Coaches & Staff

Ian has served as Dynamo’s Head Coach since August of 2017 and has over 20 years of coaching experience. As Head Coach, Ian oversees all aspects of Dynamo Swim Club’s competitive programs, including our nationally recognized competitive team, Dynamo Juniors, Dynamo Masters, and Dynamo Age Group Multisport. He coaches Senior 1, working directly with athletes at both the Alpharetta and Chamblee locations. Ian is a dynamic leader for our organization and works tirelessly to have Dynamo to be a model club in Georgia, the southeast, and nationally. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Swimming Coaches Association.

During his time at Dynamo, Coach Murray played a significant role in the guidance and development of Olympic Gold Medalist and NCAA Champion, Brooks Curry. In addition, he has coached multiple National Junior Team Members and served on the staff of two USA Swimming Junior National team trips; the 2019 Mel Zajac International and the 2019 FINA Junior World Championships. He has also guided Dynamo to team titles at the USA Swimming Futures Championships and Speedo Junior National Championships.

Ian previously served as Associate Head Coach of Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana. During his time at Carmel, Ian coached a Junior World Record Holder, a USA Swimming National Champion, and multiple Junior National Champions. His swimmers have set multiple USA Swimming National Age Group Records.  Coach Murray served on the coaching staff of the 2016 USA Swimming College Challenge, and he has been Head Coach for both the USA Swimming National and Zone Select Camps. The American Swim Coaches Association has named Ian a Coach of Excellence. In addition to his responsibilities with Carmel Swim Club, Ian was an assistant coach on the Carmel High School swim team, where the girls’ team had won 31 consecutive Indiana High School State Swimming Championships, a national record for all sports. He also served as Carmel’s Head Age Group Coach from 2006-2013 and was recognized by his peers as Indiana Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year.

Prior to Carmel, Ian coached on the staff of the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, where he was an Age Group and Senior Coach. While at Lake Erie, Ian worked with multiple members of the USA Swimming National Team, including an Olympic gold medalist. He was named the Lake Erie Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year and served on the staff of the Richard Quick/Stanford National Swim Camp. Coach Murray was Head Coach of the 2003 Ohio Mid-States Team and the 2004 Lake Erie Zone Team.

Additionally, Ian worked as a Volunteer Assistant Coach for the Cleveland State University swim team from 2000-2001.  He was a standout swimmer at Cleveland State from 1996-2000.   As a college swimmer, Ian was a conference champion, school and conference record holder, and team captain.

Ian and his wife Jennifer are the proud parents of two children, Arran and Ainsley.

Mike has served Dynamo for over 30 years and has been a key leader in the organization’s development, helping Dynamo grow from the original Chamblee location to multiple sites and facilities. During his tenure, he has led the original construction and then the expansion of the Alpharetta facility, installment of the dome over Chamblee’s 50m pool, and the recent Chamblee facility expansion and renovation. 

His long involvement with Dynamo has been a key factor in the organization’s overall success and he has been instrumental in the startup and continued success of Dynamo Pool Management, Inc.  Mike and his wife Michelle are the parents of two children.

Brian joined the Dynamo staff in October of 2014.  As Associate Head Coach, he is the site director at our Alpharetta location and leads the Senior 1 group.  Brian also handles competitive team billing for the organization. In recent years, his athletes have excelled at the USA Swimming Futures Championships, Junior National Championships, and National Championships, including a 2021 Wave 1 Olympic Trial Champion. Under his guidance, our teams have won championships at the USA Swimming Futures Championships and Speedo Junior National Championships.

Coach Wrighton has more over 25 years of coaching experience at all levels of competitive swimming.  Most recently, Brian was the Head Coach and Program Director for the Birmingham Swim League in Birmingham, Alabama.  During his time at BSL, Brian developed many Junior National/National/Olympic Trial level athletes, many of whom swam to National Top 10 rankings.  With Brian at the helm, BSL grew from 150 to over 200 athletes. 

