Thomas C Gaither
Head Coach (Train 2 / Track 1)
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The 2020 season marks Coach Carter’s 3rd year with the CAC
program. He has a true passion for coaching and has been on the
pool deck for over 30 years! Locally, Coach Carter had an extended
stint with M.E. Lyons YMCA / Anderson Barracudas where his primary
focus was the 11-12 age group. Coach Carter swam at the University
of Kentucky and Boston University.
Carter brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our pool deck
and has one objective each season: getting the swimmers to believe
in themselves. “When that happens, I know a great foundation
for growth (in and out of the pool) is built.”
Coach Carter was drawn to work with CAC because the entire
coaching staff is as dedicated to the swimmers’ personal
growth as much as their development in swimming. “Because of
this dedication to the person, our swimmers are in a better
position to succeed.”
In addition to work and swimming, he loves to travel with his wife,
Stephanie, and daughter, Annie. He also likes to play golf and
tennis.
Kevin S Rachal
Associate Head Coach (Train 1)
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Coach
Kevin is now in his 19th year with the CAC Seahawks as the
associate Head Coach. For the 2016-2017 season he
will continue his focus on the T2 and T1 training groups.
Kevin, a native of
Centerville, Ohio, started swimming competitively when he was five
years old. In 2002, Kevin received outstanding recognition as
Ohio’s Age Group Coach of the Year.
Coach Kevin has
successfully coached in every level of the CAC program!
He has coach two Olympic medalist (Nick Thoman & David
Plummer), multiple top 16 swimmers & state champions! Kevin
works to inspire athletes to be their best while working within the
"TEAM FIRST" philosophy!
A graduate of UC, with
a degree in Information Systems – Marketing –
Management, he has returned to swimming with the Ohio Masters
Program. Away form the pool, Kevin likes to participate in all
types of sporting activities. Kevin and his wife Cristi
have two sons, Jackson (12) & Thomson (8) who both compete
for the Seahawks!!! Contact Coach Kevin at [email protected]
Ken Dunlap
Train 2
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Ken has been with CAC for nearly two decades. Ken currently
helps coach our Train 2 group of senior level
athletes. His area of expertise is technique. Ken loves
to give individual feedback to swimmers and fine tune their
mechanics.
He was named Ohio Swimming’s Age Group Coach of the
Year in July 2006.
Ken’s swimming career includes 10 years with Foxcatcher Swim
Club and 4 years with Germantown Academy under the
legendary coach Dick Shoulberg. After gaining All- American
honors, Ken then swam 4 years for the University of Virginia where
he earned his Masters in Teaching. In 1992 Ken was ranked 23rd in
the World Rankings in the 200 Meter Butterfly and finished 2nd at
the US Nationals. He was an Olympic Trials Qualifier in both the
200 Meter Butterfly and the 400 Meter Freestyle.
Ken’s coaching/teaching experience includes 5 years as the
Head Coach of the Mariemont Aquatic Club, 5 years as the Head Coach
of the Turpin Hills Swim Club and 4 years as the Head Coach of the
Mariemont Junior High School. Ken teaches math at Indian Hill
Middle School. He and wife Amy have two daughters, Kiley and
Mackenzie.
Ben Clark
Transition 1 & 2 - Lead Coach
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Coach Ben was a Seahawk swimmer for 10 years and has been coaching
with the CAC program since 2004. That's almost a quarter-century of
red and black pride! Ben was a Junior Olympic-level swimmer as an
age-grouper, and finalist in multiple events at Ohio Senior
Championships during his high school career. At 14, he was a member
of the 1994 CNCA National Championship team.
He has coached at every level in the CAC program and is entering
his 5th year leading the A3 training group. Coach Ben enjoys coming
up with new and creative ways of teaching technique, skills, and
habits. He challenges and motivates all A3 swimmers in different
ways to reach their potential as they build a strong foundation for
a long swimming career. Coach Ben is passionate about developing
young swimmers into great people and enjoys watching our athletes
succeed at each stage of the program.
Clark has coached dozens of swimmers to their first Junior Olympic
or Zone qualifying times, and the A3 group has continued to be a
key component to CAC Age Group Championship teams under his
leadership. His groups have produced several Ohio JO top-8
finishers, as well as relay depth in the 10 & under age groups.
The success of the group over the last year led to Coach Ben
being nominated for the Ohio Age Group Coach of the Year award in
2016.
Ben and his wife Megan, also a former Seahawk swimmer, have two
children and live in Loveland. Maren will turn 3 this season,
Maxwell is 9 months, and both keep Coach Ben busy outside the pool.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Clark enjoys creating
CAC team apparel, current events, and is a huge college football
fan.
He is a graduate of Saint Xavier High School, Ohio University, and
Xavier University.
