Sharks & Eagles Aquatic Sports:Coaches

Our head coach, Doug Tobey is one of the finest and most highly respected swim coaches in the area. Doug is certified through USA Swimming. He was named Niagara District Senior Coach of the year in 1994 and Junior Coach in 2006. He also had the prestigious honor of being elected as a Zone and Junior Nationals coach. Doug's experience includes 28 years of continuous swim coaching experience with swim clubs, four high school programs and six years at SUNY Brockport's college program!

Coach Doug has provided consistency of coaching and program philosophy to the SEAS team since 1989. Many high school swimmers have joined SEAS to gain expertise under the instruction and fine-tuning that Doug has consistently provided. When you look at the results he helps these swimmers achieve, it isn't hard to see why!

Dave Hilfiker is our very dedicated and respected intermediate and beginners coach. Dave holds credentials under the sanction of USA Swimming. Previous coaching experience includes five years as an assistant coach for the Brockport High School Boys Swim Program. He has also had the prestigious honor of being elected as a New York State Empire State Games coach five times and USA Swimming Zone coach 9 times.

Dave has developed a talent for taking a child who can sort of swim and turning them into a precision swimming machine! Beginning level competitive swim coaching requires just the right mix of patience and push, and Dave has definitely found the balance. Many of these young swimmers have had great success at both the League and District levels under his coaching expertise. It's great to watch the self-confidence of these young people grow both in and out of the pool when they experience this level of success! Dave has been a leader in the SEAS program since 1992.

Scott Stepanek swam with SEAS from 1989 through 1995. While a member of SEAS, Scott qualified for Zones, Empire State Games, and received several scholarship offers toward the end of his high school swimming career. The coaching philosophy at SEAS was paramount in preparing him for college swimming.

Since graduating from college in 1999, Scott has coached high school at Spencerport and is the current Brockport boys varsity coach. He also coached for the Greece Marlins USA club team for six years. Scott has incorporated many of the philosophies and techniques passed down from his former coaches. This formula has fostered success as his swimmers have qualified for the state meet, Empire State Games, and Zones.

Scott has enjoyed to returning to the SEAS family as a coach in 2007 and hopes to continue the tradition of excellence that began in 1989.

Ella Schultheis assists with our newest and youngest swimmers. Ella began her swimming career at Brighton High School and continued into college swimming for The College of Wooster. Ella has previous coaching experience in age group swimming at West Irondequoit, PACK, and Greenville and Sanford swim clubs in North Carolina. She also coached various varsity teams including Hilton boys, Brighton boys, and the Brighton girls team where she was voted the High School Coach of the year in 1995. After the birth of her second child, Ella chose to retire from coaching but has continued to teach physical education at Brighton where she has been for 18 years. Fortunately for SEAS, she returned to coaching in 2007 and enjoys teaching the basics of swimming to our young swimmers!

Andrew Fink joined the coaching staff in 2009. He swam for SEAS from 1996 to 2005. During his high school years, Andrew loved the training even more than the meets. The instruction he received from coaches Doug and Dave helped him to win events at Sectionals, qualify for the State meet and make his way to three Empire State Games.

The foundation of technique and endurance training from Doug and Dave paved the way for his successful college swimming for Hamilton College which culminated in three trips to DIII Nationals and his ranking as an All-American.

Andrew is excited to join the SEAS coaching staff that taught him so much. Andrew would be happy to talk to any new swimmers or their parents about his experience with the SEAS swim program. If you dont see Andrew on deck, hes probably in the water, still swimming for SEAS. Either way, you shouldnt have much trouble picking him out: hes the one berating the current swimmers about how hard the sets used to be in the old days before Doug started being so nice.

Coach Bart is our second SEAS parent with extensive coaching experience who has decided to step up on deck and dive in again! Bart has coached youth sports in Brockport for 8 years in soccer, baseball, and basketball through Sweden-Clarkson Recreation and the Brockport Blizzard. Most importantly for SEAS, Bart coached high school varsity swimming for 10 years (boys and girls) and modified swimming for 3 years prior to that at Hilton where he is now the High School Principal. Bart was the Section 5 Class A Chairman for swimming for many years as well. Bart is very pleased and honored to assist the SEAS coaching staff and SEAS is very lucky to have someone like Bart join our on-deck team!!



	Swim Team