Coach ProfilesJon Caswell Hunterdon County YMCA’s new Head Swimming Coach Jon Caswell comes to NJ after spending 3 years as the Head Coach of the Temple Area Swim Club (TASC) in Texas. While in Texas, TASC finished in the Top 8 of their LSC for all 3 years. He had 2 swimmers qualify for the USA Junior National Championships. One of his swimmers won the 50 breaststroke at the Texas Age Group Championships, while breaking the state record. He had 2 swimmers (brother & sister) compete for American Samoa at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy. Prior to Texas, Jon was the Head Swimming and Diving Coach at Providence College in Rhode Island for 4 years. While at PC, his teams made the Academic All-American Team all 4 years with an avg GPA of 3.21. While coaching at PC, he also was the Head Coach/Owner of the Providence Aquatic Club. The club team finished in the Top 6 at the New England Championships for 5 years. He has coached numerous Rhode Island HS state champions. In 1994, Jon was named the Rhode Island Swimmer of the Year, swimming for East Providence HS. Jon resides in Frenchtown, NJ. JT Campbell JT grew up in Richland, PA, and swam for the East Hills Swim Club and the Richland High School. He started teaching lessons at age 11! He attended Morris Harvey College in West Virginia, swam and played water polo, making the All Conference water polo team. He has worked for the Hunterdon Developmental Center in Aquatics for the past 24 years and also served as a Boys Scouts Aquatics Director. JT has been working at the HCY for the past 13 years in varied positions including Special Olympics coach, swim team coach, lesson instructor and lifeguarding (and other related classes) instructor. JT attended a training camp while in High School run by the legendary “father” of swimming, “Doc” Counsilman, whose theories and principles still hold true today. Christi Cortright Christi grew up in Iowa and started swimming at the age of 5 for the community swim team. She swam competitively through high school and began teaching swimming lessons at age 16 at the local pool. Christi attended the University of Iowa and received her Bachelors Degree in non-teaching Physical Education. In 1997, she also received her National Certification to be a Massage Therapist and has been actively doing Massage since then. Christi has been working with some members of the HCY team with regard to massage and sport injuries. She has been lesson instructor for the HCY for 20 years and is starting her 11th season as an HCY coach. She is married to David Cortright. Gabrielle MacQueen Gabrielle swam for the Stingrays for 8 years. She went to Voorhees High School where she was a varsity swimmer all four years and captain her senior year. She graduated from Salisbury University in Maryland with a B.S. in elementary education. She teaches kindergarten in Clinton Township. Gabrielle is looking forward to an exciting season with HCY!!! Chris Thompson Chris is a Rutgers University graduate, with a B.S. in Health and Physical Education. She later earned her Masters Degree in Counseling Services from Rider University. She began her 19-year coaching career while still a Rutgers student, joining the North Brunswick Township High School Swim Team Staff for three years. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she was employed for 10 years at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, as a Health and Physical Education teacher, later accepting the challenge to become a Guidance Counselor. During her tenure at WW-P, she coached the boys and girls high school swim team for 8 years, with both teams earning Mercer County and Conference championship honors each year. The girl’s team also earned three Group IV state championship titles. In addition to coaching swimming, Chris was the Head Coach of the WW-P Girl’s Spring Track Team, earning “Coach of the Year” honors from the “Princeton Packet” newspaper. Chris recently returned to work as a guidance counselor at Bridgewater-Raritan HS. This will be her 12th season with the HCY Stingray program, and she eagerly awaits the upcoming season. Deanna Vannucci Deanna is a Rutgers University graduate, with a B.S. in Food Science and a minor in Nutrition. She swam competitively with HCY for 8 years before graduating in 2006 from Hunterdon Central High School. She swam on the varsity team there for four years and was captain her last year. Deanna currently works for Chromocell, a drug discovery company in New Brunswick. This is Deanna’s fourth year with the swim team. Carolyn Hanczaryk Carolyn grew up in Verona, NJ and started swimming at the age of 10 for the Verona Swim Team. While in high school and college, she began teaching swimming lessons for Verona Community Pool in Verona, NJ and the Cabana Club in West Orange, NJ. At the Cabana Club, she ran the swimming program for 2 summers. In college, she swam competitively for Montclair State College swimming distance and fly. Her senior year she was captain of the team. After working in sales and training new sales reps for many years, she has returned to to swimming, coaching the Stingrays! She is married to Paul and has two boys, Sean who is 11 and Danny who is 9.
Elyse Linfante Elyse Linfante swam competitively for the Stingrays for 12 years. She is a graduate of Voorhees High School. She swam for the high school team, earning her varsity letter all four years and was a captain her senior year. Elyse is currently a senior at Rider University where she will earn a degree in Elementary Education as well as American Studies. She began coaching for the summer team and was the team’s head coach this past summer. This will be Elyse’s third winter coaching he is looking forward to another great season with the team!
Jen Mack Kati Lyons
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