COACHING STAFF
Head Coach
Richard Hunter
Head Coach
Richard Hunter
Lead Coach National
Princess Anne
Coach Richard joined Tide in August 2016 as Associate Head Coach and was promoted to Head Coach in August 2019. Born in Iowa, he grew up in southern California and swam for the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Richard went on to the University of California at Berkeley and swam for the men’s team from 2004 – 2008.
After graduation, Richard joined the staff at Mission Viejo and coached in various capacities from novice to all levels and ages between 8 and 18. Richard primarily served as the 13/14 Division Director, National Team Assistant Coach, and Dryland Programming Director. In 2009, Richard spent a month in Japan running and facilitating a sports camp for Japanese children ages 4-16.
Richard was honored with the Virginia Swimming Senior Coach of the Year Award in both 2019 and 2020. “I coach because I am passionate about helping young people discover their own path and goals in life. I feel blessed to be able to help them find enjoyment in the process, not just the end result. “
Associate Head Coach
Mike Salpeter
Associate Head Coach
Mike Salpeter
Lead Coach Age Group Gold, Senior Gold, Pre-National, National
Great Bridge
Associate Head Coach Mike Salpeter joined TIDE in August 2018. Mike oversees all of our Chesapeake programming and is Lead Site Coach for the Great Bridge/Hickory YMCA. Mike earned a BS in Psychology and an MS in Elementary Education, both from Mary Washington College.
He is a Level 4 ASCA Certified coach and has completed the education component of Level 5. Mike has over 20 years of coaching experience with 12 years as a Head Coach and five in his current position with TIDE. Mike has served on the Virginia Swimming Board as a coach representative for the past five years.
Mike was Head Coach of the Virginia Swimming Long Course Zones All Star Team in 2021 and led the team to the Eastern Zone Championship.
Head Age Group Coach
Catherine Leach
Head Age Group Coach
Catherine Leach
Lead Coach Developmental Gold, Age Group Bronze 10U
Mount Trashmore
Coach Cat joined Tide Swimming in 2013 so she has over a decade of experience with the team! She was born and raised in Virginia Beach and is a graduate of Old Dominion University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science & Physical Education.
Cat has been involved in the local swimming community as both a swimmer and a coach for over 20 years and hopes to continue sharing her passion for the sport for many years to come. Cat has held several roles throughout her tenure with TIDE including Swim School Director, Head Developmental Coach and is now in her fourth year serving as the Head Age Group Coach. She is also actively involved in Virginia Swimming Governance by serving on various committees from year to year. Cat was recently named Junior Coach Representative to the Virginia Swimming Board of Directors for 2024-2026.
Coach Cat is dedicated to establishing TIDE as a top tier USA Swimming Age Group program and works tirelessly with coaches, athletes, and parents to uphold our team values and create an empowering culture that provides meaningful experiences through TEAM.
Director of Performance
Dorsey Tierney-Walker
Director of Performance
Dorsey Tierney-Walker
Tide Swimming is excited to announce the hiring of Dorsey Tierney-Walker as the new Director of Performance for 2024-2025. With an illustrious career spanning over two decades in collegiate and international swimming, Tierney-Walker brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of excellence to Tide Swimming.
Tierney-Walker joins Tide Swimming following her most recent role as Associate Head Coach at Southeastern Swim Club and Hamilton Southeastern High School in Indianapolis, IN, where she coached high-performance swimmers, including three Junior National qualifiers. Her extensive coaching career includes notable positions at The Ohio State University, University of New Mexico, Arizona State University, Auburn University, Indiana University, and Southern Methodist University.
During her tenure at The Ohio State University, Tierney-Walker helped lead the team to three consecutive Big Ten Championships and top ten finishes at the NCAA Championships. At the University of New Mexico, she guided the team to a program-best fourth place in the Mountain West Conference and coached a conference champion. Her achievements at Arizona State University include coaching four individual Pac-12 champions and earning 26 All-American honors for the team.
As Co-Head Women's Swim Coach at Auburn University, Tierney-Walker played a pivotal role in the team's NCAA Championships victories in 2006 and 2007. Her coaching prowess was recognized with multiple honors, including NCAA Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year awards. She has also served as an assistant coach for the USA at the World University Games in 2001 and 2007.
Tierney-Walker's personal athletic success is equally impressive. As a member and two-time team captain at the University of Texas, she was the NCAA 200-yard Breaststroke Champion and a 16-time All-American. She also holds the distinction of being a four-time Pan American Games Gold Medalist.
