Neil Romney
Head Coach - Senior and Junior
Email
Phone: 360-675-7665
Coach Neil started with NWAC
in September, 2003. During Neil’s tenure with NWAC, the team
has doubled in size and quadrupled its qualifiers to PNS Champs and
Age Group and Senior Sectionals as well as qualifying swimmers for
Junior Nationals and the US Open. In December of 2004, NWAC won its
first Northwest Cup and repeated the achievement in July and
December of 2005, prevailing by larger margins each time.
Coach Neil was recognized by his peers as Pacific Northwest
Swimming’s Age Group Coach of the Year for 2004-05 and has
been selected as Head Coach of PNS’ 2006 Western Zone
All-Star Team.
Neil also coaches the North
Whidbey Masters Swim Team, which includes national and world record
holders. The Pacific Northwest Association of Masters Swimmers
recently honored Neil as its Coach of the Year for
2006.
In 2003-04, Neil served as
interim coach of the Oak Harbor High School Boys Swim Team, leading
them to a 10-1 dual meet record and 9th-place in the 4A State
Championships, their highest finish ever. Neil was selected by his
colleagues as Wesco North Conference Coach of the Year.
Prior to coming to Oak Harbor
, Neil coached at various levels and locales, most recently in
Roseburg , Oregon , where he had the opportunity to work with
National Top 16 and Olympic Trials swimmers. He was named Oregon
Swimming’s Age Group Coach of the Year in 1999-2000 and the
American Swim Coaches Association Age Group Coach of the Year for
Oregon in 2000-01. In 1997-98, Neil was also honored as the Oregon
High School Coach of the Year in Girls Swimming.
Neil has masters degrees in
Exercise Science and English Literature and teaches part time in
biology and English at Skagit Valley College . In his spare time,
he likes to read, write, and race his swimmers in an occasional
triathlon.
Jason Hunter
Assistant Coach - Gold
Email
Phone:
360-420-3867
Coach Jason
began swimming for NWAC in 1996 when he was ten and continued with
the team for 13 years through college. During his high school
career for Oak Harbor, he attend the state championship meet three
of his four years and placed in the 100 fly and 200 im his senior
year in 2004. Following high school, swam for Whitworth University
for three years, competing primarily in the 2 fly and 2 and 4im.
During this time Jason developed a love for teaching and begin to
think about becoming a coach.
In 2008,
Jason earned his BA with a double-major in Biology and History; in
2009, he added a masters in teaching. In his last two years at
Whitworth. From 2007-2009, Jason served as a volunteer coach for
the local club team, the Spokane Waves. In 2008-09, working with
the Whitworth University team, he developed a weight program and
worked one-on-one with swimmers in the water.
Coach Neil
reports that in addition to Jason’s strong swimming
background and teaching experience, he brings to his work many
other attributes including unusual patience, thorough preparation,
and abiding enthusiasm for his swimmers’ improvement. In
addition to swimming, Jason’s hobbies include snowboarding,
camping, sleeping, paintballing, and
teaching.
Annie Conto
Assistant Coach - Bronze
Email
Annie swam for three years on a Japanese competitive swim team
in Japan before competing for NWAC from 1996- 2001. During that
time, she started as an assistant aide for swim lessons, becoming a
swim instructor in 1998. From 2000-01, she was an assistant coach
for NWAC.
She then moved to Ft. Lewis, where she taught private lessons,
returning to Oak Harbor last fall. She is now in charge of the
Bronze group and also teaching swim lessons. Annie intends to
incorporate some of the things that she picked up while swimming
overseas and shake things up a bit to ensure that her swimmers are
learning discipline, getting fit, and having fun.
According to Head Coach Neil Romney, Annie brings a helpful
intensity, structure, and authority to the Bronze group. Coach
Annie’s hobbies include swimming, singing, mountain biking,
sailing, history, and reading.
Amanda E Streubel
Assistant Coach - Bronze
Email
Phone: 360-678-7129
Coach Amanda swam with NWAC for 8 years. Her
achievements include scoring at Western Zones and High School State
and qualifying for Senior Sectionals. In 2007, she coached
NWAC’s Silver group. She now coaches the Bronze group with
Coach Annie. Neil reports that Amanda is a fluid, natural swimmer
who can not only flawlessly demonstrate the skills she teaches but
also explain them in simple terms that her young charges can
understand. In addition, she has great patience for working with
our beginning competitive swimmers as they tackle the challenges of
learning new skills.
A
junior at Coupeville High School, Amanda is a member of the cheer
squad and the National Honor Society. She would like to become a
marine biologist or a veterinarian.
