Rick Aronberg
Head Coach
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Coach Aronberg spent 13 years
with STAR Swimming in Buffalo, NY. Fast swimming was an
understatement during his tenure at STAR. STAR won 20 short course
and long course Niagara LSC Championships in his time and
consistently developed many of the area's and country's top
swimmers. Coach Aronberg has also coached 9 swimmers to
both the USA and Canadian Olympic Trials.
Prior to joining STAR, Coach Aronberg
came from Rochester, NY where he started the Greater Rochester
Racing Raiders back in the summer of 1996. In just a few
short years, that team became the top program in Niagara Swimming.
In 2003, one of his swimmers finished number one in the world for
all 14 year old boys in the 100 breaststroke.
Coach Aronberg was also the Head Coach
of Nazareth College from 1994-2004 where he led swimmers to
National Championships and All American status.
In 1999, Coach Aronberg was selected
to be the Head USA Coach for the Pan American Maccabiah Games in
Mexico City. In four days of competition, his USA Team
outdistanced second-place Mexico by 40 medals.
In December 2010, Coach Aronberg was named the Head USA Coach that
took a team to Australia for two weeks. One of his swimmers
came back winning 7 Golds. In April of 2010, Coach Rick was
an Assistant Coach for TEAM USA that competed in Ireland. Two
of his own swimmers also represented TEAM USA where both dominated
in the competition.
A native of Fairport, NY, Coach
Aronberg is well known in Western New York. He was a seven-time
high school All-American at Fairport high school. He went on to
Clemson University where he was a 6 time All American in the 500
and 1650 free, 6-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion
in both of those events and was named the swimmer of the
decade (1980's) for Clemson.
In 2002, Coach Aronberg was inducted
into the Clemson University Athletic Hall of Fame and was
named to the ACC 50th Anniversary team. A member of the
Rochester Athletic Hall of Fame, Coach Aronberg participated in the
United States Olympic Trials in 1988 in the 200, 400, and 1500
freestyles and was chosen to compete with the United States team in
the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1985 and 1989.
He won 11 medals, including 9
gold, and was named the captain of the United States men’s
team in 1989. He was also ranked first in the world that year
in the 400-meter free.
Coach Aronberg is married to Laurie
and have two children Jon and Ryan.
James Hersh
Assistant Coach - Senior
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Coach Jim began coaching with PAAC in November 2014, but his roots in the Lehigh Valley swimming scene go way back. He was a high school state champion at Allen High School in the early 1980s and still holds the 50 free school record there. He went on to swim at Clarion and then returned to Allentown where he was a firefighter until his recent retirement. For the last few years, Jim has been an assistant coach for Salisbury High School, helping their boys' team to the 2013 State Championship. Coach Jim is an energetic teacher and uses knowledge and passion for yoga to help PAAC swimmers improve their strength and flexibility. We are excited to have him on board!
Steve Kelly
Assistant Coach - Bronze
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Coach Steve returned to PAAC in February 2015, to coach both the Bronze group and the STARS group. He immediately re-established goals for both groups, and expectations were far exceeded by season’s end.
His first tenure at PAAC lasted from April, 2005 to June, 2010. During that time, he coached many Middle Atlantic Junior Olympic and Elite Meet qualifiers, including some champions. Steve had one swimmer attain TOP 16 status. Steve has also coached adults over the years as he guided the Westend Racquet Club Masters swimmers from November, 1994 until September, 2013. He competed in Masters swim meets as well, starting in 1992 until he retired in 2007.
As a child, Steve competed in club swimming while growing up in Springfield (Delaware County) PA, starting at age 7 until he graduated high school. He swam first for the Community YMCA in Upper Darby, PA then for the Suburban Swim Club in Marple-Newtown, PA. Steve’s passion for swimming goes beyond the pool as he served as Committee Chairman for the Delaware Valley Masters Swim Committee from September, 2002 until September 2006. He also served as Westend Masters Swim Meet Director from 1993 to 1997.
Professionally, Steve has been is sales and sales management since graduating Lehigh University in 1980. He is married, with 2 children (twin daughters) and 2 grandchildren.
Tjasa Ritchey
Assistant Coach - STARS, Instructional
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Tjasa Ritchey is a 1993 graduate of Denison University, where she
was an NCAA 18-time Division III swimmer over her four years and a
NCAC 200 backstroke champion in 1993. During college summers, Tjasa
coached at ACE Aquatics in Mount Kisco, New York as well as for a
country club team in Louisville, KY. Upon graduating from
Denison, Tjasa spent two years teaching elementary children
(kindergarten and then first grade) at a private school outside of
New York City. During this time, she started training for
triathlons. She then moved with her husband, Julian, to
Jacksonville, FL where she became an A.C.E. Certified personal
trainer and taught gymnastics.
Tjasa moved to the Lehigh Valley in 1997. She continued to be a
personal trainer and she was the assistant men’s and
women’s swim coach at Lafayette College from 1998-2001, all
while pursuing her triathlon career, where she eventually turned
professional. Tjasa is a five-time Ironman finisher, four of which
were Ironman Hawaii (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000), and one Ironman Lake
Placid (2000). She then took a long break from everything to raise
her four children children. Tjasa currently serves on as
secretary of the Board of Directors for The Ballet Guild of
the Lehigh Valley, Inc. She is happy to be back on deck coaching
Instructional and Stars groups and helping out wherever she is
needed.
Trey Shackleton
Assistant Coach - Silver
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Trey began swimming at PAAC at age
10 and continued competing with PAAC all the way through high
school. In club swimming, Trey earned Junior National cuts in the
400 and 800 free and earned a top 8 finish in the 200 Fly at
Eastern Futures. He also competed for Northwestern Lehigh High
School, where he was a 1x District XI champion in the 200 free, and
3x District XI champion, 2x State bronze medalist, and 1x State
runner-up in the 500 free. He also earned the Dennis A McGinley
award in his senior season for District XI swimmer of the
meet.
In college, Trey competed for one
season at Indiana University Bloomington, and at West Chester
University of Pennsylvania. At West Chester, Trey was a 2x PSAC
champion, in the 1650 free and 800 free relay. He also competed at
the 2016 Division II National Championship.
Trey is currently a student at
Lehigh Carbon Community College and West Chester University of PA,
working toward a degree in Biology, Ecology, and
Conservation.
