David A Rodriguez
Head Coach
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Originally
from Miami, Florida, David Rodriguez has been in coaching since
2005 and joined the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (AGUA) Swim Team
staff in 2012. His coaching philosophy focuses on long-term
development and embracing the learning process. From a young age,
our athletes build a strong technical foundation that allows them
to grow with our program.
As Head
Coach Group Coach, Rodriguez developed several Junior Olympic
Champions, Zone team members, multiple USA Swimming National Top
Ten ranking athletes, and Junior and Senior Nationals qualifiers.
His swimmers broke over 70 team records and 20 Metropolitan
Swimming records. In 2016, two athletes qualified for the U.S.
Olympic Trials, and the team captured its first-ever Junior Olympic
championship and first Sectional Championship in eight
years.
Since
taking over as the Head Coach of the program and working as the
Senior Director of Aquatics for Asphalt Green, Rodriguez’s
athletes have broken countless barriers for AGUA. Notably,
Rodriguez helped coach two athletes to the 2019 World Junior
Championships in Budapest, Hungary. While representing the United
States of America, one swimmer earned a silver medal and top-25
World Ranking in the 400 IM. The second swimmer - a five-year
member of the Barbados National Team – competed in four
events at the Championships.
Rodriguez’s group
has also attained multiple top-eight finishes at the Junior
National level from both men and women, including one Junior
National Champion in 2019. Five of these swimmers achieved 18 and
under World Top 100 rankings in 2018 and 2019 and three athletes
have already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2020.
Out of the
pool, more than twenty of Rodriguez’s swimmers have achieved
Scholastic All-America honors for their work in the classroom. He
was also named Head Coach of USA Swimming’s 2019 National
Diversity Select Camp as well as Metropolitan Swimming Senior Coach
of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Rodriguez is an ASCA Level 5
Coach and has helped AGUA to USA Swimming Silver Medal Club
Excellence status three years in a row.
Prior to
joining Asphalt Green, he served as head coach at Christopher
Columbus High School (Florida, developed multiple All-Americans and
state champions) and head age group coach at Pine Crest School
(Florida, set 35 team records and brought home the team’s
first-ever 14 and under Junior Olympic championship
title).
As an
athlete, David swam for University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he
helped bring home the first conference championship in the
school’s history.
Brad S Green
Senior Development Coach
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Brad Green recently came
to AGUA after coaching at his alma mater UMBC. He worked
specifically with the distance group as well as the Senior Yellow
group of the Retriever Aquatic Club. Besides his duties on deck,
Brad also managed the learn to swim program and assisted with pool
management and the RAC swim camp.
Prior to his stint in
Baltimore, Brad served as the head coach of the Ocean City High
School team leading them to their first girl’s conference
championship and numerous state qualifiers. He also worked
with the Ocean City C-Cerpants as their Head Senior Age Group
coach.
After graduating from
UMBC with a degree in Economics, Brad returned to his native
Philadelphia to attend West Chester University, where he earned a
teaching certificate in physical education and health. While
there, he also coached swimming and water polo at Episcopal
Academy.
Brad formerly
held the UMBC record in the 100-yard freestyle and was named
America East and ECAC Outstanding Male Swimmer in 2004, as well as
the UMBC Outstanding Male Senior Athlete. Most recently he was
inducted in the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame in
2012.
Brad hopes to use his
experiences and knowledge to relate to the athletes on a personal
level as well as guide them in their development as swimmers and
young adults. One of the things Brad hopes to instill in his
swimmers is that bringing a positive attitude each day to the pool
is an absolute must as the mental side of the sport is just as
important as the physical side. He firmly believes that
positive thoughts lead to positive results.
John Fedena
Head Age Group Coach
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John Fedena joined
Asphalt Green in 2017 after serving as head coach of the YMCA of
Northwest North Carolina. He spent the five years prior as a
division lead coach with SwimMAC Carolina, a club that has produced
multiple Olympians. There, his age group broke national records and
earned a junior national team championship in
2012.
Since his coaching
career began in 1996, John has spent 12 years coaching with three
different gold medal-winning USA swimming clubs and eight years
coaching at the collegiate level. He has made stops at University
of Georgia, Florida State University, New Mexico State University,
and the University of Washington.
John has served on
the North Carolina Local Swimming Community Board of Directors and
the USA Swimming Southern Zone Board as age group chair. He was
nominated as a finalist for 2016 Age Group Coach of the Year by the
American Swimming Coaches Association and North Carolina
Swimming.
John earned a Master
of Science in exercise science from the University of Georgia and a
Bachelor of Science in health and physical education from the
University of Delaware. He is a native of New Castle, Delaware, and
was a four-year varsity swimmer for the University of Delaware Blue
Hens.
Heather Librizzi
Senior I Coach
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Originally from Brookfield Connecticut, Heather swam for the
Savannah College of Art and Design from 2009-2013. She came into
college holding multiple high school state records in the 100
butterfly and medley and freestyle relays. In college, she
transitioned to distance freestyle. Throughout her time as a
student-athlete and captain of the team, she won two National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national titles in
the 1,650 freestyle and earned three NAIA All-American honors.