Prior to his stint as Head Coach at BSL, Brian spent nine years as the Head Age Group and Masters Coach for BSL.  His athletes turned in several National Top 10 rankings (age group and masters), broke numerous Southeastern Swimming records, and he had one relay break a National Age Group Record.  Brian was also highly involved with Southeastern Swimming LSC, serving as its Age Group Chair, Administrative Vice-Chair, and Laws and Legislation Chair. 

Brian is originally from Louisiana and swam at the University of Alabama, graduating with degrees in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education.  He and his wife Suzanne are the proud parents of two children, Brian Jr., and Bonnie.

Coach Cecelia has more than 10 years’ experience with Dynamo and originally started with the program in August 2011. She currently serves as our Head Age Group Coach and leads the Age Group 1 Gold group at our Alpharetta location. As Head Age Group Coach, she oversees the age group coaching staff and works closely with Head Coach and Associate Head Coach to design and implement our long-term development philosophy.

Coach Tripp’s initial role at Dynamo was Senior 1 Assistant and Lead Age Group 2 Gold Coach at Chamblee. In the spring of 2012, she took over as the Lead Coach for Senior 2 and Age Group 2 Green at the Alpharetta location and continued in that role until the fall of 2014. Cecelia spent the 2014-2015 season as the Head Coach of the YMCA of the North Shore Sharks in Boston. In 2016, she returned to Dynamo in 2016 and served as Lead Coach for Senior 3 Gold and Age Group 2 Gold at Chamblee.

Prior to Dynamo, Cecelia spent 2007-2011 as the Senior Assistant and Lead Junior Group Coach at YMCA of the North Shore. From 2005-2007, she served as a Graduate Assistant at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. During that time, she also spent a summer working at the Stanford National Swim Camp. Cecelia is a 2005 graduate of Hamilton College in central New York and is a certified ASCA level 2 coach.

Nancy Williams has been a member of the Dynamo coaching staff since 2004. Currently, she leads our Age Group 2 Gold and Age Group 3 Green groups at the Alpharetta site. In addition, Nancy coaches our masters athletes at the same location. Coach Nancy has worked with virtually every level of our program.

Prior to joining the Dynamo family, she was Head Age Group Coach at Swim Atlanta-Roswell for two years. She led Swim Atlanta to short and long course State Championships each of those years and coached several nationally ranked athletes. Prior to Swim Atlanta, Nancy was Head Age Group Coach at Sunkist Swim Team in Jackson, Mississippi, leading the team to short and long course State Championships each year.

A Georgia native, Nancy swam competitively through high school and attended Lenoir-Rhyne College on a softball scholarship while majoring in Athletic Training. She also did post-graduate work in Exercise Science at Ole Miss.

Martha Wright leads our Age Group 3 Green and Age Group 3 Gold groups at Chamblee. Coach Wright has been an active member of the DeKalb County swimming community for most of her life. She swam competitively at Dynamo and later as a club swimmer at both Winthrop University and Georgia State University. Coach Martha has been a member of the Dynamo coaching staff since 2013.

Martha began coaching in 2006 as Assistant Coach Echo Ridge Swim Team, and later became the Head Coach. She has also served as the Head Coach for the DeKalb County State Team. In 2013 Martha founded the Echo Ridge Masters Swim Team where she continues to introduce and train adults in competitive swimming. Her goal is to establish a fun and exciting introduction to USA swimming with younger athletes building their skills and understanding of the sport. She continues to compete competitively in triathlons, half, and full marathons and is a proponent of healthy lifestyles and living.

Jesse Lewis joined Dynamo in August 2018. He currently leads the Senior 2 training group and assists with various age groups at our Chamblee location. Previously, Coach Lewis led Age Ggroup 1 Gold training group, as well as assisted the Senior 1. Coach Jesse is also the club’s primary Meet Director, having organized meets both at Dynamo Chamblee and Georgia Tech.

Prior to Dynamo, Jesse spent two years coaching in Rochester, Minnesota. He first served as Head Age Group Coach of Med City Aquatics, where coached several zone athletes and numerous team record holders. He later became Head of Club Development of the newly formed Rochester Swim Club.

