Virginia Swimming
Level 4
Excellence 200
Virginia Gators of Charlottesville

Since 2000, the Virginia Gators of Charlottesville has offered high-quality swim training from beginner to elite with a focus on balancing physical, social, and emotional development in assisting swimmers to reach their personal goals. Our team practices at the Fairview Swim and Tennis Club pool at 707 Belvedere Drive in Charlottesville, under our climate-controlled Gator Dome. Head Coach JJ Bean, in his 22nd year leading the Gators, is committed to providing a personal approach to helping every swimmer improve every day. 

Coaching Staff

JJ Bean, Head Coach, Charlottesville

At the helm of the Gators is JJ Bean, an institution in Charlottesville, having coached for nearly 30 years. Many people have suggested that JJ is part-kid himself, which, tied with his knowledge of swimming and his master’s degree in sports psychology, provides him with an absolutely unique ability to connect with swimmers and motivate them to make the most of their abilities in and out of the pool. While he is a master stroke technician with an exhaustive list of accomplished swimmers with whom he has worked, he gets as much enjoyment helping a kid learn to cross the pool for the first time as he does preparing an advanced swimmer for the highest level of competition.

 

GATOR ASSISTANT COACHES

Wesley Kittelberger, Developmental and Age Group Coach

Wesley is a graduate student in the UVA  Curry School of Education and has been the Head Coach of the Burke Centre Penguins swim team for the past three years. She has many years of experience as a developmental swim coach.

Bailee Murray, Dryland Coach

Bailee graduated from Albemarle HS in 2017 and is a 4th year at UVA. Bailee has served as a Conditioning Intern with the UVA Basketball team and brings a wealth of dryland knowledge to our program. She is a member of the UVA Swim Club.

CJ Trachta, Head Coach, Gator Bites

CJ has coached side-by-side with JJ for 15 years at the Fairview Swim Club and Gators and worked in Albemarle County Public Schools for 6 years. CJ has a B.S. in Psychology from William & Mary where he was a member of the swim club and co-president of SCUBA club. He is pursuing his passion for teaching swimming to new swimmers by starting and leading our new Gator Bites beginner program.

 

And our always enthusiastic...

University of Virginia Madison House Volunteer Coaches!