Sean C Hutchison

Director

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• Effective teaching and learning strategies, when executed well, yield extraordinary results.
• The game of swimming, regardless of whether the competitors are Olympians or just starting out, is a game of self-improvement.
• Treat people well, but don’t confuse this with 'being all things to all people'. We best serve our members through standing by a commitment to high standards.
• And, most importantly, DETERMINATION is more important to long-term success than perceived ‘talent’.

Along with serving as director of KING, Sean has been the CEO of Aquatic Management Group, Inc. (AMG) since its inception in March of 2003. AMG was created to 'keep pools open' in the Greater Seattle area and currently operates public facilities more effectively and cheaply for local municipalities. Both Kent Meridian Pool and Mount Rainier Pool are AMG run facilities. AMG also offers consulting services for pools and athletic facilities, which are either in distress, or looking to expand their current operations.

Sean also heads up IKKOS, LLC. IKKOS  (website: http://www.ikkostraining.com/  and Twitter: ikkostraining) applies advances in neuroscience – neuroplasticity – to learning movement patterns. The patent-pending IKKOS System teaches technique faster and more effectively than traditional methods. IKKOS’ clients include some of the top athletes, clubs and Universities in the United States and, more recently, South America. IKKOS System translates across all sports and has been used with high level golfers, basketball players, swimmers, triathletes and exercise specialists (core/physical development).

IKKOS and KING both share in Sean’s personal driving goal of helping people find ways to achieve what they didn’t think possible for themselves. He believes when you surprise yourself in one area of your life, the doors are open to surprising yourself in every area.

Thomas G Hannan

National Coach - Federal Way

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Tommy Hannan enters his first year in 2009 as a KING coach of the National & Regional training groups at KCAC in Federal Way. Previously, Tommy served three years as an assistant coach with the University of Washington after successful swimming careers at the collegiate and international levels. Hannan worked primarily with the sprinters and oversees recruiting for the men’s team.

Hannan was a three-time member of the USA National Team and was a member of the gold medal-winning 400 medley relay team at the 2000 Olympic games. Hannan served as team captain at the 2003 USA Pan American Games, won a gold medal at the 1999 World University Games, and qualified for the 2004 USA Olympic Trials as a member of King Aquatic Club.

A Baltimore, Md. native, Hannan swam four years at the University of Texas where he won three NCAA team tiles from 2000-2002. He also won two NCAA titles in the 400 medley relay and one in the 400 freestyle relay, setting American and NCAA records in the event. A 17-time All-American, Hannan served as the Longhorn’s team captain during his junior and senior campaigns, and graduated with a degree in finance in 2003.

Keith Ure

Lead Coach - Kent

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Keith is the Head Age Group Coach and began coaching with the Kent Area Dolphins, which is now King Aquatic Club, back in the Fall of 1987. Additional coaching experience includes 10 years of High School Head Coaching (Hazen & Evergreen High Schools) and 5 Years as a Summer League Head Coach (Kent Swim & Tennis Club). As a graduate from University of Washington and MBA graduate from Seattle University, Keith enjoys spending his free time supporting the Seattle Thunderbirds and working for the Boeing Company.

• 1998, 2007 American Swim Coaches Association Age Group Coach of the Year - PNS
• 2002, 2003 Pacific Northwest Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year
• 2006-07 PNS Technical Commitee Chair
• 2007 Head Coach, PNS Pacific Coast All-Star Team
• 2011 Assistant Coach, PNS Pacific Coast All-Star Team

Kenneth R Spencer

Lead Coach - Federal Way

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A transplant from the land of pleasant living, Ken brings his 20 years of coaching experience to KING. Formerly the head coach of the largest team in Maryland swimming, he is proud to have spent the last seven years as a member of the strongest coaching staff on the West Coast. Ken’s mission in the senior group is for each member to develop the understanding, skills and qualities that will allow and encourage exceptional performance. While we use swimming a vehicle to this end, the skills and process learned will be translated into other areas and utilized for a lifetime. Literally hundreds of Top 16/10 times, Sectional, US Open and National cuts have resulted from this environment.

Ken earned degrees in psychology and elementary education Villanova University and researched Kinesiology at the University of Maryland. Ken also worked in the Howard County public school system, teaching 4th, 6th, and 7th grade. During the day he oversees Aquatic Management Group, making sure that the pools that are crucial to King’s survival are run efficiently and responsibly.  At home Ken enjoys “relaxing” with his wife and three children; Will 4, Owen 2, and daughter Quin 1.

