Andy Shields
Head Coach/Team Director
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Coach Andy took over the position of Head Coach of the Tritons
in 2018. Originally from Essex, England, Andy moved to America in
1999 to attend Elon University in North Carolina to study
Health and Physical Eduction.
Having spent the majority of his swim coaching career in
the Georgia, LSC, at Atlanta swim Academy as Head Coach
he helped build a small program of less then 40 swimmers
to more then 270 swimmers in less then 3 years. This in turn
lead to the opportunity to become Lead Age Group coach at
Chattahoochee Gold Swim Club a top 25 USA team with close to 800
swinmers.
During his time in Georgia, Coach Andy has coached numerous
State, Sectional & Zone Champions. Along with his
responsabilities as a club coach, Andy has been a member of the
Georgia and New England Zone coaching staff and has been part
of winning teams in both LSC's. In addition Andy is a USA
Paralympic travel coach who has helped coach National
Paralympic team member, Olympic Gold Medalist world recorder
holder Gia Pergolini.
Matthew Quinney
Head Site Coach & T-AG1 Lead Coach
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Matt has over a decade of competitive swimming experience; starting
off as a Belchertown Stingray at the age of 6 and competing all the
way to the collegiate level at Ithaca College. At Ithaca he majored
in physical therapy and studied coaching as his minor, while
working with the Swim Ithaca Club Team. Matt
competed at Regional and National competitions as a USA swimmer and
became Belchertown High School’s first individual state
champion in the sport after winning the 200IM at the Massachusetts
Div II State Championship in 2016. He has been coaching for over
three and a half years and is currently the Belchertown Stingrays
Head Coach and Lead Site Coach at Chestnut
Hill.
Michelle (Novak) Toner
T-AG2 Lead Coach
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Coach Michelle was previously the Western New England University
head women’s swim coach and achieved numerous team records
and individual bests from swimmers in her two years
there. Her prior coaching experience also includes:
Holyoke YMCA Masters head swim coach; Mount Holyoke College
assistant women’s swim coach; college swim instructor;
triathlon swim coaching; and assisting with pre-competitive, age
group, high school, and senior swimming groups.
Coach Michelle is ASCA certified as level 5 Education, level 3
Masters, and level 2 USA-Swimming. She is also a USMS
adult learn to swim instructor.
A competitive swimmer since age seven, Coach Michelle participated
in collegiate swimming and is currently a member of USMS. She
consistently places well in her age group at both pool and open
water competitions, including the 10k marathon distance.
Outside of swimming, Coach Michelle earned her masters from
Northeastern University and was a GIS Specialist for years.
Multiple years homeschool teaching experience in both pre-k and
elementary grades add to her coaching style.
Gyselle Hennessey
T-High Lead Coach
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Gyselle
swam competitively from third grade until she graduated from
Amherst Regional High School in 2018. While she did not continue
swimming, her involvement with the sport has not ceased. She acted
as assistant coach for the ARHS high school team between 2018 and
2020, and is coming up on her first year as Co-Head Coach there.
Her best stroke when she swam, and still her favorite stroke, is
butterfly. She is currently studying Mathematics and Psychology at
Amherst College, after which she plans to combine her interests in
psychology and youth development to become a clinical psychologist
to youth.
James MacDonald
Assistant Coach
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Coach Jamie grew up and started swimming in Scotland, where he
found national and international success as a 3-time national
champion and a member of Scotland’s Youth Development Squad.
He moved over to the States after being recruited by UMass Amherst
as a 200 flyer, and 200/400 IMer.
Despite his first two years being cut short due to illness and
injury, Coach Jamie holds the 2nd fastest 200 fly
time in UMass program history and has won an Atlantic 10 Conference
final. At UMass, Coach Jamie dual majors in Anthropology &
Legal Studies and is a member of the Commonwealth Honors College.
Natalie Gallamore
Assistant Coach
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Coach Natalie began swimming competitively at the age of 9.
Originally from Michigan, Natalie moved to Massachusetts to swim
for UMass in 2017. She competed mainly in the butterfly and IM
events.
She is now finishing her academic career and will graduate in May
2022 from UMass-Amherst where she studies Kinesiology and
Hospitality & Tourism Management.
Andy Ni
Assistant Coach
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Andy has been swimming with ATST since first grade. He made
Sectionals in the 100 Breast, 200 Breast and 200 Fly. In
addition Andy currently holds a number of Tritons Team Records in
bith Shirt Course & Long Course. He is currently on the Amherst
College swim team where he swims breaststroke and butterfly. He is
studying Chemistry, Math(s), and Computer Science.
Along with swimming Andy has competed at numerous Math
competitions, is an accomplished singer and enjoys weigbht
training.
Shihanna Maradiaga
Assistant Coach
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Coach Shinny joined the Tritons when she was 9 years old and
swam competitively until she graduated from Amherst Regional
High School in 2019.
Even though she did not continue swimming, her love for
the sport lead her to be an assistance coach for the Amherst
Regional High School swim team during the 2019 season. During that
time she also coached the Tritons T-AG2 group which emphasized
her love for teaching not only in the water but outside of the
water as well.
Prior to coaching Shinny gained experience as a camp counselor
for a year round after school and summer camp program called
CAPACIDAD (2013 - 2019). During the summer months, she also tough
arts and crafts, and supervised a number of sport activities.
Swimming still remaines her favorite sport and
Shinny continues to help younger swimmers develop their
technique and skills in the water.
Shinny attends Westfield Stated University majoring in Early
Childhood Education with a minor in Spanish.
April Schilling
Assistant Coach
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April joined the Tritons when she was 7 years old, and swam
competitively until her freshman year of high school. Her favorite
event was the 500 freestyle.
Although she doesn’t swim competitively anymore, she loves
teaching swim lessons for kids of all ages in the town. She still
swims on her own time so she can cross train for cross country
running. She is currently a junior school, and stays busy with
year round sports.
