Coley Stickels Finds New Coaching Gig in California

SANTA CLARITA, California, December 17. AFTER a two-month search, Canyons Aquatic Club of Santa Clarita is proud to announce the hiring of Coley Stickels as the club's new head coach.

Coley will take over for Jeff Conwell who left Canyons to become the CEO/Owner of Piranha Aquatics in Palm Springs. Canyons is the age group home of Olympian Anthony Ervin and is one of the largest swim clubs in California.

A highly successful coach, Coley takes a low-volume, high intensity approach to training at the club level and his results have been nothing short of outstanding. Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska, Coley attended Creighton Prep High School earning a swim scholarship to the University of Arizona. As a Wildcat, his personal accolades include, 14 time NCAA All-American, USA National Team Member 1999-2001, World Championship Finalist 1999, NCAA Silver Medalist, 1st Team Academic All-American and Olympic Trials Finalist (semi's 50 free).

Coley started his coaching career at the University of Arizona working with the University's masters program then traveled east where he served as the Assistant Men's and Women's coach at Dartmouth College, pushing his swimmers to record swims. In 2003, Coley joined the Lake Oswego Swim Club, ultimately rising to the Head Coach position. At Lake Oswego, he coached the elite age group swimmers as well as the senior program to over 100 state records, over 100 Top 16 times, including 40 #1 nationally ranked individual/relays, its first 8 National Age Group records in 2008, and 3 2008 Olympic Trials Qualifiers, including the youngest athlete (12) to attend an Olympic Trials, ever.

After leaving Lake Oswego, Coley was appointed Head Coach at the prestigious Phoenix Swim Club where his team won the 2012 sectional title and recently finished in the top 20 at Short Course Nationals. At Phoenix, Coley has coached international sprint superstar Roland Schoelman (the current world record holder in the 50 meter freestyle) and a large group of post-grad swimmers. This past summer, Coley had nine swimmers at Olympic Trials and once again, the youngest swimmer in the meet (13). Known for his unique style of coaching, Coley has worked with some of the world's best swimmers including, Jessica Hardy, World Record holder, Noriko Inada, Olympic Finalist, Japan; Yulia Effimova, World Champion, Olympic Bronze Medal, Russia; Andrii Nikishenko, National Champion, UKR; Alex Lendrum, Olympic Trials Semi-Finalist, USA. Recognized by the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) as the 2007 age-group coach of the year, Coley is a ASCA Level 5 Coach.

When asked about his future with Canyons, Stickels responded, “I am very excited to be joining Canyons and look forward to continuing the club's tradition of excellence as well as building strong relationships with swimmers, parents, and staff. My goal is to help each swimmer reach and exceed their full potential and build positive team dynamics for years to come.”

Mark Osowski, President of Canyons Board of Directors comments, “This was an extensive and exhaustive job search. The Selection Committee is excited to have chosen a Head Coach whose accomplishments and work ethic will compliment the great group of coaches we already have on staff. Our future looks great.” Coley is expected to be on deck by December 28th.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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