Tsunami Swim Club

I joined the Tsunami Swim Club coaching staff in October 2016. I have a long history and passion for swimming. I was a four-year swimmer at Ballard High School and swam for the Springhurst Sharks in the LSA for 14 years. I also coached for the Sharks for four years and am in my 4th year as the head coach of Ballard High School. I currently compete as a masters swimmer with Swim Louisville Masters. I graduated from Western Kentucky University in December of 2016 with a major in Sports Management and a minor in Facility and Event Management. I am also the Regional Director for Kentuckiana Pool Management. I have had a blast coaching with Tsunami so far and look forward to continue helping the swimmers and team grow in any way I can.

I excitedly joined the Tsunami Coaching Staff in the Fall of 2022 and previously swam for Tsunami from 2017 to 2019! I was a 4 year swimmer at Trinity High School and swam for Woodhaven Country Club in the LSA for 15 years. I have also coached for the Woodhaven Waves for 5 years and has worked for the YMCA’s swim lesson program in the past and have many years of experience giving private lessons in stroke development/technique and water safety. I graduated from Bellarmine University in 2023 with a degree in Healthcare Administration and have recently been accepted into the University of Louisville’s Masters of Health Care Administration program beginning fall of 2024. Whenever I am not on the pool deck I am working as the Practice Administrator at a private mental health clinic in Louisville. I look forward to another fantastic year at Tsunami and having the oppurtunity to work with passionate swimmers to help them become the best athletes and people they can possibly be both in and out of the water.

I began coaching with Tsunami in 2022 and have really enjoyed the experience of watching swimmers grow their skills and thrive in the water. Observing the enthusiasm and enjoyment my sibling got from being on Tsunami is what truly motivated me to pursue coaching at the YMCA. My background includes competitive swimming with my neighborhood team, Douglass Hills, as well as my high school team, Eastern. Ultimately, my years of experience swimming in high school and with summer club teams led to becoming a coach for Douglass Hills for the past two years. These experiences have deepened my passion for the sport and my drive to help other swimmers achieve their goals.

I have just started coaching Tsunami in 2025 and am greatly looking forward to seeing how our swimmers develop both in the water and as people as we get further into the season. I've previously been a coach for the R.C. Durr Barracudas in the 2021 season, and the Conner High School Cougars following the 11 years I spent swimming between the two teams. My experience is with all ages, but includes stroke development, dive clinics, and swim lessons for swimmers of all ages looking to hone their skills, along with being a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor for the YMCA. I am a current student at the University of Louisville pursuing my degree in Bioenginnering and when I am not on the deck you can find me studying, hiking, training for triathlons, and teaching Lifeguard classes. I am incredibly excited to be working with this team going into the next year, and can not wait to see what amazing things they accomplish!

Coach Shannon began coaching Tsunami in 2018 but has been working in the aquatic and fitness departments at the Northeast YMCA for three years prior.  She came to the Northeast Y from the Chicago area where she grew up in a family of competitive swimmers and coaches from age group all the way up to collegiate and Olympic level.  "My immediate family is a heavily Y involved family where my grandfather has an Aquatic center named after him at the Kankakee Y in Illinois where most of my core coaching values derive from.  Needless to say, It was only a matter of time before I ended up working around the water myself."  She has coaching and aquatic experience all the way from leading CPR, First Aid and Lifeguard training as well as a swim instructor at the YMCA.  She was the senior aquatics director and head swim coach at Five Seasons Family Sports Club, the lead developmental coach for Lyons Swim Club (USA Swimming) as well as coaching summer swim teams and learn to swim programs at Butterfield Country Club. With the excitement, growth, success, and passion of Tsunami over the past few years, we are thrilled to have Coach Shannon helping us contribute to making Tsunami swimmers be the best they can be in and out of the water.