Coaches
Head Coach of SOCAL Aquatics
Head Coach of Platinum Group
Steve was a two time Olympian (1976 / 1980) and won a Silver Medal For Canada in the 400 Medley Relay in the 1976 Olympics. Set two world records in the 100 SCM Backstroke and 100 SCM Butterfly in 1977. Seven time All-American, NCAA Champion and Team Captain at the University of Southern California.
Started coaching as an assistant to Hall of Fame Coach, Peter Daland, well attending graduate school at the University of Southern California. From 1999 to 2015 coached swimming and water polo at Foothill HS. In 2015 he became the Head Swim Coach at Tustin High School. Will be the Head Swim Coach at Servite and Rosary High School beginning in 2019. Current coach member of USA Swimming and is an ASCA Level 4 Coach. Selected as a National Junior Team Coach 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.
When not coaching Steve is managing the family insurance business, fishing, playing basketball and spending time with his wife, Shelley and his four sons, Blake, Nick, Paul and Cooper and his grandchildren, Kennedy, Robin Mae & Wyatt.
Assistant to the Head Coach & Head Coach of Silver & Bronze Groups
Kyle started teaching swimming for the Tustin Unified school district in 2003 when he was still in high school. While at Tustin high school, he was part of the 2005 Century league champions and CIF relay teams. After high school, Kyle was an assistant coach under Coach Boyd Philpot for Tustin High School as well as under Coach Pickell with SOCAL Aquatics for a few years.
In 2010 Kyle left the aquatics world for an opportunity to serve in the United States Marine Corps as an Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter. He retired at the rank of Sergeant in March 2015. After the military, he went on to finish his BA in Business Administration focusing on Organizational Leadership from Brandman University.
The call of the pool was too much for Coach Kyle so he returned to work with SOCAL in June 2016. He is also the Head Coach of the Boys and Girls Swim team at Tustin High School. When not on the pool deck, you can find him spending time with his wife Christiana and two kids, Emma and Odin.
Head Age Group Coach, Pre-Senior 1, Minnows & Masters
Ben was born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Canada. A graduate of Minnesota State University where he swam varsity and earned a BSc in Exercise Physiology. Swam competitively for 14 years. Ben is the current MSU record holder in the 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly. Also a ten time NCAA II All-American and a two-time NCAA II medalist in 100 fly and 100 backstroke. Competed in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle at the 2008 Candian Olympic Trials, placing 23rd in the 100 butterfly.
Began coaching in 2004 and is in his eighth season as the Head Coach of the Pre-Senior 1 group. Current ASCA Level III coaching certification Since beginning his tenure with the team in the 2010/2011 season, six of his athletes have combined to break 27 team records. Owns and operates the In Depth Swim School - a private swim lesson business in Newport Beach, CA, and has taught hundreds of children of all ages water safety and stroke mechanics.
Assistant Coach of Platinum & Gold Group
Frisk Driscoll joins SoCal Aquatics all the way from Connecticut after working as the Assistant Coach of the Men's and Women's Swim teams at Fairfield University.
Frisk also spent time coaching his high school alma mater, Staples High School. Highlights included multiple High School All-Americans and the 2014 team achieving a 10-1 record, a second place finish at the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Championships and being named FCIAC Coach of the Year.
Competitively, Frisk had success as a student-athlete swimming for the University of Connecticut and receiving a degree in Sports Management after graduating in 2010. He made it to the finals in the 1650 Freestyle at the Big East Conference Championships three years in a row.
Assistant Coach of Platinum & Gold Group
A 1975 graduate of Tustin California’s Foothill High School, Bruce is the third of four highly successful aquatic brothers, often referred to as “Orange County California’s First Family of Swimming.” Older brother, Steve, a two-time swimming Olympian (1972 Olympic Bronze Medallist and 1976 Olympic Team Captain), and Bruce are among a rare group of siblings, in any sport, to make the same Olympic Team. Unfortunately the heartbreaking IOC decision to remove the 200-meter Individual Medley from the 1976 Olympics robbed Bruce and Steve of the unique opportunity to compete against each other in an Olympic swimming event. However, Bruce and Steve do share the distinction as the>. Bruce broke Steve’s 200-meter Individual Medley World Record in August of 1975, while competing against Steve in the U.S. Sr. National Championships in Kansas City, KS. In that same meet, Bruce and Steve, swimming for Long Beach Swim Club, shared the equally unique accomplishment, (along with teammates Tim Shaw and Rex Favaro), as the last club team to break a swimming relay World Record (4 x 200-meter freestyle relay). Earlier that same summer at the World Championship Team Trials in Long Beach, CA, Bruce also accomplished the rare feat of breaking the same World Record twice in the same day (June 18, 1975) in the 200-meter freestyle.