Heather specializes in coaching the 100 butterfly, medley and
freestyle relays, and distance freestyle but also enjoys coaching
all strokes. She has developed swimmers of all ages and is excited
to prepare athletes, both physically and mentally, to compete on
the AGUA swim team
Matt Hall
UES AG 3 Coach
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Matt joins the AGUA swim team with experience in all levels of age
group coaching. After serving as head coach for two small teams, he
comes to Manhattan from the Wilton Wahoos in Connecticut. With
Wilton, Matt held positions on CT Swimming Senior and Age Group
committees and was the primary coach for the 13-14 age group. Under
his supervision, the Wilton Wahoos 13-14 swimmers won the CT state
championship title three times in the past two years.
Originally from North Carolina, Matt found the sport of swimming at
an early age and his love of the sport carried him to the Bolles
School in Jacksonville, Florida. While at Bolles, Matt was a
five-time Junior National Champion and qualified for Olympic Trials
in three events. He swam at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville where he set the team record in the 400 IM, became an SEC
Champion in the 500 free and earned multiple NCAA Division I
All-America honors.
Matt loves coaching and teaching the lessons swimming has to offer.
He believes that a swimmer’s truest potential can be
reached only with a strong technical foundation. He believes in and
values making the learning process fun for both the swimmers and
coaches!
Diana Pimer
UES AG 1, AG 2 Coach
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Diana Pimer grew up in West Haven, Conn., where she set five
school records for West Haven High School and four team records for
the Hopkins Mariner Swim Team. As a student athlete at Keene State
College, Diana was a four-time school record holder and captained
the swimming and diving teams. In her senior year, Keene State
College named Diana the Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the
Year and the College Female Athlete of the Year.
Diana graduated in 2015 with a bachelor of science in exercise
science and a specialization in coaching. She remained at Keene
State College as an assistant coach, fostering one US Olympic
Trials qualifier and 10 All-American performances.
She moved on to coach for Greenwood Swimming, where her
accomplishments include leading one athlete to a bronze medal at
2016 Rio Paralympic Games. She has also coached USA Swimming
national top 10 athletes, National Zone Select Camp qualifiers, and
New England age group champions and record holders
Hailey Hewitt
BPC AG 1, AG 2, AG 3 Green Coach
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Hailey Hewitt grew up swimming in Fairfax, Va., where she was a
junior national qualifier for the Nation’s Capital Swim Club.
She continued her career as a student athlete at the College of
William and Mary, an NCAA Division 1 school. Hailey served as
co-captain of the Tribe team, and in her senior year, she became
the first swimmer in school history to qualify for the US Olympic
Trials in the 200-meter backstroke. The two-time Colonial Athletic
Association (CAA) champion was named Tribe Club’s Woman
Senior Athlete of the Year.
After graduating in 2012 with degrees in kinesiology and
elementary education, Hailey began her coaching career volunteering
with the College of William and Mary swim team. In 2013, she moved
on to become the assistant swim coach at Western Albermarle High
School and spent two years as the assistant director of competitive
swimming for the Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club.
Since arriving in New York in 2015, Hailey has utilized her
coaching talents as the lead instructor at Swim-City, a
learn-to-swim company based in Manhattan. During her time there,
she has coached over 100 swimmers in residential buildings around
the city.
Art Koharian
Strength & Conditioning Coach
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Art has diverse
experience training clients of all ages and abilities, specializing
in sports performance. An avid athlete, his passion for sports led
him to pursue a career in personal training. He is a certified
strength and condition specialist, USA Track and Field Level 1
coach, certified functional movement screening specialist, and
holds a Bachelor of Science in nutrition and exercise science from
Queens College.
Art’s training
approach is to identify the specific needs of each swimmer and
safely progress through a strength and conditioning program. He
addresses an individual’s asymmetries to create a fitness
regimen that will improve health and physical
performance.
Ian Cervone
Strength & Conditioning Coach
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Ian was introduced to weight training at the young age of thirteen, when he spent the summer with Olympic strength coach Charles Staley. Initially teaching himself by reading fitness magazines and books, Ian has since pursued a formal education through course work at The University of Albany, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
With over 10 years experience as a coach and a trainer, Ian has worked with athletes at every different level. In addition to holding numerous personal training and strength certifications Ian is also a Lifeguard and CPR instructor with the American Red Cross, and is a New York City EMT-Paramedic.
Ian fully understands the pressures and demands placed young athletes. Growing up he competed in sports all year round playing football, wrestling and running track. At the University of Albany Ian rowed crew and was the captain of their wrestling team. Currently Ian plays rugby for the New York Rugby Club, competing in Division 1, the highest level of completion in the US.
Ian believes that through a proper dry land and strength training program any swimmer can benefit. He thinks that safety and proper form are paramount over everything else. Heavy single weight training, maximum lifts, and hypertrophy work is discouraged and instead there is a large focus on core strength, mobility and flexibility.
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