Tristan Formon
Head Coach
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Primary
Groups: Seniors
Background: Tristan
began his coaching career in the UK and has been coaching at
Berkeley and teaching at the Berkeley Swim School since 1996.
Tristan's background includes many years as an elite level swimmer,
competing at the regional and national levels, as well as in
collegiate swimming at Loughborough University, in a swimming
career that took him to the British Olympic Trials. He was named NJ
Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year for 2011 and has been selected
as a NJS All Star Zone Coach on several occasions. Active in the
governance at all levels of the sport of Swimming, Tristan has
served as a member of the USA Swimming, Eastern Zone Swimming and
New Jersey Swimming Board of Directors. Currently he serves as
Eastern Zone Coach Director, member of the USA Swimming Age Group
Development Committee and Co-Chair of the USA Swimming Zone
Director Council. He received his Master’s Degree in
Physical Education with a concentration in Coaching and Sports
Administration from Montclair State University.
Graham Bodner
Head Age Group Coach
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Coach Graham Bodner began coaching in the summer
of 2010 in Pittsburgh PA. Most recently, he was the Head Age Group
Coach of the Ridgefield Aquatic Club in Connecticut for the past
four years. During his time there, RAC’s age group program
grew in not only numbers but success at the state and zone level.
Last year RAC finished 2nd overall at CT Age Group State
Championships with his 10 & Under girls winning back to back
team titles in 2018 Short Course And 2018 Long Course Age Group
Championships. Coach Graham is also very involved in his
off-deck work. Recently, Graham was an assistant coach for the USA
Swimming Eastern Zone Select Camp in his hometown of Pittsburgh PA.
He was selected as a 2017 ASCA fellow and tasked with studying how
to coach GenZ athletes. Also, Coach Graham is a published writer in
Swimming World Magazine as well as SPLASH Magazine. Coach
Graham’s philosophy on age group swimming is based around
simple principles. Enjoying the process, always be competing,
always be learning and finding FUN in the challenge.
Anna Barry
Coach
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Primary Group:
Juniors/Snappers
Background:
Anna
has taught at the Berkeley Swim School for numerous years.
She has also been a member of the coaching staff at Berkeley
Aquatic Club for over 15 years. Anna
served on the NJ Swimming Board of Directors as the NJS
Treasurer and NJS Records Chair. She graduated from Alfred
University in Alfred, New York with a major in
Accounting. Anna received a Master’s Degree in
International Business from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She
has been selected as a coach to the New Jersey Swimming All
Star Zone Team on multiple occasions.
Peter Barry
Coach
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Peter Barry
Primary Group: Assists with the Senior and Junior
Groups
Background: Peter Barry began coaching in
1978. He served as Assistant Women's Coach for Columbia
University from 1983-1986. Upon matriculating, from Columbia
University, with a bachelor's degree in Architecture and Building
and Development, he became Head Age Group at Morris Center YMCA,
eventually becoming Head Coach from 1989-1993. In 1993, Peter
took on the role as Junior Coach at the Somerset Hills YMCA,
eventually becoming Director of Competitive Aquatics from
2001-2015. In 2012, he was named YMCA Coach of the Year,
by his swimmers, parents and peers. In his tenure, he has
coached Olympic Trial, USA Junior National, National qualifiers,
and Junior Pan Pac's finalists, and YMCA National Champions.
Joe Ciccarelli
Coach
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Primary Groups: Competitive Readiness Clinics, FLEX and assists
with Age Group program
Background: Joe swam for Matt Elko at
Lakeland Hills YMCA for 13 years earning multiple state times in
the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 100 Butterfly. After finishing
his career at Lakeland, Joe went on to swim at Kings College a
Division II level team. Joe is joining our coaching staff after
serving as an assistant coach for 3 years at Lifetime
Athletic Clubs in the New York Metro Area.
