Coaches and Directors
Coaches and Directors
Coaching Staff
Olga is the founder of St.
Croix Swim Club. She has been with the club since it was formed in
2000 and started with 10 swimmers. In 2016, Olga was named Chief
Executive Officer for St. Croix Swim Club. In addition to
overseeing all levels of swimming in St Croix Swim Club, she is the
lead coach of the Senior group and is responsible for all wet-side
club operations and leads the dry-side as well. Prior to coaching
at SCSC, Olga worked with Edina Gators and Park Center High School
as a head coach for two years. She has coached Para Olympian and
World bronze medalist Summer Schmit, Olympic Trial qualifiers and
Junior National Champions.
Olga is actively involved
with MN swimming and also with USA swimming. She is currently
serving on USA Swimming Age Group and Senior
committees.
“M” club Hall of
Fame and U of Minnesota Aquatics Hall of Fame, Espinosa earned
seven All-America honors during her career at Minnesota and was a
five-time individual All-American. At the time of her graduation,
her five individual All-America medals were the most in school
history. She captured three Big Ten titles during her collegiate
career, winning both the 500 free and 1650 free in 1996, and
repeating as the 500 free champion in 1997. Espinosa also was an
11-year member of the Czech National Team, European Champion in
open water, Czech National record holder. Olga competed in the 1992
(finishing in 6th place) and 1996 Olympics.
She is married, has two
children and lives in St. Paul. Olga's daughter Izzy and son Lucien
are part of SCSC.
Judy started her swim career
when she was 7 ½ years old. She totally fell in love
with the sport. From there, Judy worked hard and qualified
for her first National Championship Meet at age 13 in the 200
Breaststroke. Judy became a consistent top eight national
finisher in the 200 IM plus a top finisher at the Olympic
Trials. Judy was offered a full scholarship and swam for the
University of Florida. She competed on USA National Teams in
Moscow, Leningrad, Stockholm, Paris, East Berlin and London.
Judy went on to a rewarding Masters career including over 20
National titles. She holds many current State titles and at
one point, held World Records in the 100 and 200 Backstroke and 200
IM. Judy coached swim teams in Alaska for 10 years and has been
coaching in Minnesota for the past 3 years. Judy joined St.
Croix Swim Club in 2017.
Marybeth has been a member of the St. Croix Swim Club coaching staff since 2001. Marybeth grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and attended Southern Methodist University on a swim scholarship. Marybeth moved to Minnesota in 1993 and began teaching Red Cross swimming lessons at the River Valley Athletic Club in Stillwater. She continues to teach both group and private lessons at River Valley which helps recruit swimmers for SCSC. She is a mother of three boys, Adam, Connor and Brennan who were all accomplished SCSC swimmers. Marybeth still swims in a masters swim program.
Bryce comes from a long
history of competitive swimming beginning in her youth and
concluding with her competing for Hamline University in college.
Growing up in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, she competed on the varsity
swim team her four years there. Moving not-to-far from home, she
attended Hamline University. There, she swam competitively while
majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and minoring in Social
Justice. Since graduating in 2020, she has spent more time coaching
with St Croix, instructing most of the time with the Silver Ray
group. She also obtained a Yoga Teacher Certification and a Sports
and Exercise Science Certification in 2021.
She is a certified USA
Swimming Coach and has been coaching with St Croix Swim Club for
the last five years.
Dennis grew up in Minnetonka and started swimming at the age of 8. He started swimming for Aquajets at age 10 and swam for Hopkins High School. He attended UW-River Falls, where he graduated in 2017, and majored in Political Science. Dennis swam for UWRF for a year and was a finalist at the WIAC conference meet as a freshman in individual events along with breaking the school record in the 400 Medley Relay. Unfortunately, the program was cut after his freshmen year. Dennis searched for something to fill the void. He joined the coaching staff at River Falls High School as an assistant for the boys team. After one season as the boys assistant, Dennis was named the Head Coach for the girls swim team from 2015-2017. After joining SCSC in the fall of 2017, Dennis briefly left SCSC to attend graduate school at the University of Kansas from 2018-2019 where he served as a Volunteer Assistant with the Womens program and graduated with his Masters of Public Administration in 2020. Dennis was also currently the Head Coach for the Hudson Girls High School Swim Team for 2 years from 2020-2022. In his spare time, he is an avid Minnesota Timberwolves fan and loves to bake bread.