Tierney-Walker holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History from the University of Texas and a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Dorsey’s primary role on deck will entail spending time with the top end of our program at both Great Bridge and Princess Anne. Her knowledge of athlete development from age groupers through the collegiate and professional ranks will be a valuable resource for both the planning and execution of Tide’s long term athlete development. Off deck, Dorsey will work with all lead coaches to hone the on-deck experience we want to create for all of our athletes.
We are thrilled to welcome Dorsey Tierney-Walker to Tide Swimming. Her exceptional coaching credentials, combined with her dedication to developing top-tier athletes at every level of our sport, make her the perfect fit for our team. We look forward to her mentoring both our athletes and coaches as we all work together to elevate Tide Swimming in this next Olympic quad that leads to LA28.
Sito Arroyo
Princess Anne
Sito Arroyo
Princess Anne
Lead Coach Senior Bronze and Age Group Silver 14U
Princess Anne
Lead Masters Coach
Princess Anne
Coach Sito joined Tide in 2022 as one of our Swim School Instructors and transitioned to the full time staff of Tide Swim Team in August 2023. He is from Palmyra, Virginia and moved to Virginia Beach in the fall of 2020.
Throughout his career he has served as Assistant Coach for Virginia Wesleyan University, Assistant Coach for Monticello High School, Assistant Coach for Charlottesville Virginia Gators, as well as Head Coach of his summer league team, Lake Monticello Swim Team. Sito earned a Communication Studies degree from Randolph Macon College where he swam competitively all four years.
"I am excited to continue my coaching career with Tide while sharing my passion for swimming and working with kids to focus on perfecting technique and having fun."
Katie Buckley
Greenbrier
Katie Buckley
Greenbrier
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier
Coach Katie joined the TIDE staff in 2024 as an Assistant Coach in the Developmental program at Greenbrier.
Growing up in Michigan on the Lake Erie shoreline, Katie is a lifelong swimmer and loves the sport! She began swimming around 9 years old and swam throughout high school. Her favorite events were the 200 and 500 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly. She also enjoyed the numerous relay teams she did the freestyle and butterfly on while in high school. While growing up, she also coached swimming and worked as a lifeguard.
Her competitive swimming career ended when she went to the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics. In the Navy, Katie went onto become a Nuclear Trained Officer and graduated the Navy Nuclear Power Training School in June 2008, and she continued her education when she earned her Master’s in Public Administration from Regent University in 2019.
Katie has transitioned out of the Navy and currently works as a lead engineering manager for the Department of The Navy. She still actively participates in swimming and loves watching her kids grow into the love of this amazing sport!
Lyla Chandiramani
Princess Anne
Lyla Chandiramani
Princess Anne
Lead Coach Age Group Prep
Princess Anne
We are happy to have Coach Lyla back on the staff of TIDE for 2024-2025! Coach Lyla joined the Tide Swim School staff in September 2019 and worked for both the swim school and swim team until her graduation from Old Dominion University.
Lyla began swimming when she was four years old and swam for the Virginia Beach Rec League until she reached middle school. She joined TIDE in 2014 and is a proud TIDE Alumni, class of 2018.
Lyla graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, and Business Analytics. She was an ODU club swim team member and swam for the TIDE masters program. Lyla's event of choice is sprints, including the 100-meter and 50-meter breaststroke and freestyle.
Lyla hopes her swimming experience inspires and offers children the same opportunities she had in the sport. Lyla is now an active runner, participating in several local run clubs in the community. Her passion project since 2023 was Founding and organizing the Breathe N Run 5k, which raises awareness for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in memory of her grandma.
Lauren Church
Mt Trashmore
Lauren Church
Mt Trashmore
Bio coming soon!
Abby Clay
Greenbrier
Abby Clay
Greenbrier
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier
Coach Abby joined TIDE in September 2024 to work with our developmental swimmers at Greenbrier.
Abby started swimming when she was four years old, developing her passion through TIDE, the Oceana Man O Wars, and Kellam High School. Her favorite stroke is butterfly.
She began her coaching career through a local developmental swim program and has been part of a coaching staff for youth girls lacrosse as well.
A native of Virginia Beach, Abby has loved being able to go to the beach whenever she can. As an EMT and a former ocean lifeguard, one of her biggest priorities and passions has always been water safety, especially for young swimmers.