Jesse began his coaching career in his native Northeast Ohio with the Shaker Sharks, ultimately rising to the role of Head Age Group Coach. The Shark Age Group program rewrote the team record book while producing LSC event champions, zone participants, and sectional qualifiers. Jesse also spent several years as an assistant coach with the Shaker Heights High School and Hathaway Brown School. He was also the Head Coach of Hathaway Brown’s Middle School swim team for two seasons, ultimately winning one conference championship.

Jesse graduated from Saint Louis University. He enjoys going on adventures with his wife Kayleigh, collecting belt buckles and watching Green Bay Packer football.

Coach Sydney joined Dynamo in July of 2019 as our site lead at the Oakhurst Location. Coach Sydney leads our Age Group 2and Senior groups at Oakhurst. Additionally, she works closely with the Dynamo Swim School and Dynamo Juniors to ensure program continuity. Prior to arriving at Dynamo, Sydney spent six years coaching at DeKalb Aquatics, where she worked with athletes of all ages and managed many of the administrative aspects of the swim team. Prior to her time at DAQ, Coach Sydney was on staff at the Douglas County Stingrays where she served as Assistant Head Coach for three years.

Since 2011, she has been highly involved with Georgia Swimming, serving as the Zone Team Manager, and currently serves as Age Group Chair. She also has experience from Auburn Aquatics, Swim Atlanta, and various summer league teams. Coach Sydney attended the University of West Georgia and studied Psychology and Criminology. She and her husband John are the proud parents of two children.

Tom Cuticchia arrived at Dynamo in the fall of 2021 and currently leads our Age Group 2 Gold and Senior 3 groups at Chamblee. Tom comes to Dynamo after spending five years as Head Coach at the Lakota Family YMCA in suburban Cincinnati.  During his time at Lakota, Tom guided multiple swimmers to Junior National, Futures, and YMCA National qualifying standards as well as an individual YMCA National Champion.  Additionally, Tom grew the program from a recreation-based team to one of the top programs in Southwest Ohio.

Prior to Lakota, Tom coached at Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics in Holland, Michigan where he led swimmers to multiple Junior National and NCSA Championship meets. Coach Tom has also coached swimming, water polo, and taught high school mathematics in Plantation, Florida.

Originally from Indianapolis, Tom began swimming in high school and went on to swim and play water polo at Ball State University.  Tom and his wife, Heidi, have two lovable shih tzu/yorkies, Erebus and Bentley.

Mary Buzeta returned to Dynamo in November 2018. She currently leads our Age Group 3 Gold group and serves as a Senior 1 Assistant at Alpharetta. Mary spent the 2017-18 season as an Assistant Coach at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. From 2015-2017 she worked at Dynamo as an Assistant to Senior 1 and the Lead Coach for Age Group 2 Gold at Chamblee. In addition, Mary served as a Volunteer Assistant Coach at Emory University during the 2016-17 season, as well as from 2009-2011. Prior to Dynamo, Mary was the Head Site Coach at the Swim Atlanta Hamilton Mill location for 5 years. Mary is a certified ASCA Level 3 coach.

Mary attended Emory University, where she was a captain her senior year and received a degree in psychology. Mary first became part of the Dynamo family the summer before her senior year when she had the honor of swimming under Jason Turcotte. Mary had the privilege of working as a volunteer assistant with Jason the next spring. Mary and her husband, Federico, are proud parents of Augustina and Anthony.

John Poorman has over 15 years of coaching experience and leads our Senior 2 and Age Group 2 Green groups at the Alpharetta site. Coach John comes to Dynamo from Williamsburg, Virginia and Coast Guard Blue Dolphins. At CGBD, John served seven years as Assistant Head Coach. Prior to Coast Guard Blue Dolphins, Coach John was an age group coach for Williamsburg Aquatics and West Florida Lightning Aquatics.

John is a 2005 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands. He and his wife, Kerry, are the proud parents of four children.

Clayton Forde joined the Dynamo staff in May of 2022. He currently leads Age Group 2 Green and assists the Senior 2 group at the Chamblee location. Coach Forde comes to Dynamo from Athens, Georgia where he was serving as the Head Coach of Summer Hill Orcas. Clayton grew up swimming for Lakeside Seahawks in Louisville, Kentucky and later swam at the University of Georgia, where he was an NCAA qualifier and All-American.

