Stevie R.

I work with a range of people such as athletes training for triathlon/sporting events, parents and infants who need beginner lessons, adults who struggle with fear of water or are looking to strengthen their skills, and children of all ages and experience from complete fear of water to excelled and training for swim teams. I also have worked with injured individuals looking for a new way to stay in shape through non-weight bearing activity.

I was Head Coach of Life Time Fitness's USA Master's Swim Team; I instructed people ages 18 and up on triathlon training, long distance swimming, & open water swimming.

I have been instructing for 7 years total at about 4 different locations:
- I started my career at 15 with Beechview Swim Club as a Swim Team Assisting with deck set up for meets, snack tables, morning practices, etc.
- At 16 I began my first Swim Instructor position at West Bloomfield Family Aquatic Center as a children's instructor for ages 2-10 and worked with this location for 2 years (2012-2014)
- At 18 I began my career with LifeTime Fitness located in Novi, MI as a Children's and Adult Private Swim Instructor. I taught 30 hours of lessons and worked as a Lifeguard as well to keep my certifications current. After working with LifeTime as an Instructor for 6 months I moved into Coaching the USA Masters Swim Team at LifeTime in one hour sessions twice a week. I focused on Triathlete training, long distance swimming, open water swimming, in-water safety, and endurance training. I worked for lifetime for 2 years from June 2014-July 2016.
- Currently I am working at Life Time Athletic Diamond Club in Bloomfield Hills, MI as a Private Instructor for children and adults and as a Deck Supervisor managing all weekend swimming lessons and Swim Team and the pool deck as a whole. I occasionally coach the children's swim team, however we are working towards starting our USA Masters Swim Team up again since I have the experience and training to manage the team.

- As a Coach and Private Instructor my main focuses are technique, pacing, and breathing exercises. I find that the most important component to an excelling swimmer is their personal breathing process. Without a steady pace for your breath, swimming can grow to be very difficult ESPECIALLY in long distance swimming/open water swim.

Swam for 10 years, coached for 5 so far. I am a very good communicator and work well with people of all ages in helping them get to whatever level of swim they are looking to achieve for themselves.

I began swimming as an infant. My Mother was a Junior National Champion Swimmer in high school and has been a dedicated swimmer ever since. From the moment I was born (and all 3 of my younger siblings) I had been participating in swim classes, swim exercises with my mother in her local pool, and once I was old enough my Mother enrolled me in a recreational Swim Team through Beechview Swim Club. I swam with Beechview from the time I was 9 years old to 15. Due to the early hours of my High School team's practices and other sports I participated in I could not participate in that team, however I did join another Recreational Swim Team in 2010 through the Costic Center in Farmington Hills, MI. I swam with this team for a year.

I specialized in Freestyle and Breast Stroke, holding (a short lived but much deserved and earned) title of fastest Freestyle stroke in the girls 12-15 league at Beechview Swim Team.

After finishing the Rec team in 2011, I began taking all certification courses needed to become a Lifeguard and Swim Instructor. At 15 I received my first job as a full time guard and instructor at West Bloomfield Family Aquatic in 2012. Since then I have been in love with the career and continuing to receive certifications through my current Swim employer with plans to receive my USA Coaching Certification.

I am now 22, part time Coaching Life Time Athletic's Swim Team and managing weekend swim lessons while also Private Instructing children and adults. Currently we are working on creating new kinds of safety courses and classes to provide to all ages of people such as Adult group lessons, open water safety courses for children and adults in the summertime, and in water treading and emergency swimming courses.

Most important: begin with breathing exercises. In swimming the most important aspect is your breathing technique. Once mastered, you can swim as fast and as long as you want without struggle. After achieving this, we would begin with a kickboard warm up to get the legs going. After that we would begin the full stroke workouts with a 100 meter swim of each stroke. Once completed we move into the sprints, to perfect timing and breathing for faster swimming. After we complete all strokes is when I move into the drills; eggbeaters, dolphin dives, 321's, etc. Finishing with a slow cool down.