Coaches and Board Members
John Fodell enters his 13th year as Head Coach of the Grosse Pointe Gators. While with the Gators, John’s swimmers have won numerous State, Sectional, NCSA, and Junior National titles, and dozens have continued their swimming careers collegiately at Division I, II, and III Universities and Colleges. In 2016, the Gators had 2 swimmers qualify for the Olympic Trials. One of those swimmers swam in the semi-finals of the 200 Breast and moved on to swim for Team USA in the 2016 Junior Pan Pac Championships, in which he won the 100 Breast. This was accomplished under John's tutelage. During John's tenure as Head Coach, the number of JO, State, Sectional, Junior National, and National level swimmers has grown dramatically. John was named the Michigan Swimming 2016 Coach Of The Year and 2018 MISCA Coach of the Year for South Girls.
John has been coaching for 15 years. He has served as Head Coach for the Grosse Pointe Shores Sharks in the LFSA League, where he was also the Parks and Recreation Director. He then became Head Coach at Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in the MICSA league. John is in his second year as Head Coach of the South High School girls and boys swim teams after assisting the teams for 10 years.
John earned his masters degree in adaptive physical education from Western Michigan University in 2007 and completed his degree in Physical Education from Albion College in 2006. As a Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, John was a member of the National Honors Society and was Student Athlete of the Year in 2002. At Albion he earned four varsity letters in swimming and three in tennis. Swimming at Albion John held five school records, served as team captain and was named MVP for the 2005-06 season. John was also a three-time All-MIAA swimmer and honored as a NCAA Division III All-American swimmer in 2006. John served as a graduate assistant at Albion, teaching college recreation classes, as well as overseeing the healthy lifestyles program for the developmentally impaired.
John is the lead coach for our Senior and Bronze groups.
Tony Grice has a long history in the sport of swimming beginning as a young competitive swimmer for the St. Clair Shores Lakers, Macomb Marlins (national qualifier), Notre Dame High School (receiving All-State honors) and Wayne State University (four-year letterman and school record holder).
Tony's coaching career began during college. Most recently, he served as the Head Age Group Coach for the Great Lakes Tritons and Head Coach of the Girls and Boys Swim Teams at Chippewa Valley High School. He led the Girls Swim Team to win their first Macomb County Championship ever, a title they held for the next four years. Under his leadership, the Boys Swim Team won their first ever Macomb County Championship. Tony has also held coaching positions including as the Head Coach of the Macomb Marlins, Pleasant Ridge Swim Team, and Girls/Boys Swim Teams at L’Anse Creuse High School.
Tony was named the 2010 MISCA Swim Coach of the Year, 2012 Macomb County Coach of the Year and MAC Red Coach of the Year six times. He has developed Division 1 All-State swimmers, numerous USA State and Zone Champions, Sectional and Junior National Qualifiers. He also has helped prepare many swimmers for collegiate programs.
Tony has a Business Administration Degree in Marketing and Advertising and a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from WSU. He later went back to school and received his Teaching Certificate as a K-12 Physical Education and Health teacher from SVSU.
Tony joined our Gators family in 2016. We are very excited to bring his coaching experience and expertise to your swimmers.
Tony is the lead coach for our Silver group and helps with our Bronze and Senior groups.
Scott MacDonald is beginning his 7th year of coaching with the Gators. Scott is also the Head Coach of the DYC summer swim team in the MICSA League. Previously, he was the Head coach for Cousino High School for 8 years and coached club as an assistant coach for the Oakville Dolphins in Oakville, Ontario for 3 years. Scott has 15 years of swimming experience reaching Canadian Nationals, Captain at Wayne State University (2003), and GLIAC Champions (2003). He also graduated from Wayne State with a Education B.A. in Kinesiology, Health Science and Nutrition and has completed the Coaching Advancement Program (C.A.P) Level 4. Scott really enjoys seeing instruction come to light in a kids eyes. It is especially rewarding when it translates to success in the pool, and into success in kids lives. If you can help them love swimming, you can help them become great at swimming.
Scott is the Lead Coach for the Gold 2 and Gold Plus groups.
Coach Stacy assists with the Silver group.
Ben is starting his first year as a coach with the Gators. He started swimming in the Lakefront Swimming Association when he was 8, and joined the Gators when he was 13. Ben enjoys helping others understand more about the sport, and loves seeing hard work and dedication pay off. He is currently studying engineering at Macomb Community College.
Ben assists with all groups.
Amy assists with all Groups.
Liz has been involved with swimming her whole life. Her love of swimming began when her mom signed her up to swim with an AAU Swim Club, where she competed for 10 years. In a career that has spanned over 25 years, Liz has served as a coach for Pointe Aquatics, Aquatic Supervisor for Grosse Pointe Community Education, the inaugural coach for the University of Ligget HS Swim Team, and Assistant Coach for the GP North HS Swim Team. Liz is currently the Pool Manager and Head Coach for the Country Club of Detroit in the MICSA League.
She believes it’s very important for all people to be physically fit, and she spends a lot of her free time pursuing an active lifestyle: running, swimming and letting off a "little steam" in the weight room are some of her favorite pastimes.