Marlene Curtis
Coach
Email
Primary
Groups: Streaks
Background:
Marlene
joined the BAC staff in 1995. Marlene has more than 25
years’ experience as a swim instructor. She is an ASCA
Level II Coach and has been selected as a NJS All Star Zone
Coach. Marlene currently serves on the NJ Swimming Board
of Directors as Registration Chair, and Safe Sport
Chair. Previously she has served as Safety Chair
(Operational Risk). She is an Associate Professor of
Physical Education at Kean University. Marlene also coaches
at Echo Lake Country Club during the summer. Marlene
graduated from Calvin College with a major in Recreation and
Physical Education and earned her Master’s Degree in Exercise
Physiology at Columbia University. Marlene served as the
Director of Aquatics at the Union YMHA
Meredith Formon
Coach & COMPETITIVE READINESS CLINICS
Email
Primary
Groups:Assists with the Age Group
program/Competitive Readiness Clinics
Background:
Meredith began as an instructor in
the Berkeley Swim School in 2001. She joined the Berkeley coaching
staff assisting with the age group program in the fall of
2008. In the Fall of 2018, Meredith began running the
Competitive Readiness Clinics for 5 to 7 year olds interesting in
joining the competitive team. She has a passion for
helping young athletes develop the skills they need to empower them
to be more successful at the next level. Meredith has been
selected as a NJS All Star Zone Coach on several
occasions. She was a collegiate cross-country
runner. Meredith graduated from the College of the Holy
Cross with a major in Biology and
Pre-Med.
Bobby Hammond
Coach
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Background: Bobby Hammond started swim
lessons at Berkeley Aquatic Club at the age of 6 and worked his way
through the various practice groups up to Seniors. After making the
Zone Team at the age of 10, Bobby fell in love with the sport of
triathlon and became a sponsored triathlete by the time he was 12.
Bobby consistently held a top 3 ranking nationally and is now an
Elite Triathlete having the honor of competing as part of Team USA
in the North America non draft-legal circuit and winning numerous
non-drafting sprint and Olympic distance races across the country.
Bobby looks to bring the same level of commitment, energy,
enthusiasm and passion for the sports and competition to BAC as a
Coach while he builds a Triathlon program here at Berkeley Aquatic
Club. Bobby is joining our coaching staff after serving as an
assistant coach at Lifetime Athletic Clubs in Colorado and in the
New York Metro area.
Paul Hansen
Coach
Email
Primary Groups: Assists with the
Junior and Senior Groups
Background: Prior to BAC,
Paul was an assistant coach at the Cape Cod Swim Club. Before that,
he and his wife Theresa co-coached the Pasquotank River Otters in
Elizabeth City, NC, where the team grew from 16 to 60 swimmers
during his tenure. Paul brings to BAC a keen interest in stroke
mechanics, and can be seen at any practice working with the
swimmers to improve their strokes and turns. Paul joined the BAC
staff as a volunteer coach in 2001 after he retired from the U.S.
Coast Guard. A graduate of U.S.C.G.A., he achieved All-American
status as a cadet. Following several years at sea, he
attended Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, FL, and served as a
pilot for the remainder of his career. He now flies off
a corporate flight department.
Dave Kessel
Coach
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Kevin Mahoney
Coach
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Primary Group:
Assists with Juniors and Streaks
Background: Kevin
has been a member of the Berkeley Coaching Staff since 1996. He is
a graduate of Lycoming College where he earned a B.A. in Sociology.
He also is currently working on his Teaching Certification in
Physical Education after completing the required credits from the
United States Sports Academy. Kevin was a High School Physical
Education Teacher for 26 years at Oratory Prep and St. Joseph High
School in Metuchen, NJ and currently is a Substitute Teacher at
Gill St. Bernard School and Summit High School. In 2012, Kevin
retired from coaching High School Swimming after 22 years as the
Head Coach at Mount Saint Mary Academy (1996-2012) and Oratory Prep
(1991-2007). He was inducted into the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches
Hall of Fame in 2012 for Girls Swimming. His Girls and Boys Swim
Teams earned over 50 Championship Titles, including 18 NJ State and
NJ Independent School State Championships. He comprised a career
record of 171-15-2 at The Mount, the highest winning percentage in
NJ State history for Swimming. Kevin presently is a Certified Pool
Operator and manages/coaches at Roxiticus Golf Club in
Mendham.