Recently:

• 2009 Head Coach PNS All Star team
• 2009 ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year - PNS
• 2010 USA swimming Zone Select Staff (3 Athletes selected for Camp)
• 2010 ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year – PNS
• ASCA Level 4 Coach

Ash G Milad

Lead Coach - Bellevue/Seattle/MI

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Ash Milad comes to us from the Washington D.C. area where he has been coaching on the U.S.S. level since his early years in college.  Ash was born and raised in Northern Virginia and graduated from Penn State.  At Penn State he coached age groupers with the State College Area YMCA and help found the Nittany Lion Aquatic Club.

Upon graduation, Ash returned to Northern Virginia and worked as Director of Managment for NVPools, Inc. While working for NVPools Ash coached for the York Swim Club and most recently Machine Aquatics and George Mason University.  He also has extensive experience with summer league teams.

Since joining the KING Staff in 2004 Ash has been a member of the PNS All-Star Team staff for the last three years and serves on the Pacific Northwest Swimming Board of Directors as an at-large member.  Ash and his wife Kate live in downtown Seattle and enjoy spending time with their dogs Moseley and Mable. 

Nathan D Hawthorne

Lead Coach - Covington

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Nathan began coaching in 2006, with the summer club Normandy Park. After college he took the head coach position for the Highline High School Mens Swim program. Nathan joined KING in March of 2010 coaching Novice and Developmental at Kent Meridian. In 2011 he took over the Age Group position at Covington. He enjoys seeing his athletes develop their skills and find continuing success in the pool. Nathan is an avid WSU fan and alum and enjoys triathlon events and other outdoor activities.

David A Kienlen

Lead Coach - Fife

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Dave is the lead coach at the Fife Swim Center and brings years of competitive coaching to KING. He began his coaching career in 1970 as Head Coach with the Joliet Swim Club in Illinois where he developed dozens of state and regional champions along with multiple national finalists in both US Swimming and YMCA competition. He continued his coaching career in Oregon during the 80’s with the Willamalane Swim Team and again produced state and regional champions. In 1990 he left for North Carolina to become the Head Coach for the Sharks Aquatic Club and developed the team from a small group of 40 swimmers to over 160 within 3 years. While in North Carolina he not only produced state and regional champions, but several junior national swimmers along with the first ever State High School Championship for Kings Mountain High School. In 1993 Dave moved to Washington where he took over a struggling Issaquah Swim Team (IST). During his seven years with IST he developed the team from 60 swimmers to over 220 swimmers, six junior national swimmers and several state high school champions. In 2001 Dave was selected to become the first Head Coach for the South Sound Titans. There he developed the team from about 70 swimmers to over 140, produced several junior national swimmers, over a dozen US Open swimmers and led the team to a 7th place finish in the US Swimming Women’s Senior National Championships. He also coached Olympian, Megan Quann, to over 5 additional National Titles during her career with the Titans. Dave is currently the Aquatic Coordinator for the City of Fife. He has held the following positions or titles with Pacific Northwest Swimming: PNS Senior Chair, PNS Board of Review, President – Greater Seattle Swim Association (GSSA), PNS Senior Coach of the Year – 2002 and 2003.

Cejih J Yung

Coach - Physical Genius Program Director

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King Aquatic Club (KING) is very excited to welcome Cejih Yung (pronounced See-Gee) to the coaching staff as the Director of the Physical Genius Program. He will be doing site visits at all pools with Developmental and Novice programs.

Cejih was born and raised in the Seattle area and has been a swimmer or coach in PNS for over ten years. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2007 with a BA in International Studies. After college, he spent three years working in Shanghai and Hong Kong as an account executive for a shipping and supply chain management company. He most recently held the position of Head Age Group Coach at White Water Aquatics (WWA) for the past two years. He is currently enrolled in the UW-Bothell MBA program and is the PNS Camps Coordinator.

Thomas C Cunningham

Coach - Bellevue/Seattle/MI

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Tommy started swimming for KING when he was 10. Throughout his swimming career on KING he set team and PNS records. He was a member of KING's National Group and was a national qualifier in the 100 meter free. Tommy swam for University of Washington on athletic scholarship as a sprinter. He's coached Marine Hills Swim Team for two years helping lead the team to their first ever championship. In 2010 to 2011 season Tommy started coaching for KING helping coach groups at King County Aquatic Center and King North. He plans to teach swimmers the best technique possible helping them reach their goals and have fun working towards those goals.

Roderick E Rombauer

Coach - Federal Way

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Coach Rod joined KING in February of 2011 assisting both Senior & National training groups. Previously Rod had been coaching the West Seattle YMCA Dolphins since 2003 as their head coach. His swimming background dates back to when he was 6 years old. Originally from Burien, WA, he started swimming competitively as a "speedy sixer" with Normandy Park Swim Club.

