Alexis D Keto
CEO/Head Coach
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5th year at New Trier
Aquatics
25th year coaching
CEO/Head Coach
Lead Coach: Senior High Performance, Masters, Semi-Pro Elite, D6
(New for 2020!)
B.A. Northwestern University
M.A. North Carolina State University
Coach Alexis Keto is the current CEO & Head Coach of New
Trier Aquatics in Winnetka, IL. She believes in the well-rounded,
socially-aware athlete and infuses this philosophy into each
workout, competition & team endeavor. Each swimmer has the
potential to be successful, and she feels that coaches should help
swimmers discover their pathways to success and to their goals on a
personal and individualized level.
Over her 20-plus years of coaching, Alexis has had the good fortune
of coaching at every level of the sport - summer league, high
school, club and college. In her twelve years at Colorado, the team
grew from 4 state qualifiers to 75 state qualifiers, 40+
Sectional qualifiers, Multiple State Record Holders, Junior
National (USA/NCSA/ISCA) Qualifiers and National/Olympic
Trial athletes. This tradition of excellence continues at NTA
with World Championship Trials and Senior National finalists.
Perhaps her greatest pride, however, is her ability to use her
college coaching/recruiting experience at NC State &
Northwestern to help athletes find the perfect college - whether at
Division 1 schools or NAIA schools. Over 50 athletes have continued
their swimming career at the collegiate level with an
impressive number becoming team captains during their college
tenure.
Every swimmer has something to give to the team and has something
to gain from the sport and Coach Alexis is eager to develop all
facets of the athlete. She is also actively involved in
the development of the sport of swimming at state and national
level, currently serving on national committees, formerly very
active in the development of the Western Senior Zone Championships
and she has held several positions in the Colorado LSC. Her
involvement is not just in governance, as she has coached and
developed several local, zone and national camps & teams
- as part of the task force for the inaugural 2018 Leadership
Summit and as head coach of the 2018 Eastern Zone Select Camp. She
currently is on the USA Swimming Club Development Committee and the
Awards Committee.
Laszlo Hruza
Director of Water Polo
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3rd Season at
NTA
15th year of
coaching
B.A. Arizona State University
-Tempe
Laszlo comes to New Trier Aquatics
with a wide range of coaching experience throughout all ages and
skill levels. The Hungarian native built a well-known reputation of
developing players and programs both domestically and
internationally. He coached on four different continents and his
players continuously compete and won in the NCAA, University Games,
World Championships and some even made Olympic teams for various
Nations.
Currently, he is a FINA lecturer,
conducting coaches’ clinics around the world in his free
time. In addition, recently he worked with the International
Olympic Committee’s Solidarity program to reestablish a
sustainable water polo program in Barbados and this fall in
Ghana.
In Illinois, he worked tirelessly with
numerous programs and athletes to try to grow and elevate the
prestige of Illinois Water Polo. He has worked with several high
school and club programs and helped many athletes to get to the
collegiate level. He even started an “elite” water polo
training session where he invites the top players from around the
State for some high-performance training.
On the colleigate level, he worked
with Arizona State University and Michigan State University - the
latter to back to back Big Ten Championship (2008, 2009) and to the
National Championship (2008). He also, earned the prestigious Big
Ten Coach of the Year Award in 2009.
“I am very excited to get this
opportunity with New Trier Aquatics. The club’s vision for
water polo is unparalleled in the State of Illinois or even in the
Nation, and I’m so honored to lead it. As a director of Water
Polo, I can promise you that I will work tirelessly to help every
single athlete to reach their full potential, not just as an
athlete, but as a successful member of our
community.”
Kristen Tanakatsubo
NTA Business Manager
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5th year at New Trier Aquatics
2nd year as Business Manager
Yoga Teacher, E-RYT200
20 years of coaching
Kristen uses her background in
independent athletics, as well as body balance awareness and mental
training and coaching for athletes.
We are excited to bring Kristen in as our Business Manager after a
long spell as part of our support staff.
Gregory L Hartman
Senior Program Coordinator
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9th Year at New Trier
Aquatics
24th Year Coaching
Head Senior Assistant
Coach
Lead
Coach: Senior Performance/Senior Advanced
B.S. University of Illinois at
Chicago
Throughout his
career he has proudly guided swimmers to multiple
Club Team Records, ISI Regional, ISI State, Central Zone, Speedo
Sectional, NCSA National, USA Junior
National, USA Senior National, and Olympic Trial
Levels. Many of his former athletes have moved on to compete and
excel at the collegiate level. Greg believes in
a “Think, Swim,
Fast, Win” philosophy.
This philosophy lends the various aspects of commitment and hard
work developed through the sport of competitive swimming to overall
development of an individual. This belief provides the competitive
athlete an experience that will extend well beyond the
pool.
