Kelly Rose McCullough
Head Coach
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Coach Kelly Rose
McCullough began coaching at the age of 16 for her local YMCA swim
team in Spencer, Iowa. After graduating from the University of
Northern Iowa in 2011 with a degree in Business Administration
Management and Accounting, Coach Kelly Rose went to work for the
Sioux Falls Snowfox Swim Team. During her four years with Snowfox,
she served as the Head Age Group Coach and Administrative Assistant
to the Board of Directors. She was also the Head All-Stars Coach
and Head Zones Team Coach for Team South Dakota for three years.
Coach Kelly Rose moved out Northern Virginia in June of 2015 and
began coaching with the FISH. She was the Head Mini FISH Coach for
two years while also assisting with the other groups on the team.
Coach Kelly Rose is now currently coaching for NCAP Tyson's where
she is lead coach for the Silver 1 AM/PM program, Bronze 1 AM,
Bronze 2B, and HSP while assisting with the Gold 2 program as well.
In Kelly Rose's spare time she gives lessons at Swim Box in
Arlington. This will be Coach Kelly Rose's fourth season with the
Whomping Turtles and she cannot wait for another great
summer!
Jessica Cruzado
Assistant Head Coach
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Jessica was a year-round competitive swimmer
through high school. She swam for Highlands from ages 12 to 18, and
joined the Highlands’ Coaching Staff as a Coach-in-Training
when she was 15. This will be Jessica’s 10th year coaching.
She graduated in 2019 from the College of William & Mary with a
bachelor's in Chemistry and Computer Science. In 2017, Jessica
became a nationally certified American Swimming Coaches Association
(ASCA) Summer League Coach. Jessica also coaches a developmental
stroke school program for NCAP Tyson's.
Dan McGuire
Assistant Head Coach
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Coach Dan has been
swimming since the age of 6 and move to northern VA when he was 13,
where he swam for the tiny NVSL team, the Fairfax Club Estates
Flippers. He also swam club for both NCAP and Machine through his
high school years. He then shipped off to the distant land of
Fredericksburg, VA to attend the University of Mary Washington
where he majored in Spanish and Linguistics and also swam on the
team for all 4 years. During college, he also coached for his
former NVSL team, Fairfax Club Estates, where they started in
division 14 and made it all the way up to division 7. Since 2018,
he has been coaching for NCAP Marymount, where he is currently the
Head Senior Group coach and Bronze group coach as well as working
for SwimBox, a company that does video analysis of swim strokes in
an endless pool. His entire life is now dedicated to making sure
kids are not only swimming faster, but also swimming injury free.
He's also looking forward to his first summer with Highlands this
year!
Kelsey Isman
Co-Head Mini Whomper Coach
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Coach Kelsey is a
rising sophomore at Wesleyan University where she is a member of
the swim team. She graduated from Yorktown High School in 2019. She
was a member of the swim team at Yorktown and also swam for Clark
Swim Club. She was a member of the Highlands team from ages 7-18.
In addition to coaching the Mini Whompers, she has coached for
Norman Swimming, Marymount Developmental Swim Team, Marymount Swim
School, and the Arlington Adapted Aquatics program. She has been
coaching private lessons up at Wesleyan as well. She looks forward
to a great season!
Maggie Campion
Co-Head Mini Whomper Coach
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This summer is
Maggie’s 5th year as a Highlands coach and 6th year coaching
swim. Maggie swam for 12 years from ages 7-18. She also coached
volleyball for the past 3 years and played basketball for McLean
High School. Maggie has experience with swimmers and people of all
abilities as she has coached adaptive swim classes in the past and
has been a part of Best Buddies since middle school. She just
graduated from McLean and will attend James Madison University in
the fall.
Allison Martin
Assistant Coach
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Allison has been a
Whomping Turtle since she was seven years old. She has also been
swimming year-round with The Fish since she was eight, and is a
member of their National team. She is a rising senior at Georgetown
Visitation, and is a Scholastic All-American. Her favorite strokes
are butterfly, freestyle, and IM. She loves working with kids of
all ages. Allison is very excited for her third year coaching at
Highlands!
Ben Charles
Assistant Coach
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Ben Charles has been a Whomping Turtle since he was 6 years old,
and has fallen in love with the sport ever since. He swims
year-round for Machine Aquatics and will be swimming at The
University of Texas at Austin next year. He has been a coach on the
team for the last 4 years and has competed in numerous national and
international level meets. His favorites strokes are Butterfly and
Breaststroke, but he is well-versed in all of the different
strokes. He is looking forward to another year of swimming on the
team and his last swim season with the Turtles!
Christopher Stewart
Assistant Coach
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Chris has been a Whomping Turtle since 2010
and has been a coach and group lessons instructor since 2018. He
has also been coaching in the Highlands Winter Program for the past
two years. Chris has just finished his junior year at Gonzaga
College High School where he is a rugby player. Chris swam for
Clark Swim Club for many seasons. He enjoys teaching swimmers of
all levels, but he specializes in beginners and helping kids with a
fear of the water with getting comfortable swimming. He is a
lifelong resident of Arlington, and is very excited to coach again
this year!
Greer Schuman
Assistant Coach
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Greer is a rising
senior at Bishop O'Connell High School. She was a competitive
swimmer from age 8-13 on the Fish swim team. She also swam on
varsity swimming at Bishop O'Connell. Greer has been a part of the
Whomping Turtles since 2008. Last year she was a Mini Whomper coach
and loved every part of it. Over the winter, Greer coaches for Matt
Norman Swim. She is really excited for the 2020 swim season! Go
Whomping Turtles!
