Jonathan Kaplan
Head Coach
Email
Coach Jonathan came to us in June
of 2006 with a great level of experience in a young coaching
career. His work with all levels of swimming has made him a
valuable part of the Tsunami family as we continue to improve as
one of the top programs in the Florida Panhandle.
Jonathan’s passion for
swimming began when he was 6 years old as a swimmer for the Winter
Haven Stingrays. His first coaching experience came as a
summer novice coach for the Stingrays as an 18 year old and it grew
from there. He reached high levels of achievement as a
swimmer by ranking in the top 6 in the country as an age grouper
and eventually becoming the Team Captain of the Florida State
Seminoles.
Upon graduating Magna Cum Laude
from Florida State in 2002 with a degree in Sports Management,
Jonathan got his first head coaching job as a 22 year old for
Chiles High School. Not long after graduating from Florida
State Jonathan also became the Senior Assistant Coach for the Area
Tallahassee Club where he learned great coaching techniques from
long time great coach Terry Maul. He went on to earn his
masters degree in Sports Administration in 2005 while coaching
under Head Coach Neil Harper with the Florida State Seminoles for 2
years.
After earning his masters, he
embarked on his first head coaching club position with the North
Central Florida YMCA Makos before moving on to Clemson
University. At Clemson he coached the distance program and
was the head recruiting coordinator under Head Coach Christopher
Ip. It was at Clemson where Coach Jonathan earned his Level 4
achievement from the American Swim Coaches
Association.
Brian Haddad
Head Age Group Coach
Email
Brian joined the PCST family in January, 2009 as the first ever
full-time Head Age Group Coach the team has ever hired. Our
entire program is very excited about Brian's arrival because he
brings with him a wealth of swimming knowledge from many years of
tremendous experience.
Before joining the Tsunamis, Brian worked as one of the Head Age
Group coaches for the Nashville Aquatic Club in Tennessee.
There he served in multiple capacities by being a coach, recruiter,
website coordinator, record keeper, meet direct, etc etc. You
name it, Brian probably did it! As the Head Age Group
Coach of the Brentwood location, Brian oversaw a portion of the
program that grew from approximately 70-80 swimmers to nearly 300
in just over two years.
His swimmers found great success as well, earning multiple
Southeastern Championship, SES records and Zone All-Star Team
qualifications. Brian also served as the Head Coach of the
Southeastern Swimming Zone All-Star in 2002 (1st Place Team
Finish), 2003 (1st Place Team Finish) and 2006 (2nd Place Team
Finish).
Before moving on to Nashville, Brian served as the Head Age
Group Coach for the City of Mobile Swim Association, his former
team as a swimmer. There he had so much success that he was
inducted into the City of Mobile Swim Association Hall of Fame in
2006.
The Tsunamis are thrilled to have Brian as we are ready to
continue moving forward and improving each season. Brian will
be a valuable addition to our successful program and we look
forward to many seasons with him in the future!
Sarah Mrazek
Assistant Coach
Email
Coach Sarah joined the Tsunami
family in April 2007 with great experience in the workforce and as
a student-athlete. Sarah’s work with PCST has been
tremendous and she has already had a terrific impact on the young
developing Tsunami swimmers. Any parent will tell you that
she is incredible with the Novice swimmers on our team, but also
has the skills and knowledge to assist Coach Jonathan with the
Senior/Pre-Senior swimmers each week too.
As a swimmer she competed for Leon
High School for 4 years where she was the team MVP for 3
seasons. Her greatest success, however, came as a swimmer for
the Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club for 13 years under Head Coach
Terry Maul where she qualified for and participated in the Olympic
Trials in the 200 Breast in 2000. Sarah moved on to swim for
Mike Simpson at Gardner-Webb University for two years where she
earned her degree in Political Science.
Throughout her collegiate career,
Sarah shared her swimming experiences and knowledge as a swimming
instructor and novice coach for her former team (ATAC). After
graduation, she used the knowledge gained from her degree as a
volunteer for various political campaigns as well as becoming an
instructional aid at Kate Sullivan Elementary School. Now she
is an integral part of the Tsunami family as we continue to provide
the top swimming instruction in Bay County.
Sharon Yarbrough
Novice Coach
Email
If there was ever a person that knows how to make you feel great
about yourself, it’s Coach Sharon! Since she joined the
PCST coaching staff in the fall of 2008, she has quickly become an
incredible novice coach and a wonderful motivator for our young
Tsunamis. Before joining PCST, she taught
numerous swimming lessons out of the very popular GCCC Red Cross
lessons. There she worked with every level of swim lessons
and uses that experience to help refine our novice swimmers’
technique.
Sharon’s sweet and loving nature makes her a coach all
swimmers can get along with. She is constantly improving as a
coach and knows how to mix in fun, great technique and hard work
all into the same workout! She also brings an extra bonus to
the team that most Tsunami families may remember. Sharon is
the mother of former novice/age group coach, Alyssa Yarbrough
and we are thrilled to have her help continue the amazing coaching
job Alyssa did from 2006-2007 before she left to finish her degree
at Florida State.
Chris Valencia
Novice Coach
Email
Coach Chris has been swimming throughout most of
his life. Whether it
was as a high school swimmer or while enlisted in the Army,
he’s always had a love for the sport. Now he has a chance to pass on
that love to our Tsunamis and is doing a tremendous job. He is a sponge for learning
and is a incredibly nice and positive coach for our up and coming
novice swimmers. He
loves to see the improvement in our young swimmers and I have a
feeling he will see tons of it as long as he is on the
deck.
Gregory M Rhinehart
Novice Coach
Email
PCST has only had four swimmers in the history of
the team who have won the Southestern Championships and Coach Greg
is one of them. As a
14 year old, Greg won the 100 backstroke at the end of the season
LSC championship meet.
After graduating from Brigham Young University and spending some
valuable time helping others in South America, Coach Greg is back
to work with his alma mater. He is taking advantage of this
opportunity by passing on lots of great knowledge to our young
novice swimmers and is getting them motivated about their own
swimming. With Greg on
the coaching staff, it shouldn’t be too long before we have
our next Southeastern Champion!
Benjamin Luke Weniger
Assistant Senior Coach
Email
Coach Luke comes to us from one of the most
prestigious swimming programs in the entire country. As a volunteer senior assistant,
Luke has brought a new perspective of training styles and ideas to
the Senior/Pre-Senior group. At the University of Auburn, Luke
swam for some of the best coaches in the country including David
Marsh, the late Richard Quick and Brett Hawke. He became a top level swimmer for
the Tigers by qualifying for the NCAA Championships and Olympic
Trials in the 100 butterfly. We are very excited about the new
outlook Luke brings to the Tsunamis.