In 2016, furthering their exemplary career as a world-class swimming duo, a panel of 20 coaches, swimmers, administrators and media members selected Bruce, and brother, Steve, to the Pacific 12 Conference’s All-Century Men’s Swimming and Diving Team. Bruce and Steve were two of ten USC Trojans receiving this illustrious honor>
Bruce was twice named World Swimmer of the Year,>Robert J. H. Kiphuth Award as the high point winner at the U.S. National A.A.U. Outdoor Championships. He was inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1987. In May of 2001, Bruce was inducted into the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame; the fourth male swimmer in the school’s 125-year history awarded the honor. Bruce also participated in carrying the Olympic flame as a participant of the 1984, 1996 and 2004 Olympic Torch Relays in the Los Angeles area.
It is also interesting to note that in the midst of these extraordinary athletic accomplishments, and throughout much of his prime swimming career, Bruce became noted for achieving athletic success in spite of waging a quiet and very personal battle against the crippling arthritic disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, an affliction from which he has suffered since the age of 16.
A licensed California Real Estate Broker for the past 30 years, Bruce has marketed and sold over $1 Billion worth of multi-family and commercial real estate. He is a Senior Vice President and Broker Associate with Berkadia Apartment Real Estate Advisors,>
Bruce is a founding and current board member of Swim with Mike, a non-profit organization, which provides financial scholarships to physically challenged athletes enabling them to attend college. Swim with Mike was established in 1981 following a tragic motorcycle accident which left his close friend and USC swim teammate, Mike Nyeholt, paralyzed from the chest down. Bruce is also an active supporter of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the YMCA of Orange, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Villa Park High School Aquatics, and San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church.
Bruce is a 1979 graduate from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, where he received his B.A. degree in Journalism. He resides in Villa Park, California along with his wife Sharon, and their four children, Kyle, Troy, Brooke and Quinn. His son, Kyle, is a member of the USC Class of 2016 and played water polo for the university.
Head Coach of Pre-Senior 2
Head Coach of Black 1
Head Coach of Black 2
Jennifer was born and raised in Santa Ana California. She has always had a love for sports like volleyball and basketball, but most importantly swimming. Her love for swimming began when she was 8 years old and continued all throughout high school. She swam for Foothill High School’s swim team for 4 years. She currently attends Cal State Fullerton where she is majoring in Criminal Justice.
Head Coach of Minnows
Ashlyn was born in San Ramon, California but grew up in McKinney, Texas. She is currently taking a gap year from the University of California Berkeley where she competes in the pool for the Bears. She is training with SOCAL during her gap year and intends to major in Legal Studies once returning to school.
She began swimming in Texas at the age of six and has been competing ever since. A three time scholastic All-American, Ashlyn competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley and has qualified for the 2021 Trials. She was a member of the United States National Junior Team. She also qualified and competed at the 2017 Junior World Championships.
Outside of the pool Ashlyn enjoys reading, hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and lots of outdoor activities.
Assistant Coach
Molly has been a member of the Tustin community for over 20 years. Having competed in both water polo and swim at Tustin High School, she found herself coaching at her alma mater shortly after completing her undergraduate degree. Coaching at Tustin High merged her path with Coach Steve Pickell, allowing her to grow her passion for the sport. Her relationship with Coach Pickell has afforded her the opportunity to grow her passion at SOCAL Aquatics. Before coaching, she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. After moving back to Tustin in 2012, she continued her education at Whittier College and California State University Fullerton earning Masters of Arts degrees in Education and History. Outside of the pool, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, especially her two nieces Peyton and Delaney.
Assistant Coach
Chloe has lived in Orange her whole life and has been a competitive swimmer for 10+ years. She started swimming when she was 5 at Mission Viejo Nadadores, after 2 years she then moved to Irvine Novaquatics. She just recently started swimming for SoCal and is now in the Silver group. She is a senior at Villa Park High School and has swam varsity for all of her high school years, being one of the top swimmers, especially in backstroke!
Chloe began coaching in August and loves working with kids as she has done it every sunday at church for the past two years. She is a hard worker, has a positive attitude, and will strive to help her team grow in speed and love for swimming.
Off of the pool deck Chloe loves cooking and baking, eating, and going to the beach and relaxing, surfing or swimming. She has a small cosmetics company, is extremely involved in her church, and hangs out with her Husky, Luna, and her family and friends.