been coaching with the Titans since the summer of 1995. He is a Buffalo State College and University of Buffalo graduate. Swimming for Buffalo State, he set school records in the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events. He spent one year as an assistant coach at each of his Alma Maters. Prior to the Titans, Tim was a coach for the North Tonawanda Swim Club and summer clinic. Since joining the Titans, the team has grown from 75 swimmers to one of the largest in the Eastern Zone. In the past 16 years, the Titans have won several district championships, sent countless swimmers to the Eastern Zone Championships, Super Sectional Meets, Junior National, and Senior National Meets. We have had Zone Champions, National top 16, National Top 10 swimmers, and broken numerous district records. Tim is proud to have been a part of this and plans on the team only doing bigger and better things. Tim, as part of the Titans staff, has been recognized as the Age Group Coach of the Year by the American Swim Coaches Association three times, and believes that the entire staff is why we are one of the best swimming programs in the Eastern Zone. “I am most proud of how many of our swimmers continue to swim past Titans, the ones that return to swim in the summer from college, the others that return to coach after college, and now they are beginning to bring us their kids.”

Michael Szyprowski

Strength and Conditioning (L7 & L8)

Mike has been coaching with the Town of Tonawanda Titans since 2002. He currently continues to serve as the assistant coach for the Titans, as well as the strength and conditioning coach. Mike is in his third year as the assistant swimming coach at Canisius College.

Szyprowski is a USA certified level II swimming coach, trained in CPR, AED, lifeguarding, and safety for swim coaches. In his experience with the Titans, he has created strength programs for individual swimmers at the high school and collegiate level, coached groups ranging from 25 to 60 swimmers, and coordinated multi-level practices in order to accommodate various age groups and abilities.

As a competitive swimmer through high school and college, Szyprowski was a sectional and state qualifier in high school, as well as a two-year team captain. At the University at Buffalo, Szyprowski competed at the division 1 level, serving as the captain during his senior season. He was a MAC-top 16 qualifier in the 200 breaststroke and swam in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and the 200 and 400 individual medley events. Szyprowski also competed for the Town of Tonawanda Titans from 1996 to 2007 as both an athlete and an assistant coach under head coach Scott Vanderzell.

Szyprowski earned his bachelor’s degree from the University at Buffalo in history. He graduated in 2003. Most recently, Szyprowski completed his master’s degree in secondary education with a concentration on social studies from Niagara University in May 2008.

Jackie Kazimir

Coach (L3 & L5)

Jackie has been coaching with the Titans since the summer of 2006; however, she has been a part of the Titans swim team since 1988, when she began in their learn-to-swim program at age 4. Along with Titans, Jackie swam for the Kenmore East swim team, holding records in the 100 fly, 200 free relay and 400 free relay. She continued on to swim for the University at Buffalo, while studying history, French, and education. Since her time at Titans, Jackie has been involved with coaching all levels from stroke development to level 6.

Samantha Yorko

Coach (SD, L1 & L2)

Samantha started coaching with the Titans in the fall of 2009. She swam for Kenmore East High School. She now is attending Buffalo State for Early Childhood Education. She has been teaching swim lessons through the Town of Tonawanda for the past four years.

Allison Lowes

Coach (L4 & L6)

Alison has been coaching the Titans since the summer of 2008. She swam with the Town of Tonawanda Aquettes for 9 years where she competed nationally with many top ten finishes. She also swam for Mount St. Mary Academy. She attended Canisius College where she graduated with a degree in Physical Education and Health. Since then, Alison has been coaching at Mount St. Mary Academy where she was the Assistant Coach from 2007-2009 and in 2010 became the Head Coach. Alison also coaches in the Ken-Ton School District in both the extramural and modified teams.

Kevin O'Donnell

Coach (L7 & L8)

Kevin O’Donnell has been coaching since the summer of 2009. He developed a passion for swimming when he joined the Tonawanda Titans Swim Club as an 8 and Under swimmer. He graduated from Kenmore East in 2005. He then attended Canisius College, where he graduated in 2009 with a degree in Physical Education and Health. While attending Canisius he also swam for the Golden Griffins all four years and set multiple records. He was a finalist every year for the 100 breaststroke in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. His drive comes now from seeing success in young swimmers through their trials and tribulations, knowing all so well the sacrifices one makes to meet their goals.

Shaun O'Donnell

Coach (SD & L1)

Shaun has been coaching with the Titans since the fall of 2009; however, he has been a part of the Titans swim team family since 1989, when he began in their learn-to-swim program. Along with Titans, Shaun swam six Varsity years for the Kenmore East Swimming and Diving team; excelling in the 100 fly, 200 IM, and the 200 medley and 400 free relays. He has taught swimming to various age groups with the YMCA of Greater Buffalo-Niagara since 2001. Shaun recently returned to Kenmore East as the assistant swim coach of the Men’s Swimming and Diving team for the 2009-2010 season.
Shaun attended Canisius College and earned his bachelors in Elementary Education with a concentration in English, and his masters in Literacy.

“You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.”
~Michael Phelps

Randall Snodgrass

Coach (L3 & L5)

Randall grew up in the City of Tonawanda and graduated from Tonawanda High School in 2006. He swam for the Warriors and helped to restart the varsity program there in 2002. He was a numerous high school sectional qualifier. Randall attended Canisius College and graduated with a B.S. in Management with a minor in Human Resources.

Randall swam for the Division I Golden Griffins under Coach Scott Vanderzell and was a two time team captain. At one point, he held both the 200 and 400 IM records and was part of the 200, 400 and 800 free and 200 and 400 medley relay records. He swam everything from IM to Freestyle, and was a top-16 finalist in the 200 IM and 100 and 200 free during his time there.

In 2007 he took a year off of swimming and had the opportunity to coach the boys swim team at Kenmore East High School for a season. While there, he coached an athlete to an individual NFL title, to the state meet and to a scholarship at a Division I institution.

In addition to being a Titans Coach, Randall also coaches at Nardin High School. He also is the Town of Tonawanda Aquatics Coordinator and is the Administrator for the Neumann Catholic Swim League, overseeing the operations of all aspects of the league.

Randall beacame a Titans swimmer in 2007 and a Titans coach in 2008.

MARISSA L DRESSEL

Coach (SD & L1)

Marissa has been a member of the Tonawanda Titans for ten years. She attended Kenmore West high school where she swam six varsity seasons. Marissa was a leader and a member of numerous Niagara Frontier League and Sectional titles. Marissa has four New York State titles (200 and 100 freestyle in 2009, 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay in 2010) and her achievements lead her to high school All-American status. With the Titans, Marissa has competed at many Sectional and Junior National meets, taking a top 8 finish in the 200 freestyle at 2010 NCSA Juniors. She has also made relay appearances at the National level.

Marissa attended and swam for the University of Alabama for the 2010-2011 season and now returns home to the University at Buffalo to pursue a degree in nursing. She is excited to begin her coaching career and to learn more about the sport! "You make a living by what you get, but you make
a life by what you give." Unknown

Kelly A Battaglia

SD/Level1/Level 2

Kelly is currently a Master's student at UB studying Speech-Language Pathology. She graduated from SUNY Geneseo in May 2011 with a degree in Communiative Disorders and Sciences. She swam for Titans for about 10 years and while there I mostly swam breastroke and IM. At Geneseo she swam breastroke, IM and distance freestyle.

Joe C Wilkie

SD/Level 1

Joe is currently in grad school at Canisius College, Has a degree in Health/ Physical education and is getting his Masters in Health and Human performance focus on strength and conditioning. Joe has been a Working for the town as a pool supervisor and a strength and conditioning instructor.

Board of Directors