Jason Walter was named Lakeside Aquatic Club’s Head Coach in February of 2011 after a successful 4 year tenure as LAC's Head Age Group Coach, leading the team to consecutive Top 6 finishes at TAGS.  Coach Jason started with LAC in the spring of 2007 and has been integral part of the club's success over the last 12 years.  During Coach Jason's tenure as Head Coach of Lakeside, he has lead the team twice to a Gold Medal team in USA Swimming's Club Excellence Program (2017 & 2018).  LAC has also almost tripled in size, under Coach Jason's leadership, as well as becoming one of the top Age Group and Senior Programs in the State of Texas.

Coach Jason is currently coaching the National group at our Keller facility.  Under Coach Jason, LAC has had more success at both the local, state and National level than ever before.  In the past six years, Coach Jason’s swimmers have achieved over 25 college signings, 2014-2018 years with a swimmer on the USA Swimming National Junior Team, Junior National champions, Texas High School State Champions and many USA Swimming National Top 10 swims, and have set multiple team, LSC, state, and Junior National records.  

Coach Jason has been involved in the sport of swimming for over 30 years as a coach and athlete.  Coach Jason’s swimming career credits include High School State Champion in the 200 Free Relay, placing in the 50 free at State Championships, and attending Junior Nationals. Jason holds bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Communication Studies from UT Austin and currently lives in Fort Worth with his wife Darcy and children Anna, Colin and Nora.

Candice holds a Bachelor of Science from Tarleton State University with an emphasis on Communications and Organizational Psychology. She comes to us with over 10 years of experience in Financial and Process Operations. 

Candice is an avid lover of all thing’s sports. She grew up playing soccer and has always enjoyed anything competitive. Candice is a Texas native where she resides with her husband Cole, 3 children and their golden retriever.  She enjoys spending time with family, walking trails, watching football, and trying new and exotic foods.

Steve Mateer joined LAC in the fall of 2013, running the Age Group program in The Colony.  He brings to LAC over 30 years of coaching success at all levels of swimming.

Most recently, Steve was at COPS (City of Plano Swimmers) where he served in a variety of roles for 20 years including Head Coach and Head Age Group Coach.  As Head Age Group Coach, his swimmers won TAGS four times.  Coach Steve’s swimmers have been Junior National champions, Senior National finalists, and over 60 of his swimmers have achieved Top 16 or better national rankings in a variety of events.

Steve’s personal coaching accolades include being named Texas Age Group Coach twice, North Texas Age Group Coach of the Year four times, and also awarded Texas Senior Coach of the Year, USA Swimming Coach of Excellence (3 times) and coaching for USA at the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific meet in Hawaii.

Raised by competitive swimmers, Steve began competitive swimming at six, and continued on through his years at the University of Missouri. 

A five-time Age Group Coach of the Year, Thomas (Tom) Cyprus brings over 22 years of club coaching experience and competitive excellence to LAC.  Prior to LAC, Tom was Head Coach at Charger Aquatics in New Mexico since 2007 where he led the team to be the first team in New Mexico to achieve a Virtual Club Championship in the top 100. 

Prior to his tenure at Charger Aquatics, Tom was with City of Plano Swimmers, Inc. (COPS), where he spent one year as an assistant coach and 10 years as Head Age Group Coach. Tom is a Level-5 ASCA certified coach who has produced seven National Champions and over 200 Top-16/Top 10 time qualifiers. Tom joined COPS in 1996 and was promoted to Head Age Group Coach in 1997, where he made a significant contribution to the club's long-standing tradition of competitive excellence.  Prior to working with COPS, Tom coached in Ft. Worth, El Paso and Austin. 

Tom began his swimming career at the age of 5 in El Paso, TX and has now been involved with the sport for more than 40 years.  His first coaching job was at the age of 16 during the summer of 1982.  He is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, enjoys all outdoor sports, but especially swimming and golf. Tom also taught high school math for seven years prior to making club swimming his full-time occupation.

He is married to Tawni Cyprus and has two daughters, Laurel and Chandler.

With over 20 years coaching experience, Jon was most recently the Head Coach of The Bolles School in Florida, one of the most successful high-school swimming programs in the country. 

As an ASCA Level 4 coach, Jon’s coaching success has included 10 USA Olympic Trials Qualifiers, 18 USA Swimming Senior National Qualifiers, 30+ USA Swimming Junior National Qualifiers, 25+ USA Swimming Top 16 NAG Swimmers, 30+ USA High School All-Americans and numerous Florida High School State Championship Teams.  Jon is a 3-time recipient of the National Federation of High School Coaches Association “Coach of the Year” award.

Born in Saipan, Jon represented Guam at the 1988 Olympics where he set Guam records in the 400m & 1500m freestyle.  Those records still stand today. 

Jon swam for the University of Florida where he was a 7-time NCAA All American and represented Team USA at the 1995 Pan American Games.

Jon holds a bachelor’s degree in Recreational Sciences and master’s degree in Sport Coaching and Pedagogy. 