Cynthia Donovan
Train 2 & Train 1 - Assistant
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Coach Cynthia has had
a tremendous impact on Cincinnati Aquatic Club as an assistant of
the Train 1 and Train 2 groups since joining the coaching staff in
2016. Coach Cynthia is an innovative and detail-oriented coach who
focuses on fine-tuning the swimmers’ technique and race
strategies to achieve their athletic goals while enthusiastically
supporting their personal development!
Cynthia began
swimming competitively with CAC at the age of 5. During
Cynthia’s Seahawk career, she was a proud member of two Ohio
Junior Olympic Runner-Up teams and a multiple Ohio Junior Olympic
Individual and Relay Champion. She also set numerous team records -
some of which still stand today!
While training with
CAC, Cynthia represented Ursuline Academy for four years at the
Ohio High School D1 Championship with the team finishing as the
State Runner-Up twice. She was also an Ohio High School 200
Freestyle Relay Champion and named an All-American. Cynthia
continued her academic and athletic career at Miami University
double majoring in Nutrition and Kinesiology. As a sprint
freestyler, she competed in four Mid-American Conference
Championships with the team triumphing one year as the MAC
Champions. She was also a member of the 200 Freestyle Relay that
set Miami University’s current record. After graduating,
Cynthia returned to CAC and trained for an ongoing goal. Her
perseverance and continued passion for the sport of swimming
exemplifies a true Seahawk!
Coach Cynthia
acknowledges that swimming for CAC is a large part of who she is
today. Her goal-oriented drive, team-first mentality, lifelong
friendships, and of course her love of swimming can all be traced
back to CAC. “Cincinnati Aquatic Club had such a profound
impact on my life - I wanted to be a part of the CAC Family to
inspire the next generation of Seahawks!”
Emily A Thomas
DRYLAND & STRENGTH COACH
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This marks Emily's fourth year with the Hawks program as the
Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Emily is a former UC Bearcat swimmer where she was a record holder
as well as team captain. She focused on breaststroke and sprint
freestyle. She received her college degree in Communications. She
was previously a North Canton Hoover Viking, where she gained
All-American honors and was state runner-up.
Coach Emily enjoys working with all ages and thrives on challenging
yet encouraging the competitive spirit of all her
athletes.
Contact
[email protected]
Sheridan Ave
Lead Coach - Track 2
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Sheridan grew up surrounded by swimming having both her parents
coaching and began swimming at 9 at LTPY. She swam for LTPY until
her senior year when she swam for GCSTO. She also swam for her high
school, Village Academy, and placed 2nd at the state meet her
senior year in 100 butterfly and 8th in 100 free.
She began coaching in 2018. She started as an assistant coach on a
summer league team, Pickerington Tiger Sharks, for a year and then
moved to the head coach position for the last 2 years. She coached
last winter season (2019-2020) with GCSTO. She is excited for her
first season with CAC!
Sheridan graduated from Village Academy in 2017. She attended Ohio
State University for 3 years and recently transferred to University
of Cincinnati with a major in Art Education.
Jack Mantkowski
Transition 1 & 2 Asst
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Coach Jack is in his first year of coaching with CAC. He grew up as
a member of the team, starting in Hawk 2 when he was 6. He was on
the team for 12 years and represented CAC at Regionals, JO’s,
Zones, and Sectionals. He continued his swimming career at Ohio
State with the club swim team, where he swam for four years and won
two national championships. Jack works as an assistant coach for
the Track 2 and Transition 1 groups, while occasionally helping out
elsewhere. He enjoys working closely with the team members to
develop their skills and see them progress as athletes and people.
He also enjoys working with the other coaches; Benson, Kevin, Ken,
and Ben taught him most of what he knows about the sport.
Outside of coaching, Jack is an associate accountant with
PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cincinnati. He recently completed his CPA
exams and graduated with a Masters in Accounting.
Ryan Hammer
Assistant
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Ryan has been coaching in the Cincinnati area since 1997, with the
Sycamore Flying Fish from 1997-2005 & 2009-2012 and the
Cincinnati Marlins from 2012-2019. In 2019, Ryan left
coaching and began working at Speedo and currently covers
Ohio/Indiana/Michigan...so he's our rep!
Ryan has been responsible for swimmers and programs that have
developed Junior Olympic champions, developmental swimmers and
everywhere in between, and got the chance to assist with
National-level athletes competing at Olympic Trials and Junior
Nationals.
Ryan's philosophy is every athlete deserves attention, whether it's
video feedback on stroke technique or individual conversations
about goal-setting, etc.
Away from the pool, he enjoys traveling (hopefully back to Europe
soon) and competing with Coach Kevin in fantasy baseball.
