TIDE is very proud of its Swim School staff. Each instructor joins us with a unique ability to connect with children and a core knowledge of our sport. In addition to a background in competitive swimming, all Tide Swim School instructors go through a rigorous certification procedure that includes:
All instructors have passed a criminal background check and are coach members of USA Swimming.
All instructors have completed at least 15 hours of in-water training with a senior Tide instructor before teaching a class of their own.
We teach students the right way to swim from the very beginning while always adapting our methods to an individual's unique needs. We believe that this philosophy, coupled with the finest instructors, is what makes us the best choice for learning how to swim.
Swim School equipment is available for purchase in the Tide Swimming shop HERE
You can also shop locally (and try on products!) at our Speedo Team Dealer, Aquawear
SEMI-PRIVATE LESSONS (LEVELS 1 - 4)
AGES 4 TO ADULT
In accordance with CDC guidelines and local professional medical guidance we have prepared a COVID-19 Policy Statement to help our members navigate this challenging time. You can read it HERE
Introduction to Competitive Swimming (ICS) 1
Introduction to Competitive Swimming (ICS) 2
coachkatherine@tideswimming.com
Katherine grew up riding horses and swimming in southern California. In high school, after becoming the owner of a spirited Arabian gelding, she left daily swimming but worked as a swim instructor at the local swim complex and joined a new institution called masters swimming. She swam with the masters team in college, played club water polo, and rode her still very spirited horse in the beautiful national parks that surrounded the college. In the summers, she worked as the pool manager at the swim complex, teaching lessons as well as scheduling both lessons and major regional swim meets. After a brief time in the corporate world, Katherine returned to swimming by opening her own swim school and recreation-league swim team in the Boston area. She brought in world class athletes and coaches for clinics on a regular basis and many of her swimmers went on to have leadership roles on high school and college swim teams. A move to Virginia Beach in 2015 happily led her to Tide, where she became the lead novice coach and assisted in creating Tide's Swim School. She continues to swim with USMS where she has had 2 top ten relay swims, many top ten postal swims, and now enjoys easy, picturesque, open water lake swims! Coach Katherine is a Level 3 ASCA member coach and recently completed a Masters in Theology and Educational Ministry. Guiding students to find courage, discipline, and joy through the sport of swimming is Katherine's goal for our swim school.
Alex Arrieta
Coach Alex joined the Swim School staff in September 2020. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he started competitive swimming at Metro Aquatic Club of Miami when he was 13 years old. Alex was co-captain for two years at Doral Academy Charter High School, and in 2016 he lead his team to the school's first ever state championship win. In 2016, Alex was recruited to swim at Eastern Michigan University, where we won the Mid American Conference Championship his freshman year and earned second his sophomore year. In 2019 EMU cut four sports programs including swimming, so he transferred to ODU where he is currently finishing his bachelor degrees in Accounting and Business Analytics. During the transfer, Alex spent time back home in Miami, assisting his high school team during their summer preseason. He now swims for Tide Masters and is excited to be working with the swim school. Alex loves to coach because "I enjoy learning more and more about the sport and using my knowledge to help others become better athletes."
Lyla Chandiramani
Coach Lyla joined the Swim School staff in September 2019. She began swimming when she was four years old and swam for the Virginia Beach Rec league until she reached middle school and joined TIDE. Lyla continued swimming with TIDE in high school, which helped her to be accepted as a member of her high school varsity swim team. Coach Lyla has continued her love for the sport in college. She is currently a sophomore at Old Dominion University and swims with the ODU club team. She also still swims for TIDE in the masters program. Lyla's event of choice is sprints and the 100 meter breaststroke. In her free time she rows with the ODU club rowing team and loves to volunteer at Operation Smile. Lyla's swimming experience is what inspires her to offer children the same opportunities that she had in the sport.
Bryn DePaul
Coach Bryn began her competitive swimming career at four years old. Since then, she has competed on several USA Swimming teams and was a senior swimmer on TIDE from 2015 to 2018. She has qualified and competed in the Virginia Senior Championship Meet multiple times. Bryn graduated from Hickory High School in 2018, exceeding a 4.0 GPA throughout all four years of school and ranking within the top 5% of her class. In high school, she was inducted into the National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and was a member of the Friends of Rachel Anti-Bullying Initiative. Bryn is a junior studying in the International Honors Joint Degree Programme at the College of William and Mary and the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. She is majoring in Classical Studies, with a concentration in Ancient History and Archaeology. Bryn made the William and Mary Dean's List during her first year. She is back from University of St Andrews for the summer and will be returning to Scotland for the 2020-2021 academic year. Coach Bryn became a member of the Swim School staff in August 2017. She loves working with TIDE's young swimmers and sharing her passion for the sport!
Jennie Leigh DePaul
Coach Jennie began swimming competitively at age 6. During the course of her competitive journey, she obtained and still holds several records on USA Swimming teams. Jennie qualified for the Eastern Zone Competition many times and represented Virginia Swimming twice on the Virginia Zone Team. During her swimming career, Jennie placed 3rd and 4th in breaststroke and individual medley in Virginia, and as a fifteen-year-old placed 3rd, 9th, and 10th in breaststroke and individual medley at NASA Junior Nationals.