After a few years out of the pool, Abby can't wait to dive back in as a TIDE coach! She loves watching swimmers discover their passion for the sport she has loved since childhood.
Daniel Colvin
Princess Anne
Daniel Colvin
Princess Anne
Lead Coach Pre-National
Team Lead Senior Coach
Princess Anne
TIDE was pleased to add Coach Danny to the full time staff in the summer of 2020. Danny's previous position was as Co-Head Coach for Westside Aquatics. During his time at Westside, he lead the age group swimmers to a gold medal team finish (small team division) at the 2019 spring Age Group Championships as well as a 3rd place team finish (small team division) at Sectionals.
Danny's athletes also set a few Southern California records. Before Westside, Danny was the Director of Strength and Conditioning with the Mission Viejo Nadadores. His primary focus at Mission was coaching their 13-14 year olds, but he also branched out to other age groups. Danny also developed the strength and conditioning programing which complemented the water training for 12 Rio Olympic Trial Qualifiers and Ous Mellouli (2012 Gold medalist, 1500 Free, and former world record holder).
Before Mission Viejo, Danny started his coaching career with Buenaventura Swim Club as the Bronze Group Coach and quickly moved up to Senior Sprint Coach and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Danny also spent nearly three years as the Strength and Conditioning coach for the men's and women's water polo and swim teams at Ventura College. Danny earned an Associate of Science degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Moorpark College.
Most recently, Fitter & Faster and ASCA chose Danny as one of the Top 50 Age Group Coaches for 2024.
Morgan Denning
Hilltop
Morgan Denning
Hilltop
Lead Coach Novice, Developmental Silver
Team Lead Developmental Coach
Hilltop
Coach Morgan joined TIDE in 2020, starting with Tide Swim School and assisting in Developmental. Morgan has been coaching since 2016 and has worked with ages 4-18 through summer swim leagues in Japan and in Chesapeake. Morgan began swimming competitively when she was 5 years old and has swum in Florida, Virginia, California, and Japan.
Lastly, she swam at Campbell University from 2018-2022 and graduated in May 2022, earning a Bachelor of Science in Sport Coaching with a minor in Business Administration. While at Campbell, Coach Morgan specialized in distance freestyle events. Morgan enjoyed her college swimming career and had four successful years promoting teamwork both on deck and in the pool.
Coach Morgan is entering her fourth year with TIDE and looks forward to helping the swimmers that she will interact with improve in the sport and reach their goals. She also encourages the swimmers to reach their full potential by providing a safe environment for swimmers to grow and learn lifelong skills!
Kiran Dhanji
Greenbrier
Kiran Dhanji
Greenbrier
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier
Coach Kiran joined the TIDE staff in 2024 as an Assistant Coach in the Developmental program at Greenbrier.
Born in Washington DC, Kiran is a lifelong swimmer. She swam before she walked and continued swimming both indoors and in open water in the UK and Asia as she traveled and lived around the world. Since 2021 Kiran has been actively involved with the VBSL summer swim league.
Kiran began tutoring and mentoring early learners when she was in school. Upon graduating from the University of Nottingham with a BA, she became an English Teacher. Kiran’s goals in the classroom and on the pool deck are focused on understanding each child, how they learn best, and how she can empower them to set and exceed their own goals.
Kiran also has an MSc at the University of Bristol, is a certified yoga instructor, and now runs her own consulting company.
Callie Dunham
Great Bridge
Callie Dunham
Great Bridge
Lead Coach Age Group Bronze (12U & 14U) and Senior Bronze
Great Bridge
Coach Callie joined TIDE in the fall of 2022. Callie was born and raised in Virginia Beach. She started swimming at the age of four with Carolanne Farms Swim Team and then swam with a local club team until 2012 when her family moved to San Diego, where she swam for Coronado Navy Swim Association.
Upon moving back to Virginia Beach in 2014 she joined TIDE and is a proud TIDE Alumni, class of 2017. Callie attended the University of Mary Washington and swam all four years for the varsity team. She specialized in the 500 freestyle, 400 IM, and 200 breaststroke. She graduated Cum Laude in 2021 with a Bachelor's of Science in Communications and Digital Studies with a double minor in Business Administration and Sports Management.