Greg prior to making his return to
NTA was with the Patriot Aquatic Club and Stevenson High
School from 2006-2015. Greg served as the Head Age Group coach
from 2006-2011 and the Senior Advanced Coach 2011-2015. He had
helped coach the program to multiple ISI Age Group Top Ten Finishes
and ISI Senior State Championships. He had crowned multiple ISI
Regional and ISI Age Group State Champions. Greg
also served as the Head Boys Swimming and Diving Coach at
Stevenson High School and had lead the program 2008-2015.
During his tenure the program flourished posting a 39-6 Dual Meet
Record, 3 Lake County Championships, 6 North Suburban
Conference Championships, 3 IHSA Sectional Championships, an
IHSA Top Ten Finish, and multiple NISCA All Americans. In 2012 he
was named by Pioneer Press Lake Shore Coach of the Year and in 2014
was named IHSA Sectional Coach of the Year. Most recently, in the
fall of 2019 Greg was inducted into the Evanston Township High
School Hall of Fame along with the 2005 State Champion Boys
Swimming and Diving program.
Greg currently holds an ASCA Level IV
coaching level. He graduated from the University of Illinois at
Chicago in 2002 with a B.S. in Kinesiology. Greg currently resides
in Norwood Park with his wife, 2 daughters, and
his dog.
Brendan C Hulseman
Lead Coach
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3rd Year at New
Trier Aquatics
Lead Coach: Junior
Performance & Junior Advanced
B.S. St. Louis
University
Brendan is our Lead Coach for both
the Junior Performance and Advanced level groups. He swam
for NTSC (2007-2016) under the direction of Bob Kizer,
Kyle Bubolz, and Andrew Hodgson. He Graduated from Loyola Academy
in 2012, where he was a multi sport athlete excelling in swimming
and water polo. In 2011 and 2012, he was an All American on the all
of the Relays for Loyola Academy. Brendan attended St. Louis
University where he continuted to excell in pool as varisty member
from 2012-2016. He was school record holder on all the SLU Relays
as well as 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly. Brendan
earned his degree in B.S. Buisness
Administration with a concentration in Sports Buisness.
After graduating from SLU Brendan served as the general manager for
Cyclebar in Evanston. He also currently serves as an assistant
coach for the boys water polo coach at Loyola Academy. Brendan
currently resides in Lincoln Square and when he is not on the pool
deck you may find him on a bicycle, as he is an avid
rider.
Keith Yavitt
14 U Water Polo Coach
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3rd Year at NTA
10+ Years Polo Coaching experience
14U Lead
Coach
James R Helm
Lead Coach
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2nd Year at New Trier
Aquatics
8th Year Coaching
Lead Coach
A10
Assistant Coach; Age Group
B.S. University of Findlay
James Helm will be entering his second
season and first full year at New Trier Aquatics. He restarted his
coaching career working long course seasons with the Lincolnwood
Lightning 8 years ago. He has spent the last 6 seasons with the
Iguanas Swim Club (Chicago) where he was an extremely successful
lead age group coach.
Coach James has proven track record of
developing proper stroke technique had the unique opportunity to
work with and successfully develop swimmers of multiple skill
levels. He is extremely excited to bring his energy, passion and
love of swimming to New Trier Aquatics. Helm has been privileged to
work with multiple Club Team Record Holders, ISI
Regional, ISI State, Central Zone and Speedo Sectional
Levels qualifiers and Champions.
James is a native of the south side
and attended Mount Carmel High School (Chicago)
where he swam and played water polo all four years. Helm continued
his swimming career at
the University of Findlay (Ohio), excelling in
short distance sprints. He was an individual record holder,
National Qualifier and member of four school record setting
All-American relays.
In his spare time when not coaching
swimming, basketball or baseball, Coach James enjoys spending time
with his family and walking his disobedient dog,
Daisy.
Christopher L Kearney
Lead Coach
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Lead Coach - Junior
Assistant Coach - Senior Performance, Senior
Advanced
3rd year at NTA
Chris is a former National qualifier
and State Finalist as a Loyola Rambler, specializing in the
freestyle events. As an athlete, Chris was also part of the
Illinois Swimming LSC Board and was a passionate advocate for
athlete rights. A scholarship athlete at Miami of Ohio, Chris has a
passion for Astronomy and a penchant for random trivia and fun
facts. He also currently trains with our Semi-Pro group as he
continues a casual competitive career.
Robert Stafford
Lead Coach
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2nd Year at
NTA
4th Year Coaching
Lead Coach: D7 & D5
Rob is
excited to begin his second year at NTA and his first season as
Lead Coach of D7! He previously spent 2 years at Big
Blue Aquatics . He began his swimming career at the age of 8 for
Willow Knolls Country Club in Peoria, Illinois. Shortly after, he
began swimming year round for Brian Points of Docs Swimming and
continued every year in high school. After high school, he found
his passion for teaching swim lessons while at the University of
Iowa. While teaching swim lessons, he worked individually with
swimmers to improve their skills and successfully achieve goals of
swimming competitively. In addition, he has previously worked
with adults with special needs and specialized in developing
adapted swim programs for non verbal adults and children with
autism. Rob believes swimming is an inclusive sport that teaches
lifelong motivational skills and patience. As a coach, he views
being safe while having fun, is the first priority and is
constantly looking for new and creative ways of teaching technique.