Katie Paris
Coach
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Primary Group: Assists with Seniors, Juniors and AG
Program
Katie’s swimming career started at Berkeley Swim School, and
progressed all the way through to the Senior Team. During her
career at Berkeley, Katie had the opportunity to compete in meets
such as Speedo Super Sectionals and Open Water Nationals, was
recognized by USA Swimming as a Scholastic All-American and served
as the NJ Swimming Athlete Representative for her Junior &
Senior year of high school. Katie graduated from
Berkeley and New Providence High School In 2014, and went on to
swim at the collegiate level for 2 years at Bowdoin College, and
was a 4 year member of the Bowdoin Water Polo team, ending senior
year as a captain.
Katie began coaching at the New Providence Community Pool in the
summer of 2014, and has continued to coach each subsequent summer,
joining Berkeley in Fall 2018.
Sam Petersen
Coach
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Tatiana Prendella
Coach & MASTERS
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Background:
Tatiana swam for Peter Barry at Somerset Hills YMCA for 11 years,
then continued her career at Brown University. She competed at
Brown for four years, serving as captain her final year. Tatiana
raced in multiple individual A Finals at the Ivy League
Championships and broke several school relay records with her
teammates. During the summer, she trained and competed under Jim
Wood, while coaching the Bernardsville Swim Team.
Chris Rattray
Coach/BAC TV
Email
Primary Groups:
Assists with Seniors, Juniors and AG Program
Chris graduated from
Bridgewater Raritan High School and the Berkeley Aquatic Club
Senior Program in 2011. Chris went on to earn a BS of Science in
Film and Video at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. As part of
his Drexel education, Rattray participated in six-month internship
in Phoenix, AZ with Swimming World TV as an Associate Producer and
furthered his knowledge of Swimming Digital Media, and continued
his work with Swimming World since live-streaming meets along the
east coast. Rattray oversees content creation with the
aim of providing young athletes with a viewing platform by which
they can further improve their swimming knowledge and ability
including live meet streaming by starting SwimCast –
Powered by BAC TV, a live-streaming business out of BAC that
you can find on YouTube and Facebook. Chris heads up the
swim pro film review at BAC and can be found coaching on-deck the
Senior, Junior, and Age Group programs utilizing programs on the
iPad and the Swim Pro System for video analysis of technique to
develop sound stroke mechanics across all
levels.
Elissa Ryan
Coach
Email
Primary Groups:
Take Your Marks
Background: Elissa
Ryan (formerly Lavorerio) has been a member of the Berkeley Aquatic
Club family for over 30 years. She swam on the first
Snapper team and made her way to swimming on the Senior
team. She earned her varsity letter for 4 years at
Watchung Hills in swimming, and was captain her junior and senior
year. She went on to compete for Rutgers University,
earning a BA in Political Science and lettering all four years,
ending her career as captain.
Mike Schwebel
Coach - Masters
Email
Primary Groups:
MASTERS
Background: Mike
began his coaching career in 1995 as an assistant swim coach under
Judy Lee at Westfield Memorial Pool. Prior to that Mike
was an All-American High School swimmer and swam in the Division I-
Mid-American conference at Miami University in Oxford,
OH. Since then Mike has coached at Westfield YMCA,
Scotch Plains Fanwood YMCA, Nomahegan Swim Club and more recently
as Assistant coach at Westfield High School from 2010 through the
2018 season winning 7 state championships with the Boys and Girls
programs. Mike has been a Masters swimmer since 2005
where he swam with Fort Lauderdale Aquatics before relocating back
to New Jersey. He has been swimming with our Berkeley
Aquatic Master’s program since 2012 and coaching at BAC since
2016. You can find Mike coaching our Masters team
practices on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, or swimming
with our group on Monday and Thursday evenings. Mike earned
his Bachelors in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing
from Miami University and currently works in healthcare sales for a
manufacturer based in Whippany, NJ.
Christina Wypijewska
Yoga Instructor
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Background: A graduate of Yale University and Vassar College, with a Master's Degree in Public Health, Christina is an experienced registered yoga teacher at the 500-level with special training to work with children and teens. She encourages her students to explore their true potential through powerful and balanced yoga sequences with an emphasis on breath, alignment and awareness. Christina has extensive experience working with kids, teeens and adults, including training other teachers about the healing benefits of yoga, pranayama, sound vibration and meditation. She teaches group classes and private yoga and meditation in NJ, NY and locations around the world.