Callie continued her education at ODU, working on her masters in Sports Management. Four years of college swimming just wasn't enough so she took her Covid year of eligibility and swam a 5th year during the 2021-22 season while at ODU. Callie is so grateful for this opportunity to coach for the team that gave her the best opportunities to swim in college and help set the foundation for not only her swim career but for life. "I'm super excited to give back to the team that gave me so much."
Scott Harrington
Greenbrier, Great Bridge
Scott Harrington
Greenbrier, Great Bridge
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier & Great Bridge
Coach Scott, a Tide masters swimmer, joined the staff in September 2024. Scott grew up in the Hampton Roads area and began swimming at age four. Throughout his childhood and teenage years he swam for multiple local swim clubs and he still cherishes the friends and memories he made to this very day. Scott has always had a deep love for the sport of swimming and is excited to join our staff to share his passion for the sport with the next generation.
Jayme Katis
Mt Trashmore
Jayme Katis
Mt Trashmore
Bio coming soon!
Bryce Mortimer
Mt Trashmore
Bryce Mortimer
Mt Trashmore
Assistant Coach
Mt Trashmore
Coach Bryce joined TIDE in September 2024 as a dryland and substitute coach for the groups at our Mt Trashmore location.
Bryce is currently a senior at Old Dominion University and is pursuing a degree in Sports Management. Bryce has swum for fifteen years and still continues to swim for the ODU swim team.
Bryce grew up in Richmond, Virginia and swam for multiple club teams throughout the Richmond area. Coach Bryce also has seven years of coaching experience at the summer league level. He coached his lifelong summer league team, working his way up from volunteer assistant coach to head coach - a role which he has had for the past two summer seasons.
Bryce has received various accolades during his college career, including an NCAA B cut and an ODU school record. He was also named a CSCAA second team scholar All American.
Fefe Nardone
Mt Trashmore
Fefe Nardone
Mt Trashmore
Lead Coach Age Group Prep, Senior Bronze
Princess Anne
Assistant Coach, Age Group Bronze
Mt Trashmore
Coach Fefe joined Tide in 2023 as lead coach of both Age Group Prep and Senior Bronze at Princess Anne, and as an assistant coach for Age Group Bronze (middle school) at Mt Trashmore. She swam completely for 14 years, including the collegiate level at Old Dominion University. Coach Fefe graduated with a major in sports management and a minor in marketing. During her senior year she did an internship with the ODU swim team and helped with the recruiting process which sparked her interest in coaching. After graduation, Coach Fefe moved back home and became an assistant coach for the Silver Medal club, Virginia Gators, for two years. She was also a co-head coach for Lake Monticello (summer league) Swim Team. "I am passionate about introducing and teaching young athletes how to build up their confidence with swimming."
Ricky Perez
Princess Anne
Ricky Perez
Princess Anne
Lead Coach Senior Gold, Age Group Gold
Princess Anne
Coach Ricky joined the TIDE staff in September of 2019. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Ricky began his coaching career with numerous assistant coaching positions around the state and then continued coaching throughout college.
He competed for and graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in Sports Performance and Fitness Entrepreneurship. During his time there he continued to coach club swimming, volunteered with the Eastern Michigan Women's swim team, and volunteer coached with their strength and conditioning program.
Since then he has gone on to interning with UW Health at The American Center focusing on strength and conditioning and athlete development.
Laura Pollard
Greenbrier
Laura Pollard
Greenbrier
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier
Bio coming soon!
Maggie Pope
Great Bridge
Maggie Pope
Great Bridge
Lead Coach Age Group Silver (12U & 14U) and Senior Silver
Great Bridge
Coach Maggie joined Tide Swimming in January 2021 as both a Swim School Instructor and an assistant coach at our Hilltop location. She began swimming when she was four years old and swam for the Seven Hills Barracudas summer swim team in her hometown of Nashville.
Maggie started coaching for her summer swim team when she was fourteen. Her home club team was Excel Aquatics, where she competed both regionally and nationally, and earned the spot of team captain. Coach Maggie went on to swim for the University of Richmond, where she helped the team to four conference championships in her four years as a Spider.
She also took multiple top three relay finishes and individual finishes in the 100 and 200 backstroke. After graduating, Coach Maggie was head coach of a summer league team back home where she coached the team to a divisional championship win for the first time in years.
