Dan Flack
Director of Competitive Swimming
Head Coach / Aquatics Director
Head Coach Dan Flack begins his second season
as the Director of both the Baylor School
and club programs. Prior to Baylor, Flack
led the championship Raleigh Swimming Association
for the from 2002 - 2006. RSA was selected
as United States Swimming Gold Medal Club
Excellence for 2005-2008.
Coach Flack is recognized by the American
Swimming Coaches Association as a Level V
coach, the highest level attainable. Level
five is composed of the top 2-5% of coaches
in the USA.
"The Baylor Swim Club is a great
opportunity
becoming a reality. The program has
taken
a major step towards our goal of developing
a coaching staff of caring professionals
and a program that will set a high
standard
for teaching great fundamentals in
the sport
of swimming," said Flack.
In his first year with Baylor, Coach Flack
accomplished the following:
Named TISCA Boys Coach of The Year
Baylor Boys High School team won state championship
for the first time since 1999, won the combined
team score with the most points since 199
Baylor Swim Club won the Southeastern Long
Course Championship in the Middle team division,
finished 4th overall, but firsts in club
history
Two Olympic Trials Qualifiers
Seven Southeastern Zone Team Members
Over 50 team records set, three Southeastern
Swimming records
11 USA Swimmng Academic All Americans
Coach Flack has trained two qualifiers for
the 2004 Olympic Trials, trained five
different
swimmers who are qualified for the
2008 Olympic
Trials and has had numerous national
champions
and finalists at both the junior and
senior
level. Coach Flack has trained a dozen
high-school
aged swimmers to top 100 in the world
rankings.
In 2004, RSA won the men's, women's
and combined
team championship at the NCSA Junior
Nationals
and repeated as men's champs in 2005.
Flack
was recognized as the NCSA National
Coach
of the Year in 2004.
Prior to his position at Raleigh, Flack was
the head coach and program director for the
Bengal Tiger Aquatic Club in Baton Rouge,
where he coached Pan American Games Silver
medal winner Jarrod Marrs, and was awarded
Louisiana Coach of the year honors in 1999
and 2000. He also served on the 1999 Women's
NCAA Women's Champion University of Georgia
coaching staff under Head Coach Jack Bauerle,
as well as the assistant coach at Germantown
Academy in Philadelphia under Dick Shoulberg.
Both Baurele & Shoulberg have been US
Olympic coaches.
Flack earned his B.S. degree from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He and
his wife, Becky and their two children Julia
and Sam live on the Baylor School campus.
Laura Pitman
Assistant Aquatics Director / Assistant Coach
Coach Laura Pitman grew up swimming in the
Chattanooga area. Pitman swam for Mercersburg
Academy in Mercersburg, Pa during her high
school years.
At the University of Tennessee she was an
All-American. She has been coaching with
the Baylor Swim Club for 4 years. Pitman
has experience coaching at many levels: summer
league, high school and age group/ senior.
In 2006 she coached the Southeastern Middle
School Champions as well as the 11-12 girls
Southeastern Age Group Champions at Baylor.
Laura currently is the assistant coach with
The Baylor Lower school team and helps with
other groups as needed. Laura is responsible
for the daily operations of the club.
Coach Pitman lives on the Baylor campus with
her husband Wes, and her two children Sloane
and Arden, who swim on the Baylor Swim Club.
Tom Smith Assistant Senior / Varsity Coach
Coach Tom Smith begins his sixth year coaching
with the Baylor Swim Club and Varsity program.
Tom spent twelve highly successful seasons
coaching in the CASL with both Signal Mountain
and Colonial Shores before coming to Baylor.
While coaching the Green Giants, Tom led
the team to five consecutive city meet titles
and one undefeated season.
Coach Tom has enjoyed a great deal of success
with Baylor Swim Club. While at Baylor, Tom
has produced multiple Southeastern champions,
several national Top 16 qualifiers, two Jr.
National qualifiers, and one Senior National
qualifier.
As an assistant with the varsity program,
Tom has coached numerous All-Americans and
State Champions. During his tenure with the
varsity team, Baylor has won four combined
state championships.
Coach Tom Smith is currently an ASCA Level
4 certified coach and is studying for his
Level 4 certification.