Jon and his wife Angele have 3 children and a dog.  He enjoys reading, working out, traveling, and action movies.

Coach Sarah grew up swimming in Tulsa, Oklahoma for local YMCA and summer league teams. She represented her high school team (100 fly, 200 IM) and then went on to swim for Hendrix College (200 Fly, 400 IM) one term before transferring to the University of Dallas.

In 1997, Sarah began coaching in North Texas and she has coached for Irving Swimmers, NTAC, NTN. She began to focus on developing swimmers early in her coaching career and built a successful Swim School for NTN.

Sarah joined LAC in 2010 to build and refine a developmental program to feed their successful club program. She is responsible for finding and training talented coaches and creating a large and successful swim school. Sarah is passionate about teaching children to swim and, as a homeschool mother of three, rates water safety at the highest level of importance.

Coach Sarah holds a degree in Classics from the University of Dallas.

Chrissy Gentry brings a wealth of experience in age group swimming and coaching, and we are excited to have her at LAC.  She has most recently been coaching in High Point, North Carolina from 2006-2015, where she was the Head Age Group Coach at High Point Swim Club (HPSC).  While at HPSC, she mentored a variety of swimmers, from those involved in the Learn-To-Swim program through Age Group Sectional Finalists.  While in North Carolina, she served on the Local Swimming Committee Board as well as coaching many camps and zone championship teams.

Prior to HPSC, Chrissy spent two years as the Aquatics Director and Head Coach at the American School in Japan.  She graduated from Williams College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.  At Williams, she earned four All-American Honors awards in swimming, and was a member of the NCAA Division III Champion rowing team in 2002. 

Andrew started swimming at the age of 9 in his hometown of Bemus Point, NY. He swam for Jamestown High School and the Town of Tonawanda Titans growing up. He was recruited to swim for West Virginia University, where he qualified for the NCAA Championships both Junior and Senior years, as well as the 2016 Olympic Trials. He also won the Big XII Champion title, setting the Big XII Championship meet record in the 100 Backstroke his Senior year.

While at WVU, Andrew was an Age Group Coach at Club Mountaineer and graduated with a degree in Athletic Coaching Education and Sport and Exercise Psychology. Upon graduation from WVU, Andrew worked as an Assistant Senior Swim Coach with NASA Wildcat Aquatics. He also volunteer coached with Northwestern University's swim team. Andrew took a position with Ithaca College Men's swim team, where he also pursued a Master's degree in Sport Psychology. Most recently, Andrew coached at the Longhorn Swim Camp at the University of Texas Austin.

Coach Shelley's swimming career actually started on Logan Martin Lake in east Alabama, chasing down her water skis and flipping from a rope swing into open lake water.  As a freshman, her family relocated from Alabama to Grapevine, where she gained the opportunity to dive into the competitive swimming world at GHS. She has since spent the last 20 years working in aquatics, from life guarding, teaching and coaching to program/facility management. Coach Shelley obtained a B.S. in Physical Education from the University of Alabama in 2005, ROLL TIDE!  Her seasons spent coaching prior to joining LAC were with The Greater Trussville Aquatic Club, Crimson Tide Aquatics and most recently, seven years with the North Texas Nadadores.  She spends her time away from the pool with husband Bryan, trying to keep up with her daughters Avery and Charley, and her son Wyatt.  She has two dogs, Eddie and Otis. Weekends during the summer, she and her family can be found back at the lake swimming, jumping, tubing and skiing.

Originally from San Antonio, TX, Jonathan brings over ten years of coaching experience at both the age group and senior levels to LAC’s Coaching Staff. He attended the University of the Incarnate Word and graduated with a degree in Kinesiology and an alternative certification in Physical Education.

In 2020, Jonathan was nominated into the Top 50 Age Group Coaches in USA Swimming. His coaching success include two 12 and Under Futures Qualifiers, four 12 and Under Sectional Qualifiers, TAGS 2019 Event Record Holder, TAGS 2020 Individual High Point Winner and four TAGS Individual Event Champions.  

Jonathan focuses on the fundamentals of swimming and developing a strong feel for the water while challenging swimmers to exceed their potential. He incorporates goal setting and important life skills for swimmers to utilize not only in the sport, but in their life.  When Jonathan is not at the pool, you can find him at a disc golf course or playing with his two dogs, Tarzan and Baxter.

Cherish is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she swam competitively in high school. She was a lifeguard for three years, and she taught at the Miller Swim School through college. Living in New York for the past five years, she managed a dog walking company and taught swim lessons. 
 
Cherish has an orange tabby cat named Pumpkin. She loves travel, knitting, theatre, singing, dancing, and experiencing different cultures. She has lived in Africa and France, and she is fluent in French.
 

Saxon has a lifetime connection to swimming, both as a swimmer and a coach.  Saxon began his competitive swimming career at the age of 7 and continued all the way through college where he competed for Gardner-Webb University and was a finalist at the CCSA Championships.