Academic achievement is also very important to Jennie. She holds the rare distinction of having achieved straight A's throughout all of Middle School, High School, and thus far in College, and was one of the first graduates of the Virtual Virginia full-time pilot program in High School. She is currently a student in the International Honors Joint Degree Programme between The College of William and Mary and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, majoring in Classical Studies with a concentration in Latin and Greek. Jennie joined Tide Swim School as an instructor in March 2017 after swimming for two years in Tide's senior groups and loves her job! She can't wait to teach more Swim School students how to swim!
Bridget Nguyen
Coach Bridget joined TIDE in the summer of 2016. Hailing from San Clemente, California, Bridget swam with her siblings on an age group team (SCAT). She swam throughout her high school and college (LMU) years. At Loyola Marymount University, she graduated with a BA in Elementary Education and an MA in Education Psychology. Bridget has been an elementary teacher for 24 years in California, Hawaii, and Virginia. She taught private and group swimming lessons during her college years and has coached TIDE's Age Group Bronze group. Bridget recently completed the Starfish Aquatics Institute's Children with Challenges course. Bridget and her husband Bao moved here from Kauai, Hawaii. Bao, a naval officer, serves as meet director for TIDE. The Nguyen children are TIDE swimmers, and Bridget and her family are enjoying living in Virginia and being a part of the TIDE family!
Jason Rodriguez
Coach Jason joined TIDE swimming in January 2017. Beautiful Virginia Beach has been his home for the last eighteen years after graduating from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to coaching, 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.
Reilly Schindler
Coach Reilly joined TIDE in the spring of 2020. Reilly has lived in Hampton Roads her whole life and swam on a local club team for eight years until she graduated from Bishop Sullivan Catholic High. In addition to swimming she has been doing triathlons since 2014 and is currently a junior on the Queens University of Charlotte Triathlon team. Queens is her third college as she started her freshman year at Saint Mary's College of California on a rowing scholarship. She then transferred to the University of South Carolina and competed on their club triathlon team for the fall 2019 semester before transferring to Queens. Reilly's triathlon achievements include: qualifying for ITU worlds to represent team USA in 2019 and 2020; earning second place at USAT Nationals in the 16-19 age group in 2019. Reilly's rowing achievements include: earning first place in the 2k and 20 min lightweight division at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in 2017; earning first place in the 20 min lightweight division at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in 2018. Reilly also set the record for the 20 min lightweight erg that same year.
Jay Smith
Coach Jay joined TIDE in May 2019 as a swim school instructor and ICS1 coach at the Hilltop YMCA. He holds Red Cross WSI Certification and is a Level 2 ASCA Certified Coach. Jay began swimming competitively at the age of 8 with the Somerset Valley YMCA in Somerville, New Jersey. He was a member of the 11-12 year old relay team that set a national record and also placed nationally in the Junior Olympics. He continued with the Somerville High swim team swimming varsity all four years and was accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon graduation in 1974, Jay flew for the Navy making deployments from Norfolk and Mayport, Florida. After leaving the Navy he graduated from Seminary in 1993 and returned to the pool in 2000 swimming with Masters groups in North Carolina, Richmond, and Virginia Beach. In 2003, Jay competed in the Senior Olympics and placed second in the 50yd breaststroke. In 2015, Jay retired from ministry and went to work in advancement for Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia where he was also assistant swim coach for three years. Jay currently teaches in our Swim School and coaches the Masters noon workouts at the Princess Anne YMCA. He and wife Helen live in Virginia Beach, have been married for 46 years, and have four children and nine grandchildren.
Jeanine Wagner
Coach Jeanine joined TIDE in January 2020. Originally from south central Pennsylvania, she grew up loving the water and joined the local summer league when she was ten years old. She swam for several clubs before joining the Manheim Central High School team where she was awarded a Varsity letter all four years. She went on to swim for Bridgewater College her freshman year although was unable to return to competition due to health concerns. Nevertheless, Jeanine had developed a love for being a leader amongst her teammates and fulfilling an on-deck role. She had been an assistant coach for her Club team her senior year of high school and worked as an assistant coach at her former summer league team for two summers during college. In addition, Jeanine has been teaching swim lessons since she was sixteen. In 2018, Jeanine earned her B.S. in Health and Exercise Science from Bridgewater College, and she is currently pursuing her Doctoral Physical Therapy degree at ODU.
"Children who learn how to swim at a young age are reaching many developmental milestones earlier than the norm...Lead researcher Professor Robyn Jorgensen says the study shows young children who participate in early-years swimming achieve a wide range of skills earlier than the normal population."
Choose Level 1 (Water Adjustment)
Choose Level 2 (Introduction to Strokes) if your swimmer
Choose Level 3 (Stroke Development) if your swimmer
Choose Level 4 (Stroke Refinement) if your swimmer
Choose Introduction to Competitive Swimming 1 (ICS 1) if your swimmer
Choose Introduction to Competitive Swimming 2 (ICS 2) if your swimmer