Coach Smith graduated form the University
of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1999 with a degree
in Exercise Science.
He and his wife, Emily, currently reside
in Harrison with their dog, Boomer, and cats,
Sammi and Oscar.
Brian Gill
Head Age Group Coach / Swim School Director
Coach Brian Gill enters his second year as
an age group coach, and his first year as
the Head Age Group Coach of the Baylor Swim
Club. During his first year at Baylor, Coach
Gill produced a Southeastern Swimming Championship
relay team, a Southeastern Middle School
Championship, created growth in the age group
program, and developed the swimming lesson
program.
Coach Gill spent his summer as head coach
of CASL's Signal Mountain Swim Team, a team
that boasts more than 200 swimmers. The Green
Giants came away with the Swimming and Combined
Championships at the 2007 CASL Swimming Championships
this past summer.
Before coming to Baylor, Coach Gill served
as the Head Age Group Coach for the Raleigh
Swimming Association in North Carolina. While
working under Baylor Head Coach Dan Flack,
he helped expand the RSA program from 120
swimmers to 280 swimmers in four years.
Coach Gill began his career as RSA’s Head
Age Group Coach in 2001. In his second year
with the club, Coach Gill received a Vocational
Excellence award from the Cary Kildaire Rotary
Club recognizing his work with children in
coaching. Coach Gill focuses on developing
proper stroke technique while striving to
instill a love and enthusiasm for the sport
of swimming. He boasts a coaching philosophy
that every swimmer in the swimming program
is important, regardless of swimming level.
The RSA Age Group Program thrived under Coach
Gill as he produced State and Sectional Champions
in 2003 and 2005. Coach Gill also achieved
American Swimming Coaches Association Level
III status in 2005. In addition to his Age
Group coaching responsibilities, Brian also
oversaw several developmental clinics.
A competitive swimmer since the age of seven,
Coach Gill swam for Lochmere Swim Club for
10 years and was a member of RSA and the
Cardinal Gibbons High School swim teams.
He furthered his involvement in competitive
swimming at age 16, coaching summer league
swimming at Glenn Ridge Swim Team. He then
became the Head coach for Lochmere Swim Team
in Cary, NC, where he managed 400 swimmers
and five assistant coaches. In his four years
at as head coach, the Lochmere Monsters captured
four Cary City titles, three single loss
seasons, one undefeated season, and the 2003
TSA Summer League championship.
Coach Gill and his wife Leah live on the
Baylor School Campus, with their dog Houston.
Melissa Roop
Assistant Coach- Lead Developmental
Program
Coach
In her forty-sixth year of swimming and coaching,
Mrs. Roop has coached many of the swimmers
in this area and their parents. Her swimming
years include eleven years in the Chattanooga
Swim League, nine years of AAU and YMCA year
round swimming, and two years as an original
Lady VOL at UTK. Her coaching experience
started with the Chattanooga YMCA, followed
by the summer league CYF and Ft. Oglethorpe
teams, the UTC competitive swim program,
summer league teams in South Carolina, Greater
Chattanooga Aquatic Club, and Baylor Swim
Club.
Mrs. Roop graduated from UTC with a Chemistry
degree. She taught five years before retiring
to raise Josh, Laura, and Greg (All of whom
swam for Baylor Swim Club or its predecessor
Greater Chattanooga Aquatic Club). Her husband,
Gary, is the pastor at Brainerd Hills Presbyterian
Church where he has served for twenty-three
years. You will find Roops all over the pool
deck. Josh, a recent UTC biology graduate,
teaches swim lessons. Laura, a physical therapy
student, helps with our coaching. Greg, a
senior at Baylor, swims for Baylor Swim Club.
Although Mrs. Roop has coached Southeastern
champions and City Meet record holders, her
greatest love is teaching the basics to young
swimmers and watching their joy in learning
a new skill. Her philosophy is simple-"If
it is worth doing, it is worth doing right."
Dale Tillman, Masters Coach
Dale Tillman grew up swimming in New Jersey,
and she competed in the Pac-10 Conference
while attending the University of California
at Berkeley. Dale also attended the University
of Miami and has a degree in electrical engineering.
