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Coaches & Directors

We are here to support your needs. If your questions are related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, and other swimming related needs, please contact one of the coaches. For all questions related to administrative, such as dues, safety, or policy issues, please contact one of the board members.

Coaching Staff

Team Coaches

From Left to right: Susan McMinamin, Diane Reynolds, Kathi Heapy, Wendy Rudman, Len Strom, Tiffani Messmore, Kim Woods, Deb Corvo, Jennifer Legg, Kristine Matthews, and Nancy Sober

Len Strom

Senior/ Pre-Senior Coach FWB

Coach Strom is a Level 3 ASCA certified swimming coach and has completed and passed the tests for Level 4 and Level 5 certification. He started coaching when he was 18 years old. He has been on the coaching staff of the Morton Grove Swim Team, the Fort Walton Beach Swim Team, the PLAY Swim Team, and presently is the Senior and Pre-Senior Coach of Emerald Coast Swimming in Fort Walton Beach. He along with a couple of swim parents began the High School swim program at Niceville High School in 1981 and consequently was its first Head Coach for 3 years. In 1984, Coach Len parted with swimming to pursue General Contracting and returned to coach swimming in 2003.

Since then, Coach Strom has become the Senior and Pre-Senior Coach of Emerald Coast Swimming and is presently assisting Coach Jamie Garea with the Choctaw High School Swim Team. Coach Strom’s Training program is supplemented with Yoga, Core Synergistics, Plyometrics and Kenpo training (for core rotation and power). Endurance and power are the main focus of his program.

Coach Strom has coached swimmers at all club levels.

His swimmers have qualified or have been top finishers for SES Championships, Age Group Sectionals, Senior Sectionals, Short and Long Course YMCA Nationals, District, Conference, State Championships, Open- Water Swimming National Championships, and Junior Nationals.
2007 Long Course Season: One of Coach Strom’s senior swimmers broke a National AAU Record in the 100 m Breaststroke.
He has had 23 of his swimmers inducted into Southeastern Swimming’s Hall of Fame since 2004.
In 2008, ECS placed 1st in the small team division (Short Course Championships)
In 2008 Short Course Season, he had 6 swimmers log 30 SES Top Ten times.
In 2008 Short Course Season: Two swimmers with National Top 10 times in the 50 fly and 100 fly.
In 2008 Long Course Season, he had 11 swimmers log 56 SES Top Ten times.
In 2008, Long Course Season, 1st place Team: 10 and under Girls (Long Course)
In 2008, Long Course Season, Second place mid-size team.
One swimmer with "6" National Top 16 swims (Short and Long Course).
Coach Strom has had swimmers featured in Sport’s Illustrated and Swimming World Magazine.
2008: Coach Strom, Received Southeastern Swimming’s "2008 Age Group Coach of the Year" award.
2008: Coach Strom, Received American Swimming Coaches Association "2008 Age Group Coach of the Year" .
Has coached one of his swimmers to All-American Status two years in a row (2008/2009).
2010: qualified 9 athletes to compete at YMCA National Championships in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Wendy Rudman

Age Group 1/ Dev 1 Coach

Coach Wendy is a Level 2 ASCA coach and has been a USA registered coach for four years. She coordinates the seven different levels of age group and developmental programs, as well as writing workouts for most of these groups. The focus of these programs is to train young athletes ranging in age from 4 to 13.

Her swimmers have been among those on the 2006 and 2008 SES Championship 8 and Under Girls Team. She coaches the group of top Age Group swimmers, all of whom achieved Southeastern Championship cut times in the summer of 2009. Because of her hard work and dedication, Emerald Coast Swimming has produced more proficient 8 and under swimmers than any other program in the area. Her three children swim on the team.

Tiffani Messmore

Senior/ Pre-Senior Coach FWB

Coach Tiffani is a level 2 ASCA coach who is presently working on her Level 3 certification. Coach Tiffani is the lead coach at the ECS’s Destin practice site. She also coached the FWB’s ECS Senior and Age Group 1 swimmers this summer. Coach Tiffani brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the club.

This past summer, she assisted Harvey Humphries at the University of Georgia coaching his collegiate and club team. She also helped out at their summer swim camp. Swimmers at the practices and the camp ranged from novice to world class athletes. She learned from Coach Humphries important nutritional guidelines for swimmers along with training and tapering strategies for all levels of competitive swimmers.