Meredith Bacon
Assistant Coach
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Meredith is a rising
college freshman and graduated from Bishop O'Connell High School
this spring. This will be her third year coaching and swimming for
Highlands. She is currently a captain for her high school swim team
and swims for NCAP Marymount, previously known as Clark Swim Club.
She enjoys working with kids of all ages and levels. Besides
coaching at Highlands, she has also coached for Norman Swimming and
Future Saints at Marymount, and currently coaches for Adapted
Aquatics. She can't wait for another fantastic season with the
Whomping Turtles!
Alissa Keegan
Assistant Coach
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Alissa graduated
Bishop O’Connell High School in May 2020 and will be
attending Georgia Tech in the fall and majoring in Biomedical
Engineering. Alissa has been a State Championship Team varsity
swimmer and cross country runner throughout high school. She joined
NCAP’s year-round program at age 7, where she competed in PVS
Junior Olympics and IMX Games, and with the Zone Team. Alissa has
been a member of the Highlands Swim Team since age 11, but has been
swimming in the NVSL since age 5. Her favorite strokes are free and
fly, although she also enjoys helping her swimmers rise to the
challenge of the IM and other events that challenge their
endurance. Alissa is a lifeguard and loves working with younger
children to help them master the lifesaving skill of swimming as
well as grow in sportsmanship. She is excited to be working again
with your child this year to increase their love of this
sport! She is also available this summer to teach private
lessons.
Daniel Isman
Assistant Coach
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Dan is a rising
junior at Yorktown High School. He has swum for Yorktown since
freshman year and swum for Highlands since he was 6. He also swims
for NCAP Marymount year round. He has coached for Norman Swimming
and volunteered for the Arlington Adapted Aquatics program. He is
looking forward to a great summer!
Forrest Spencer
Assistant Coach
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Forrest is a student
at Trinity Christian High School and has been on the Highlands Swim
Team since the 2015 swim season. He loves the sport of swimming and
has been swimming since the fifth grade. He has been coaching since
the 2019 season.
Megan Craven
Assistant Coach
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This is Megan’s
second year on Highlands and it has been an absolute blast! Last
year Megan worked as a coach in training and truly enjoyed working
with and getting to know all the swimmers. Megan swims
competitively year round for Machine. She specializes in breast and
free and can work with kids of all ages.
Adam Kunz
Assistant Coach
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This summer is Adam’s 10th season swimming with the Highlands
Swim Team and second year as a coach. A rising senior at McLean
High School, Adam enjoys team building, coaching, and mentoring
youth. He has worked with youth as a mentor for the Elite Clubs
National League (ECNL) at McLean Youth Soccer and as a math tutor.
In 2018, Adam served as the Youth Director for the Education
Foundation’s sport and academic summer camp for
underprivileged boys and girls. At McLean High, Adam plays Varsity
Soccer and is the founder of the Biology Olympiad Team. He also
enjoys playing soccer with the Arlington Soccer Association and
basketball with Mclean Youth Basketball. Adam loves
swimming and coaching for Highlands, and is looking forward to a
great summer with the team!
Sky Sunderhauf
Assistant Coach
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Skye has been a
Whomping Turtle since 6 years old and is now a rising senior at
McLean High School. She swims year-round with The Fish and she also
swims on her high school team. Skye has been a coach at Norman
Swimming for three years and this will be her second year coaching
at Highlands. Last summer, her favorite part of being a coach was
seeing her swimmers improve from the beginning of the season to the
end! Skye loves all the strokes, especially butterfly and
breaststroke. She can't wait for another summer with the Highlands
Whomping Turtles and is ready to help the kids get faster and most
importantly, have fun!
Hanna Boughanem
Coach in Training
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Hanna is a
swimmer who finds joy in the sport both in and out of the water!
She has been swimming with Highlands since she was nine years old,
and has greatly enjoyed being a part of the Highlands family. She
has worked with kids in the past as both a tutor and volunteer
instructor, and loves helping children succeed. She has been
swimming since she was seven years old, and specializes in the
breaststroke, individual medley, and distance freestyle events. In
the summer of 2015, she set a new team record in the 50 meter
breaststroke and was part of an NVSL record-breaking relay team.
She has also competed at a high level with her winter swim team and
continues to work hard in the sport. Hanna is thrilled to work with
all of the swimmers here at Highlands and is very excited to help
them reach their goals both in and out of the
pool!
Jackson Baldrate
Coach in Training
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Jackson is 15 years
old and is attending Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C. He is
beginning his eighth year swimming at Highlands. Along with
swimming during the summer, he has done Machine and York winter
swim in the past. He has experience teaching children with special
needs how to swim while coaching at "Adaptive Aquatics." He
specializes in Breastroke and Freestyle, but he can teach all four
of the strokes. He can teach kids of all ages and abilities, but he
especially loves teaching beginner
swimmers.
Jackson Wright
Coach in Training
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Jackson is a
coach-in-training, but has been swimming since he was four years
old. He joined the Highlands swim team when he was eight years old,
and has been swimming in A-meets ever since. His favorite strokes
are freestyle and backstroke. In fact, those are the only two
strokes he has swam in an A-meet, except for one 25 butterfly. When
he is not swimming he likes to play basketball and percussion.
Currently he attends Yorktown High School, where he is on the swim
team. His winter swim club is NCAP.