He learned the essential skills to become a successful swimmer, swimming for Husky Swim Club and Queen Anne Swim Club through high school. Coach Rod attended O'Dea High School in Seattle, where he lettered in swimming all four years and achieved All-American consideration time standards his junior year.

He won a state championship as well as an individual championship in the 200 Medley Relay along with setting the state record his junior year. Coach Rod was a multi-sport athlete in high school, playing football and becoming the first student athlete in O'Dea's history to letter in swimming and football. He applies his football background not only to help with the dry-land training, but also to emphasize the importance of discipline and teamwork.

Doug R Djang

Coach - Federal Way

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Doug Djang started coaching for King Aquatic Club in 2006. At the start of the 2009-10 season, Djang worked at the Mercer Island/Bellevue site then moved to the Federal Way site. Previously, Djang served as a subsitute coach, filling in where needed within the KING system. In college, Djang competed for three years for the Seattle University Redhawks earning All-American status. As a former KING National group swimmer under head coach Sean Hutchison, Djang will bring a wealth of experience to KING.

Jonathan C Hiett

Coach - Federal Way

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Jonathan began his swimming career at 4 years old and has competed competitively up until 2010. He currently holds records for KING Aquatic Club in the 100 & 200 meter breast for the 17-18 & Open age groups as well as the 200 yard breast and 400 yard medley relay in the open age group. Jon was a multi-year Ironman in high school and was also the state champion in the 100 breast and 200 IM his senior year. He was part of multiple conference championship teams and was a member of Auburn University’s National Championship team in 2007. At the 2008 Olympic Trials he competed in the 100-meter breaststroke. After transferring to the University of Michigan, he earned all All-Big Ten honors, became a NCAA Division I All-American and currently holds 2 University of Michigan school records. He is also a Big Ten champion and SEC & NCAA finalist. Jonathan has recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Science with a focus on Movement Science. Currently Jonathan is coaching the Power group at KING.

Catherine M Peter

Coach - Kent

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Biography coming soon!

Rachel E Reese

Coach - Covington

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Rachel joins KING as Coach/Physical Genius Specialist at our Covington site. She graduated from Tahoma High School in 2011 and is currently attending Green River Community College. She is working at Covington Aquatic Center as a certified Lifeguard and Swim Instructor. She began swimming with King Aquatic Club in 2003 at age 10 through 2010. She swam also for the Tahoma High School swim team all four years from (2007-2010), making it to state 3 out of the 4 years, and was team captain for 3 of those years. Rachel was asked by her coach to help out with teaching some teammates with their strokes and swimming techniques which is what peaked her interest in becoming a teacher and swimming coach.

Christopher E Ngy

Coach - Des Moines

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Biography coming soon!

Adam J Hendren

Coach - Fife

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 I started swimming with the local swim team at nine years old, to follow a friend, and have loved the sport ever since - through all the ups and downs. During my college years at Washington State University, I worked at Tacoma Country and Golf Club and dreamed of starting a swim team. With the help of my manager, we made a summer league swim team of about 15 kids and developed it to over 60 swimmers in just a few years. I wanted to improve my coaching skills even further so I volunteered for Lakes High School's Swim Team. Now I work for the KING Aquatic Club and I am here, just like the swimmers, to continually improve.

Latanya B Newday

Coach - Federal Way

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Hi! I'm Latanya Newday one of the new coaches for King. I have taught swim lessons for the past five years at Fife. I have been coaching at KCAC and Fife, working with the developmental and novice groups. The swimmers that I have been working with are dedicated and humorous and I'm glad I have the opportunity to work with them.

Tarryn N Bickel

Coach - Covington

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Tarryn began swimming KING when she was 11 years old. The passion for swimming stayed with her after graduating from high school and she continued to swim for pleasure in college. Swimming has always been a passion for her and she is very excited to be coaching and share her passion for swimming with new swimmers. Tarryn graduated from WSU, the top 20% of her class, in May of 2012 receiving her degree in Physical Anthropology and History. She hopes to continue to grad school where she wants to study human evolution.

Paloma Dinkel-Ortega

Coach - Bellevue/Seattle/MI

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Paloma brings over ten years of competitive swimming and coaching experience to KING. She was previously an age group coach with Whitewater Aquatics, where she worked specifically with the Novice and Developmental groups, as well as the high school power group.

Before coaching at Whitewater, Paloma coached and swam for Riverside Aquatics in Riverside, CA. She was a national level swimmer and still competes regularly in US Masters Competitions. Over the summer, Paloma competed at US Master Nationals where she won numerous individual and relay titles.

We are excited about the energy and passion that Paloma brings to her coaching and feel that she will be able to make an immediate, and long-term, impact on the team.

In her spare time, Paloma enjoys paddle boarding, yoga, crossfit, reading and working with kids.