Coach Dianna started with St
Croix in the Spring of 2014 and has been an assistant coach for all
of the SCSC program levels. She started her coaching career in the
Spring of 2008 with Barracuda Aquatics Club as the Lead
Developmental Coach and has coached at two other clubs since. She
mostly coached the 6-12 year old age range. She has coached kids
from Developmental Level to Age Group State and her main focus is
technique, kicking and having fun. Her favorite thing about
coaching is seeing the kids grow not only as swimmers but as all
around people. It's great to see the light bulb go off after the
kids have figured out something that has been challenging for them
and seeing the hard work pay off.
Coach Dianna grew up in
Jordan, MN and swam for Barracuada Aquatics Club for two years;
this was due to there being no local high school programs. She
attended Minnesota State University, Mankato after high school to
study Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. While at Mankato,
Dianna swim Distance Freestyle and Backstroke. She placed in the
Top 16 of the NCC Conference for the 1,650yd Freestyle and 200yd
Backstroke in 2005-06 and 2006-07, and was a two year letter
winner. She was also voted the Mavericks "Most Imporoved Swimmer"
three seasons in a row, 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2005-06. Coach Dianna
also served as Co-Captain and recieved the Maverick Achievement
Award for Senior Student-Athlete Excellence in
2006-07.
While not on the pool deck,
Coach Dianna is a Sr Design Engineer. In her free time she loves
spending time with dog Dozer, being outdoors hunting, fishing or
hiking. She also attends many Minnesota sporting events with
friends and family. Her favortie events are the 1,650yd freestyle
and 200yd backstroke. She now enjoys both open and pool
competitions as well as marathons and triathlons to mix things up a
bit.
Sandy grew up in
Westerville, Ohio. He attended and swam for St. Charles Preparatory
High School. He went on to attend the University of Minnesota
– Twin Cities, majoring in Economics and minoring in
Mathematics. Sandy swam for the Golden Gophers for his four years
there. After graduating, Sandy secured a full time position in the
Minneapolis-Fridley area and is currently a Project Manager.
Recently, Sandy completed EMT training and received his EMT
certification. He is a Head Coach at Central High School for girls
and a part-time assistant coach for the boys swim team. Coach
Sandy started coaching with SCSC in September of 2018.
Lee is a swimmer out of
Memorial High School in Eau Claire Wi. Swam at Hamline University
2019-21 with coach Bryce, Greg and being coached by Dennis D. Lee
coaches boys team at Central High School with coach
Sandy.
The most important part of
swimming is to start where you are but don’t stay there.
Having such a large improvement in my own swimming allows me to see
that all swim are capable of pushing past being in the slow lane.
“It’s not if, it’s
when.”
Lee still enjoys swimming
and competition through MN masters swimming, has a tabby cat named
Moe of one year. He is a St Paul educator in 5-12 social studies
and currently preparing to student teacher.
Gabriella was born and
raised in Stillwater, MN. She started her swimming journey at a
very young age with coach Mary Beth, and continued to learn from
her and coach Tara up through high school. Gabriella’s love
for teaching goes far beyond the pool. She is also a certified ISI
figure skating coach, teaching many skaters in the St. Croix
valley. She strives to uplift young athletes and promote a positive
atmosphere for the development of confidence and character in
sports, as well as other areas of life. She believes that helping
an athlete find success is just as rewarding as accomplishing her
own goals.
Outside of sports, Gabriella
continues to pursue her career as a hairstylist. When she’s
not working, she loves to take on any activity where she can
express her creativity.
Jennie grew up in the twin cities and swam competitively for
several clubs, Tartan HS and St Olaf College. She still
gets in the pool regularly and love the water.
It's become a tradition to swim the Point to la Pointe
event (from Bayfield to Madeline Island) every year with my swim
friends.
I have 3 busy kids and also work as a family physician in
western WI.
I am excited to help promote our awesome sport at SCSC
East!
Board of Directors