He began coaching in 2013 at the Sharks Aquatic Club in Shelby, NC and was named Head Coach in 2014.  While at the Sharks, Saxon coached several athletes who qualified for Age Group Champs, Senior Champs, and a Junior National Qualifier. Saxon also served as the Gardner-Webb Volunteer Assistant Coach in 2015 and 2016.  Saxon joines LAC in 2016 as an Age Group Coach at The Colony.

Saxon has a BA in English and a Masters in Sports Science and Pedagogy from Gardner-Webb University.  He enjoys photography, card games, and cheering for the Braves, Seahawks and ‘Noles.  Besides his love for swimming, he also enjoys baseball, football and basketball.

Amber McHugh joined LAC in September of 2014, coaching Bronze 2, Silver 2, Gold 2 and Red and Black in Flower Mound.  She graduated from Minnesota State University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and is now pursuing her Master’s Degree in Kinesiology at The University of North Texas, where she is also student teaching Elementary and Middle School Physical Education. 
 
Amber swam for Lewisville High School and continued swimming as a Division II swimmer at Minnesota State University, swimming breaststroke and IM.  She has coached many years through TAAF Swimming and has spent two summers coaching at the Longhorn Swim Camp at The University of Texas in Austin. 

Leslie started swimming at the age of 8 with the City of Plano swim team.  She competed with them until moving to Denver, Colorado at age 13.  She was part of the 5A varsity team at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, CO, who won state 3 of the 4 years she competed.  In addition, she swam with the Denver Hilltoppers, a year-round team out of the University of Denver. There she competed in meets up to Sectionals, mainly in Breaststroke and IM events.  She went on to swim Division 1 in her 4 years at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport. There she holds 6 top 10 school times in individual events, as well as being part of 3 top 5 school relay teams. She graduated from Centenary with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Physics in 2010.

Leslie has since been teaching various levels of swimming around the Shreveport and Plano areas. These include a summer league team in Shreveport, as well as teaching at Emler Swim School in Plano and Frisco, and teaching lessons and coaching the Masters' team at Lifetime Fitness in Plano.

Leslie lives in Plano and she still enjoys swimming with a Masters swim program 3-4 times a week, as well as competing in the area.

Jay began swimming when he was 6 years old and retired from competition at the age of 22.  His successful career included competing in the China Olympic Swimming Trials in both 2000 and 2004, as well as being ranked top 8 in China in the 1500 meter freestyle (1999) and in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay (2001 and 2005).  In 2010, Jay began his coaching career where he trained 8-14 year old kids on a swim team in China that repeatedly had top 3 finishes in Shanghai area swim meets.

When Jay is not at the pool, he enjoys scuba diving or spending time with his wife (also a swim coach) and their two girls.  One of these days, he plans to learn how to ski and surf.

Michelle recently moved to Keller from the greater Houston area, where she spent the last couple of years as the Swim Team Administrator for the South Shore Sails Swim Team. Michelle was born and raised in Denmark but moved to the US in 2006 after meeting her husband in Uganda. Michelle has a degree in Human Resource Management from Texas A&M.  

She lives with her husband Ben and her daughters Bella and Kaja. Michelle enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.

Connor returns to LAC after graduating from Western Illinois University in May 2020 where he received his Bachelors of Business in Marketing. While at WIU, he swam all four years and was the team captain during his senior season. 

Connor was a Winter Nationals qualifier while swimming at LAC and is very excited to be back with his former team, sharing his wealth of knowledge for the sport. He has been involved with swimming since age 11 and has most recently been the Head Coach for the City of Lewisville Summer League Team. Since rejoining LAC, Connor has spent time working with all groups from our lessons program up to our National Prep group

Devin began swimming competitively at the age of six and continued till the age of twenty- one.  Throughout her swimming years, she competed for different teams in Southern California including NOVA, Golden West and OC Waves.  She was brought to Texas to swim for Texas Christian University, specializing in Breaststroke, Backstroke and IM.  She graduated from TCU  in 2018 with a B.S. in Science Education and then in 2019 with a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction specializing in Science Education.   

Devin has taught swim lessons throughout her high school and college years, as well as coached a few summer league teams in the Fort Worth area.  

When she is not at the pool, Coach Devin enjoys being outside and spending time with her husband and pug named Bean.

As a swimmer, Brittany started swimming at age 5 for a recreation team, the Exeter Eels.  She worked her way to become a 4-year varsity swimmer for Golden West High School, a Division 1 school.  Since then, she has been a junior coach, a coach in training, an assistant coach and a head coach for several different organizations.  She loves working with swimmers and looks forward to working with LAC swimmers and helping them reach their potential.

Bailey Chryst is a freshman in college working toward her degree in education. She has been competitively swimming for many years including all throughout high school. Bailey swam on LAC for 6 years and now continue to swim on the Masters team. She enjoys working with kids of all ages and teaching them skills they can use their entire lives. Bailey feels so lucky to combine both of her passions for teaching and swimming into one!