Coach Maggie is elated to be back in the swimming community after a few years off and happy to contribute to a sport and life skill as important as swimming. We are excited to help Maggie continue on her coaching journey in her transition from Swim School Site Supervisor at Norfolk Academy to Tide Swim Team coach at our Greenbrier and Great Bridge locations.
Jason Rodriguez
Masters Open Water
Jason Rodriguez
Masters Open Water
Tide Masters Coach (Open Water)
Coach Jason joined TIDE swimming in January 2017. Beautiful Virginia Beach has been his home since graduating from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In addition to teaching in our swim school and coaching our Tide Masters swimmers, Jason is also an active US Masters competitive swimmer for TIDE, where he primarily specializes in middle and long distance freestyle events, as well as long distance open-water races.
When not swimming, he loves to surf and spend time out on the water.
Zac Sabbato
Greenbrier
Zac Sabbato
Greenbrier
Assistant Coach
Greenbrier
Coach Zac joined Tide Swimming in April 2024 as an assistant coach at our Greenbrier and Great Bridge locations. He has experience coaching Novice, Developmental Silver/Gold, and Age Group Bronze/Silver.
Zac began swimming at a local summer swim team and proceeded to swim throughout high school where he specialized in the 100 Butterfly, 100 Back, and 200 IM.
After high school, Zac graduated from James Madison University with a degree in Elementary Education. During his time at JMU he took a break from swimming to focus on his studies. He has since found his way back to the swimming community and couldn’t be happier. When Coach Zac is not on the pool deck enjoying the smell of chlorine, he can be found teaching fifth grade for Chesapeake Public Schools.
Emily Salpeter
Greenbrier
Emily Salpeter
Greenbrier
Lead Coach Novice, Developmental Silver, Developmental Gold
Greenbrier
Tide Swim School Summer Site Supervisor
Great Bridge Swim & Racquet Club
Coach Emily joined TIDE in August 2018 as an assistant coach at our (then) newest location, the Taylor Bend YMCA. Emily has been involved with swimming her entire life. She grew up in Portsmouth and swam for a local club team and her high school team. Emily went on to attend Mary Washington University and swam all four years, from 1999-2003.
Emily graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and continued her education into graduate school, earning a Master's in Education, specializing in Instructional Technology, in 2004. Emily teaches fifth grade for Chesapeake Public Schools at Chittum Elementary. She has coached swimmers from beginners to state qualifiers.
She has coached Prenovice, Novice, Developmental Silver, Developmental Gold, Age Group Bronze, and Age Group Silver. During the summers, Emily uses her experience in swim instruction by directing operations and instruction for Tide Swim School at Great Bridge Swim & Racquet Club.
Scott Scofield
Princess Anne
Scott Scofield
Princess Anne
Lead Coach Senior Silver, Age Group Silver 12U
Princess Anne
Coach Scott joined the full time staff at Princess Anne in August 2018 as lead coach for Senior Gold and assistant coach for Age Group Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Scott swam competitively for Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club (Fleet Swimming). He walked on to the swim team at Southern Illinois University and then later graduated from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Kinesiology.
After graduation, Scott joined Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club as an age group coach and assistant to the National team. Scott then went on to become the head coach of South Shore Sails swim team in League City, Texas and Villasport Swim Team in Cypress, Texas.
In 2019, Scott lead Alexa Ozment to new team records in the girls 13-14 50 and 100 yard backstroke. During the short course 2022-23 season, Scott coached Nelson Marchione and Chelsea Li to new team records in the 8 & Under 25 yard backstroke and 10 & Under 200 meter breaststroke respectively. Scott also led Liza Cutchins to be named 11-year-old girls Virginia Swimmer of the year.
Scott’s favorite part about coaching swimming is seeing athletes set a goal and working daily to achieve that goal. Scott has a young son named Thomas.
Liz Seigler
Princess Anne
Liz Seigler
Princess Anne
Assistant Coach
Coach Liz joined TIDE in September 2019 after moving to Virginia Beach from the Northern Neck. She is a graduate of VCU with a degree in Health and Physical Education and a teaching certificate for grades K to 12.
Before coming to TIDE, Liz coached and taught swim lessons for over 20 years for the Greater Richmond YMCAs as well as for a USA Swimming club team and a summer swim league on the Peninsula. Liz has a love and respect for the water.
She says, "I find it super important for children to learn the basics of swimming and I love seeing their skills progress beyond that." Liz currently works for her husband at SEiGLER Reels and is mom to Cosmo, an English Bulldog.