Chris Wolford
Head Coach
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25+
years of coaching experience
1st season at NTA
Bachelor of Science, Miami University - Oxford,
OH
Chris Wolford comes to New Trier Aquatics after 2 years as Head
Coach at Carolina Aquatics and 3 years with South Carolina Swimming
as Sports Performance Director. In his time with South
Carolina Swimming, Wolford advised clubs on training and
administrative issues, designed and ran the state’s select
camps for its top swimmers and consulted with the LSC on policies
and programs to improve
competitiveness.
Prior to
moving to South Carolina, Wolford was Head Coach for the Cincinnati
Marlins from 2000-2017 where he grew the club from 170 to over 500
members and added water polo to the suite of programming.
From 1996-2000, Wolford was Head Coach for the Greater Toledo
Aquatic Club and St. Francis de Sales High School where he grew the
club from 60 to 170 swimmers and served as Assistant Water Polo
Coach to a team that won 4 consecutive state titles. Wolford
successfully grew these clubs while maintaining the highest levels
of performance.
Laszlo Hruza
Director of Water Polo
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5th Season at
NTA
20th Year 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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6th year at New Trier Aquatics
3rd year as Business Manager
BA Northeastern Illinois University
Yoga Teacher, E-RYT200
20+ years of coaching
Kristen started her career with NTA in
2016 as a yoga teacher with the Senior High Performance training
group. Over the next 2 years, Kristen worked with the team to
expand the benefits of yoga to several other training groups
throughout the program. In 2019, she took on a full-time role as
the team's Business Manager to keep the dry side of the program
running smoothly.
Away from NTA, Kristen's coaching
experience originates from a frozen water sport: figure
skating. She has been a registered USFS (United States Figure
Skating) coach for over 20 years with a focus on singles/moves in
the field, synchronized skating and Theatre on Ice. She has worked
to develop skaters of all ages, abilities to achieve their
recreational, test or competitive goals. She believes that a
solid foundation of basics no matter the sport leads to advancement
and precision in athlete growth.
Gregory L Hartman
Director of Safety
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11th Year at New Trier
Aquatics
26th Year Coaching
Lead Senior 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 a Lead Senior 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. 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. Most Recently, he was named 2021 IHSA
Sectional Coach of the Year.
Greg currently holds an ASCA Level IV
coaching level, is a current American Red Cross
Lifeguard Instructor, and works with Illinois Swimming Inc. on
their Safe Sport Committee. 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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4th 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.
Apostolos Karagiannis
Water Polo Lead Coach
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4th
year with NTA
Bachelor’s in Informatics and
Telecommunications
Coaching
philosophy
“A
team above all. Above all a team.”
Previous
club experience
New Trier
High School, JV Girls Water Polo Coach, January 2016 –
January 2019
Nautical
Club of Patras, Swim Instructor, June 2002 – August
2013
Career
Highlights
Swimmer
until 17 years old (from 1988 to1997 ) at Nautical Club of
Patras
Best
results:
1st in
1993 and 1994 western division Boys U14 championship in 100m and
200m Breastroke
1st in
1995 and 1996 western division Boys U16 championship in 200m and
400m IM
10th in
1996 Greek National championship Boys U16 in 400m
IM
4th in
1997 Greek National championship Boys U16 in 200m
freestyle
Professional
water polo player in several WP Clubs of Greece from1999 to
2013.
Played in
Greece’s A1 and A2 Pro-Divisions and B semi-pro Division ,
Greek Water Polo Cup and the European LEN Trophy
Cup
Best
results:
Captain
of Nautical Club of Patras U18 team that finished 8th in the
National Greek U18 Championship in 1999
Thriamvos
Club of Patras A2 division 3rd place in
2003
Nautical
Club of Patras A2 division 3rd place in 2006, 2nd place in 2007
promoted in A1 division
Nautical
Club of Kalamata B division, 3rd place in
2009
Club of
Nireas Lamias B division, 1st place in 2012, Champions, promoted in
A2 division
Club of
NE Lamias B division, 1st place in 2013, Champions, promoted in A2
division
James R Helm
Age Group Coordinator/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
4th 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
Email
3rd Year at
NTA
5th Year Coaching
Lead Coach: D7 & D6, Tryout Coordinator
Rob is
excited to begin his third year at NTA ! 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 his philosophy is to highlight
the unique traits of each athlete, have patience in their
development of proper swim technique, and build a fun and safe
enviroment. He also believes strong communication between parents,
athletes and coaches is key to success ( a trait taught in one of
the many lessons from his mom, a lifelong teacher). His humor and
unique approach to the development of
the athlethes can be seen in many of his
workouts.
Rob resides
in Northbrook. In his sprare time he can be found bass fishing
and kayaking in one of the many surrounding Forest
Preserves.
Lindsey Parr
Lead Coach
Email
2nd Year at NTA
6th Year Coaching
Lead Coach: A9 & A8
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 R Solmos
Lead Coach
Email
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 & Conditioning Coach
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Keith Yavitt
14 U Water Polo Coach
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3rd Year at NTA
10+ Years Polo Coaching experience
14U Lead
Coach
