Will is from Charlotte, NC and has been coaching swimming since 2011. His coach at the time asked if he would be willing to help with his team and Will said yes! He grew up with so many memorable coaches and always wanted to become one. When the opportunity arose to coach, he took it. He coached with that team, Barclay Downs, from 2011 to 2016 and was a co-head coach from 2013 to 2016. In 2017 he finished his undergrad and found himself coaching middle school swimming for a private school in Charlotte. In 2019 he coached summer league as an assistant at Carmel Country Club. When he moved to Knoxville in 2020 he had no idea that he would be coaching again. He coached for Green Meadow during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He enjoys coaching swimming because he gets to share his experiences with swimmers of a different generation.

Coming to Maryville-Alcoa Flying Dolphins, he hopes to show the team what he knows and start a resurgence for the Dolphins to become “The” team.

JT is an experienced head swim-coach with a passion for swimming and a calling to help young adults reach their potential through the sport. He is a charismatic leader and a creative problem solver with 8 years of head coaching experience. As head coach at Berean Christian High School, JT gained insight into the inner workings of KISL (Knoxville Interscholastic Swimming League). As a previous head coach of MAFD, he got comfortable managing large teams with multiple age groups. JT recently coached the Maryville Middle School Team, which lead to him being the 2024 head coach for the Maryville High School Team. JT is a graduate from Carson Newman University with a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics. His goals include getting a Masters in Education, getting his licensure to teach high school, and eventually moving into school administration. JT and his family have been an integral part of the Flying Dolphins for many years.

Samantha is excited to be coaching this year, she started team swimming when she was five all the way up to graduation. She swam for Berean Christian High School for eight years and she swam for Prime Aquatics competitively. She has been a part of many summer, winter and year-round swim teams, but the Flying Dolphins have been her most memorable team yet. This will be her second year coaching with MAFD and she is happy to be able to help younger swimmers improve their knowledge of each stroke and personal times. Sammy hopes that everybody enjoys this season and can take away some new information for next season.

Coach Emma is a 2022 graduate of the Dolphins who brings years of swimming experience to the coaching staff! She began her competitive swim journey with her home team in Ohio before moving to East Tennessee and joining the Dolphin family. Emma also swam competitively with Prime Aquatics and Heritage High School where she served as team captain for 2 years and qualified for state! Emma has taught swim lessons with Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Rec for the last 3 years. We are excited to have her returning to help coach our team this year!

Coach Austen is in his third year of coaching with the Dolphins. He brings a lot of swimming experience to MAFD. Austen has been a competitive swimmer for about 15 years. He currently swims for Centre College as a senior and has qualified for finals every year at their mid and end of season meets. He has also served his college team as team captain for 1 year. During his youth, Austen was a GKAISA swimmer for 10 years with NFC and swam year round with ACAC for 8 years. During his time with ACAC he qualified for both South Eastern and Senior Sectionals. He also swam competitively in high school where he qualified for State each year.