He also believes strong communication between parents, athletes and
coaches is key to success.
Rob resides
in Lakeview and in his spare time he can be found playing pickup
basketball, and bass fishing in one of the many surrounding Forest
Preserves.
Lindsey Parr
Lead Coach
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1st Year at NTA
5th Year Coaching
Lead Coach: A9 & A8, Assistant Coach - Masters
B.A. John Carroll University
Lindsey grew up swimming at age 6 in
Boulder, Colorado. She went on the study and compete at John
Carroll Univeristy in Cleveland, Ohio. While at JCU, Lindsey won
multiple conference events and was awarded the Clyde Lamb Award
conference award for athletics and academics. She graduated with a
degree in English and Exercise Science and five school records in
her name. After graduation, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina
and quickly joined the TAC TITANS coaching staff. In her four years
with the TITANS, Lindsey worked primarily with the age group
program including both the elite 11-12 and 13-14 groups as well as
the advanced 9-10 year olds. Lindsey's coaching philosophy centers
on creating strong technical skills for all four strokes and
actively creating swimmer engagement during practice. When not on
deck, Lindsey enjoys staying active, working on her hand-lettering,
and exploring new places with her husband. She is excited to be a
part of New Trier!
Brian Hulseman
Lead Coach
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2nd year Coaching
9th Year at NTA
Lead Coach: Senior
B.A. John Carroll University
Brian is a longtime NTA swimmer and
has been coaching with us for the past year. We are excited to have
him lead our senior group as his colleigiate experience as a
butterflyer and general competitor will bring a new edge to our
newest Senior program.
Kathryne Tao
Lead Coach
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Lead Coach -
Novice
4th Year as an NTA Coach
15th Year as part of the NTA family!
Senior at Northwestern University
Kathryne is a longtime member of the NTA family
- as a swimmer and coach. She is very excited to take leadership
with the Novice group this season. As a swimmer at NTA, Kathryne
was an NCSA & HS State qualifier as well as well-known for her
amazing underwater kick! The past three years, Kathryne has been
assisting our Novice and D groups so we're really excited she will
be taking the reins this season.
She is majoring in Psychology at Northwestern.
Brian R Solmos
Lead Coach
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Lead Coach - Novice
2nd Year Coaching at NTA
4th Year with NTA
Sophmore at Northwestern University
Brian has been an invaluable assistant
coach with our program and we are excited to have him lead our
Novice groups with Coach Kathryne. He was a state & sectional
qualifier as a swimmer and a Varsity swimmer & polo
player at Loyola. He is currently studying engineering at
Northwestern & also enjoys caddying on the weekends at local
golf courses!
Josh Queyquep
Strength & Yoga
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2nd Year at NTA
10+ Years of Coaching and Instruction Experience
Assistant Coach: SHP
Dryand and Conditioning
Coordinator
Online Specialist
Amanda Shomgard
Assistant Coach
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1st Year at NTA
14th Year Coaching
B.S. Towson University - Exercise Science
Assistant Coach
Coach
Amanda started coaching for New Trier Aquatics in the spring of
2019. Coach Amanda was previously the head coach of Big Blue
Aquatics for over two years before the two teams merged. She
works primarily with A8 and A9 as well as assisting with all other
groups on the team.
Coach Amanda began her coaching career in Pennsylvania where she
grew up helping her coach build a brand new team. She decided to
follow her passion of coaching throughout her college career and
coached for six years for Merritt Athletic Swimming in Baltimore,
Maryland creating a full-time position in aquatics. Coach
Amanda then moved to New York City to coach full-time for Asphalt
Green Unified Aquatics, a USA Swimming National Club Excellence
Gold Medal Club, and then moved back to be closer and help her
family in Pennsylvania as full-time Head Age Group Coach for Blue
Eagle Swim Team. Throughout the years, she was able to work in all
areas of aquatics including teaching lessons for the Michael Phelps
Swim School, Head Coach of two summer swim teams, competitive
swimming clinics, lessons, and camps, and masters swimming.
She believes that swimming is a very rewarding sport that helps
athletes develop many important skills that benefit them throughout
their life. She believes in strong communication with parents and
athletes, a technique-first approach with training, and to create a
unified team where swimmers feel motivated, respected, and
supported by their teammates, parents, and coaches in a fun,
educational environment. She is committed to helping all
athletes set goals and help them through the steps needed to
achieve them. Coach Amanda is eager to be part of New Trier
Aquatics and apply everything she learned throughout the
years!