Because of her experience, she has been instrumental in qualifying 33 ECS swimmers in 223 events for the SES long course championship in Nashville Tennessee. This is the largest group of athletes who have ever qualified for ECS. She also has swimmers who have qualified for YMCA Nationals, Junior Nationals, Senior Sectionals, Age Group Sectionals and AAU Junior Olympics.

Coach Tiffani also brings a wealth of knowledge to ECS’s Dryland program. She has a red belt in Hapkido, runs 1/2 marathons and is proficient in training athletes in Yoga, Core Synergistics, Plyometrics, Kenpo cardio, and strength training for athletes.

On a personal level, Coach Tiffani has three children all of whom swim on the team.

Nikki Lea

Age Group 2 and 3 Coach

Coach Nikki grew up as a competitive swimmer and actually swam for Coach Len Strom while she was in grade school. Her father was the Head Coach of the YMCA swim team and the Choctaw High School Swim Team for many years. Nikki brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in high level swimming, including what it feels like to be a kid in the pool. She tailors her coaching technique to reflect what worked for her as a top swimmer. She coaches Age Group swimmers and her daughter is on the team.

Deb Corvo

Dev 1, 2, & 4 Coach

Coach Deb has coached all levels of Age Group and Developmental swimmers in the four years since she became a coach. But her specialty has become working with the team’s youngest swimmers -- our future stars.

Coach Deb works with children ages 4 through 8 who are just beginning to swim competively. Come to a practice and you’ll likely see Coach Deb soaking wet from sitting or lying by the side of the pool, demonstrating a technique. She also brings a bag of tricks to practice with her to make learning fun. She’s a coach that gets lots of hugs from little swimmers!

Her daughter is one of the top senior swimmers on the team and a role model for younger athletes.

Kristine Matthews

Dev 3 coach

Kristine Matthews has been coaching for two years and keeps taking on new challenges. This year, Coach Kris will be coaching a new Developmental group, designed to help olders swimmers become competitive swimmers. She will also be helping with a Developmental group of more experienced young swimmers. Coach Kris has two sons who swim on the team.

Nancy Sober

Dev 4 Coach

Coach Nancy is a classroom teacher who brings her ability to work with groups of children to the pool. She is famous on the team for her patience and persistence with her high-spirited young swimmers. In her two years of coaching, she has learned to break the strokes down so that they make sense for young children. Coach Nancy has four children, all of whom have been on the team.

Susan M McMinamin

Destin Coach

Growing up as an age-group swimmer in Massachusetts, Coach Susan swam for both Wakefield and Woburn YMCA'S. At the age of fifteen, she was asked to join the prestigious Bernal's Gator Swim Club at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts. There she competed in meets all over the country and became a New England Champion several times.

After leaving swimming to pursue a singing and acting career, Susan returned to swimming with her daughter, Emma, in 2008. Susan became a USA certified coach in May of 2009 and both coaches and swims at the Destin family YMCA. Coach Susan will also help coach the Destin Middle School Marlins this year and is an active member of United States Masters Swimming.

On the personal side, Susan is married to musician Hans Mueller and their daughter Emma swims for both ECS and DMS. They reside in Destin with their three rescue dogs.

Jennifer Legg

Dev 2 Coach

Coach Jennifer is Fort Walton Beach's newest swim coach. She helps Coach Deb teach our youngest team members how to swim competitively. The two of them work with a group of 5 to 10 children, some as young as 4 years old. Though Coach Jennifer is still learning the ropes, she already does one thing that totally endears her to the children. At the end of each practice, when they do a "fun jump," so does Coach Jennifer. Her 6-year-old daughter is on the team.

Diane Reynolds

Age Goup 1, 2, 3 & 4 Coach

Coach Diane just completed her first year of coaching and has already taught swimmers and fellow coaches about technique and how to improve it. She coaches Age Group swimmers once a week and fills in with other groups as she is needed. Coach Diane, the mother of three swimmers, is also the "go-to" coach for parents, swimmers and other coaches who have questions about how to correct a particular stroke or how to teach a specific skill.

Kim Wood

Age Group 2 & 3 Coach

Coach Kim works with age group swimmers ranging in age from 7 to 11. She is a master at running kids through hard workouts, while still recognizing the unique needs of their age group. This year, three of Coach Kim’s young swimmers achieved Southeastern Championship Long Course qualifying times and competed in Nashville. She gets excited about all of her swimmer’s accomplishments and is one of their biggest fans. Her son swims on the team.