Kyle Harris
Head Coach
Email
Harris was previously the head coach for the
Revere SandSharks Swim Club in Boston, MA. Info from simple
Internet search of the SandSharks does not do Coach Harris’
efforts in Boston justice. Through the Search
Committee’s and Board’s multiple interviews and
reference checks, we found that he
took on
the challenge of making the best opportunity for a rec league
program in in one of the most economically disadvantaged areas
of suburban Boston.
Though the initial competitive team is small when
compared to the Barracudas, it was a big first step, and a
successful one. He
guided one of his first-year competitors to a 2nd place
finish at the Bay State Games in the 100 Meter Backstroke for
the 11-12 Girls Age Group. Additionally, in his first
year as Head Coach in the New England LSC, Harris received the
honor of being selected as coach of the LSC Boys 15-18 Zone Team
for the 2017 Eastern Zone Long Course Championships.
That’s pretty heavy stuff and we look forward to his energy,
enthusiasm and dedication to take the Barracudas to higher levels
of success both in swimming and in life.
Before his time with the SandSharks, Harris
coached both high school and other larger; more
established USA Swimming clubs and worked in marketing for
University of Utah Athletics. Some of Coach Harris’
experience involves working with 10+ Utah HS State Finalist, USA-S
State Qualifiers and Finalist, and USA-S Western Zones
Qualifiers.
Harris is a Colby-Sawyer College and University
of Utah Alumni. He obtained his Coaching Certification and
Associates from Colby-Sawyer, which involves Sport Physiology,
Sport Psychology, Coaching Fundamentals, and a myriad of other
coaching courses. Harris obtained his Bachelor of Science from the
University of Utah in Sport Management making Dean’s
List.
During his years as
a Colby-Sawyer Charger, though he swam events of all
strokes, Harris primarily competed in the 200 Free, 100 Free,
and 100 Butterfly.
Coach Harris' Coaching
Philosophy
Coaching Experience, Education, and Honors
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2017 Eastern Zones Coach; New England Boys 15-18 Coach
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Eastern Zones Long Course Champions
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ASCA 4 Educated
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ASCA Coaching 8 & Unders Certified
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Coaching Certification; Colby-Sawyer College 2015
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Head Coach; Revere SandSharks Swim Club 2016-17
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Head Coach; West Jordan High School 2015-16
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Age Group Coach; Kearns Youth Aquatic Team (KYAT) 2015-16
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Assistant Coach; Riverton High School 2014-15
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Head Coach; J.L. Sorenson Squids Swim Team 2014-15
Swimming Experience and Honors
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Colby-Sawyer College Men’s Swim Team; New London, NH
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Member of the current 400 Free Relay Record
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New England Championships (NEISDA) 2012, 2013,2014
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Athlete of the Week Awards 2013
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Varsity Letter winner all years competed
Jennifer Wendel
Lead Sawtooth Coach
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Coach Jen was born in Redwood City California and has lived in
Salt Lake City Utah, France, Austin Texas, and Portland Oregon. She
has a daughter who is 25 and a son who is 22. They both live in
Helena which is why she and her husband decided to settle in
Bozeman.
When she was old enough to be thrown into the pool, her
grandfather taught her how to swim. When she joined the swim team
in Salt Lake she had to learn technique and flip turns through
trial and error as there was only one coach for a very large team.
When she heard that her kids' school was looking for a JV coach,
she jumped at the chance to be the coach she never had. She coached
at Jesuit High School in Portland from 2010 to 2013 as the JV coach
for 40 kids. Looking for a different coaching environment with an
opportunity to be able to work more directly with the kids, she
coached for a much smaller team for Valley High School for 3 years.
The entire team, varsity and JV, was 25 kids. She enjoyed a more
individualized approach to coaching with the smaller group.
Coaching at a large competitive school and a small diverse school
shaped her coaching style and philosophy. She believes
collaboration is at the foundation of successful coaching. Kids,
parents, coaches, team mates, and extended family members are all
an integral part of developing an athlete. She defines an athlete
as someone with drive, determination, perseverence, and enjoyment
of a sport. Times do not make athletes. Best times are consequences
of the drive, determination, perseverance, and enjoyment that the
athlete pours into the sport.
Janelle Munson-McGee
Lead Explorers Coach
Email
Janelle was born and raised in Hawaii, where she competed as an
age-group swimmer for the Kamehameha Swim Club. Her swimming
experiences range from the collegiate pool, to open water, and
triathlons. Being a 5'2" woman, she likes to swim smarter and learn
to leverage what she's made of. Janelle has teaching experience
with Kindergarten through eighth grade students and swim coaching
experience at the local and international stages of swimming
competition. In addition to coaching the Explorers group, she is
the head coach for the Bozeman Masters Swim team and works full
time at Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital.
ASCA Level 2 Coach
USMS Level 2 Coach
Rikki Berk
Assistant Coach
Email
Coach Rikki began swimming competitively at age ten with the
Wyckoff YMCA Sharks back in New Jersey. Rikki grew to become a
strong competitor in the sport and continued her swimming on her
YMCA and High School teams. She then swam throughout College
becoming a record holding at her school, Rowan University, and team
captain her senior year. She was one of the first groups of
girls to qualify as a National YMCA swimmer and finalist back in
her YMCA swimming years and still currently holds records for all
teams she competed with.
Rikki started coaching for the Pines Lake Predators, in New
Jersey, back in 2012. Her goal was to provide a safe and fun
environment for kids and teenagers to discover their athletic
talents and enjoy their summer in an encouraging and supportive
environment. She then continued coaching at her college for kids
needing to improve on their technique and training skills before
trying out for other, more competitive, teams in the area.
Many of Rikki’s athletes, ages five through eighteen, have
gone on to receive awards, scholarships, and recognition from their
community for their swimming ability and positive attitudes.
Rikki has only been in Bozeman for a little over a year and has
loved that she was able to connect with all of the swimmers and
coaches on the team so easily. She is now in her second season as a
Barracudas coach and could not be more excited for another
successful one at that.
Darya Peters
Assistant Coach
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Darya has been involved with swimming for thirteen years. She
began her swimming career with the Bozeman Barracudas at the age of
seven and competed for the team through her senior year of high
school in 2017. With the Barracudas, she has served as a team
captain for four seasons during her Junior and Senior years. She
has been a Barracuda state team member for 12 years, a Montana Zone
Team Member two years, an Age Group Regional qualifier four years,
and has been specifically selected to be a Senior Sectional relay
member for three years. Also, Darya had the great honor to be one
of Montana’s four Athlete Representative for a two-year term,
traveling once a year with a select few of Montana’s
representatives to the National Swimming Convention and was able to
be the voice of Montana athletes to the national board.
Being a homeschool athlete up until her senior year of high
school, Darya swam year-round for the Bozeman Barracudas. Her
Senior year she made a transfer to Bozeman High and was able to
swim her final high school season for the Bozeman Hawks. At the end
of her first season for the Hawks, Darya was placed on the State
200 Freestyle relay team who was able to set a school record and
take down the reigning champions of Missoula Hellgate who had held
the record for eight straight years. After graduating in 2017,
Darya had been considering swimming collegiately and was considered
for scholarships with four separate collegiate teams. Eventually
decided to stay in her hometown of Bozeman to pursue a degree at
Montana State University.
From an early age, Darya always had a desire to coach swimming,
to be able to pass on one of her greatest joys she had growing up.
She is in her first season as an assistant coach with the
Barracudas and is very excited to be on the coaching staff. She is
most excited to be able to watch many young swimmers become great
athletes and people.