In the nearly 4 decades Dale has been involved
in the sport of competitive swimming she
has had the privilege of working under the
direction of former Olympic Swim Coaches
Jack Nelson and Frank Elm. In addition to
the Baylor Master's Group, Dale coaches the
Notre Dame High School Swim Team. She is
also the Asst. Track Coach at Notre Dame
as well as a fitness instructor at the Downtown
YMCA.
Dale is an accomplished triathlete.
She is
a former USA Triathlon All-American,
Venezuelan
National Triathlon Champion, and a
3-time
Southeast Regional Xterra Champion
and National
Qualifier. Dale also competes in cycling
and adventure races and loves to kayak.
She
serves on the Board of Directors for
the
Chattanooga Area Swim League, Cumberland
Youth Foundation, and Outdoor Chattanooga/Scenic
City Velo.
Dale's primary objective with the Master's
Group is to help each adult athlete
achieve
their personal goals, whether it be
setting
a personal best in a masters swim meet,
completing
an ultra-marathon open water swim,
achieving
a faster swim split in a triathlon,
or to
just simply maintain physical fitness.
Dale lives in East Ridge with her 2
teenage
children, Troy and Hayley-Rae, and
as you
might have guessed, both children are
competitive
swimmers and triathletes.
Brooke Maedel, Assistant Coach
This is Brooke’s fourth year with Baylor
Swim Club’s developmental program. Originally
from Birmingham, AL she swam for the Birmingham
Swim League and Homewood High School before
attending Birmingham Southern College. Brooke
received a BS in Psychology at BSC and moved
to Chattanooga in 2001 to pursue a Master’s
degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
from UTC. She works as a statistical analyst
in the Office of Planning, Evaluation &
Institutional Research at UTC. Brooke and
her husband John live in the historic MLK
neighborhood in downtown Chattanooga and
are active in the MLK Neighborhood Association.
The most rewarding thing about coaching the
developmental group for Brooke has been the
ability to watch swimmers progress out of
the group and on to more success with the
Club.
“We emphasize technique so much in our group
and worry less about speed, but it’s been
fun to see many of the faces that we coached
in past years moving up into the more advanced
groups, achieving best times and still enjoying
the sport.”
Josh Roop is a recent graduate in biology
from UTC. He currently works at the
Creative
Discovery Museum as a museum educator.
Josh
swam had four years of USA swimming
starting
at GCAC. He swam for Cumberland Youth
Foundation
for seven years and is a former Jennifer
Fugate award winner. He also taught
swim
lessons for three summers at Cumberland
Youth
Foundation. Josh enjoys teaching kids
how
to swim. His philosophy for swimming
is to
work hard and learn to do the strokes
the
right way.
Josh will be taking over our age group practices
beginning October 2007.
His mother taught him at an early age
that
"if it is worth doing, it is worth
doing
right."
Josh's mother, Melissa Roop heads up our
Developmental practice groups.
Kristy Snider
Assistant Coach- Developmental Group
Kristy Snider is a senior boarding student
here at Baylor School. She is a second
year
student and has swum for the varsity
team
for both years. She attended the State
Championship
Meet for all four years as an individual
qualifier.
Kristy Snider has been a competitive
swimmer
for eleven years. She began her swimming
career with the Cleveland Aqua Tigers
and
now swims for the Mosby Park Waterdogs.
Kristy
has been coaching and teaching swim
lessons
for 7 years. She founded and heads
up the
Waterdogs' Mentor Program. She schedules
and organizes the other mentor hours
and
assists with practices and meets. In
the
summer she is also a lifeguard and
private
instructor at Mosby Park.
Swimming has become a way of life for
Kristy's
family since she began the sport at
age seven.
Her family began the Mosby Park Swim
Team
in 2004. Her sister Bristol is also
a competitive
swimmer, her father is the CASL president,
and her mother is the ultimate volunteer
swim mom of their summer team.
"My favorite part of coaching
is getting
to work with the children. I am blessed
with
the talent of teaching children, and
I love
every opportunity I get to teach them
about
what I love to do…swim. I am very excited
about this new journey with the Baylor
Swim
Club!"