Coach Clayton recently completed his master’s in social studies teaching.

Victoria Ashby joined the Dynamo staff in the fall of 2021. She leads our Juniors program, Age Group 3, Age Group 1, and the masters program at the Oakhurst site. Coach Victoria has been involved in aquatics for most of her life, starting with her summer league swim team where she continues to coach today. She currently coaches the girls water polo team at Chamblee High School.

Prior to coaching, Victoria taught lessons at Dynamo Swim School. She is currently completing her anthropology degree at Georgia State University.

Sam Laegen leads our Age Group 1 Green group at the Alpharetta location. In addition, Coach Laegen assists various groups at Alpharetta and is highly involved in our new swimmer recruiting. Sam has been swimming since the age of 5 and joined the Dynamo family in 2005 when his family moved to the area. Coach Sam swam for Kennesaw State University’s club team where he went to nationals 3 years in a row and currently participates in Masters swimming.

Sam started his coaching career in 2012 with his local summer league team and in 2016 he became the head swim coach of Dunmoor Swim Team.

Alissa Cook joined the Dynamo staff in August of 2022 and is a Dynamo alum. She currently leads Age Group 1 Green and assists Senior 3 at our Chamblee location. Alissa is a graduate of The Ohio State University, with a degree in economics and business. She also swam collegiately for the Buckeyes and was part of a B1G Championship team.

In 2017 and 2018, she was an assistant coach for the Echo Ridge Raging Rays.

Joey Morgan came to Dynamo in October of 2022 and currently leads Age Group 1 Gold and assists Senior 1 at our Chamblee location. He is a Georgia native, growing up in the Macon area. Prior to his arrival in Atlanta, Coach Morgan spent four years as the 11-12 division lead at Scottsdale Aquatic Club. He also coached at Phoenix Swim Club from 2013-2019.

Joey swam collegiately for Delta State University and graduated with a degree in sports management. He went on to earn a masters in kinesiology from Mississippi State University.

Ryan Bell is new to the Dynamo staff, joining the team in August of 2023. He will be leading Senior 3 and assisting with various groups at our Alpharetta location. Coach Bell comes to Dynamo from LifeTime Swim Team, where he was the head site coach at the Prado location. There he worked with the competitive team and led the masters group. Ryan also served as the head varsity coach of the Mount Vernon Presbyterian School from 2017-2022.

He has a collegiate experience from the University of Nebraska, where he served as a graduate assistant. Additionally, he has club experience from Nebraska Aquatics and the Dad’s Club Swim Team (Houston).

Simon Roberts joined the Dynamo staff in the fall of 2021 and leads the Dynamo Juniors Program and assists with Age Group 3 Green at Alpharetta. Simon comes to us from the Cumming YMCA where he has been coaching for the past year. He also has summer league and swim lesson experience.

Simon grew up in the Cumming area, swam for Chattahoochee GOLD, and collegiately for Emmanuel College.

Rebecca Carpenter is the Head Coach of the Dynamo Multisport High-Performance Team and helps lead Dynamo Masters swimming at Chamblee. In triathlon, she has been coaching athletes of all ages since 2007 and began working with the masters program in 2016.

She holds a USAT Level 1 certification and Youth & Junior Certification.

Stacy is a USAT Level 1 Certified coach. She competed in her first Iron distance in 2011 and has since finished 8 Iron distance races, numerous 70.3s, and Olympic distances. She has been a certified Massage Therapist since 2003 and is also certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a personal trainer.

Stacy has been part of the Dynamo family since 2014 as a coached athlete, and in 2017 she began coaching. Stacy is a native of Atlanta and has a small massage therapy business in Roswell.

Holly has been with Dynamo since 2010. She began her employment as a swim instructor and lifeguard.  She has been managing the Dynamo facilities since 2012. She oversees the daily operation of the Chamblee and Alpharetta locations, as well as manages the lifeguarding and customer service staff.