Coaching Staff
The Nova Masters Swimming philosophy of “Creating a positive environment where excellence is inevitable,” places an emphasis on quality coaching and features a well balanced staff with a variety of expertise.
Collins has over 25 years racing & coaching experience in swimming, cycling & running. His specialty is technique and eficiency improvement, as well as race specific training.
Assistant Coach – Jim Dietrich
Jim started swimming competitively at age 7, in the Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL) during the summers, and United States Swimming year-round with Curl-Burke, and then Robinson High School in Fairfax, VA, reaching the State finals in Breaststroke.
Assistant Coach – Kim Thornton
At the age of 12, Kim qualified for Senior Nationals in the 400 IM, and by 16, headed for the Olympic Trials in four events, 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 and 400 IM. However, she fell short of her goal of the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Assistant Coach - Julie Swail Ertel
Julie is a “super” athlete as well as motivational coach. She was the team captain of the US Water Polo team for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and also competed for the USA in the 2008 Olympics in Bejing in Triathlon!
Assistant Coach - Dickie Fernández
Dickie grew up in Marbella, Spain for 18 years and has been living in the United States since 1989. He started masters swimming in 1998 and joined Nova Masters in 2006. As a masters swimmer, Dickie has been ranked twice in FINA’s Top 10 world ranking in the 200 meters freestyle (long course in 2005 and short course in 2006).
Substitute Coaches:
Alex Nieto, Nina Jordan, Tord Benner, Max Biessmann, Nina Jordan
I was out of the water for 19 years. Inspired by the Olympics I found myself back in, competing it and loving it. The Nova Masters's coaches are great. They are knowledgeable and supporting. I'm almost as fast as high-school - but not college. ;)