Our Instructors

Katherine was a true competitive swimmer! She comes from a family of All American swimmers, having trained at Germantown Academy Aquatic Club and LESD & Hawken School swimming programs. Starting at age 6, she swam competitively through her first year of college at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, qualifying for states 2 years in high school. She grew up as a certified lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor and continued to teach swim lessons throughout her years as a stay at home mom & freelance artist. Her experience includes:

• BA in Fine Arts, Miami of Ohio
• Aquatics Manager, Fanny Chapman Swimming Pools
• Aquatics Instructor, Bucks County YMCA

Katherine’s main philosophy for teaching swimming is that it must be FUN! She uses play when teaching children and meaningful analogies with adults to make swimmers feel comfortable and to develop trust. Once swimmers are comfortable with her and the water, stroke instruction can begin. Katherine wants her swimmers to learn invaluable water skills, as well as enjoy swimming throughout their lives.

She finds joy in spending time with her husband, family and friends, doing photography, gardening, hiking & being creative. Much of her time is spent now following her children in their college competitive sports and musical activities, and teaching new swimmers her love of the sport!

Maggie grew up in Lansdale, swimming on the Highpoint Athletic Club’s summer swim team from ages 6-16 years old. She began teaching swim lessons at age 15 and has taught swimming off and on for over 20 years! She enjoys working with all ages and abilities.

Maggie has 13 years of experience teaching elementary school grades K-8, and has added teaching yoga to her busy schedule.

She has a daughter Irene who is starting to drive, which will be so helpful when she can start running errands😊. They have a dog named Eight (because he loves running figure-eights). In their spare time they love hiking and watching movies together.

Melissa grew up in Montgomery County playing and coaching field hockey. She went to Catholic University and played varsity field hockey for the school. She has a BS in Psychology and worked all throughout college as a swim instructor and lifeguard.

She has diverse work experience in the fields of school counseling, a one-on-one for children with special needs and a mobile family therapist. She has two beautiful children, one with special needs.

If she has any spare time, she likes to workout, shop, hang out with friends, and enjoy going to the beach.

Claire grew up in Ohio and always enjoyed swimming. She was a lifeguard for four summers at a camp in Minnesota. She’s been teaching swimming for over five years.

Claire also teaches French and previously worked in the environmental sector (water quality, and sediment and erosion control). In her free time she likes to cook, read, travel, play tennis, explore and tries her hand at new things.

Rachel grew up in northeast Philadelphia, and later moved to lower Montgomery County. She started swimming competitively at age eight, training with Somerton Sharks Swim Team, Stormchasers Swimming and Lower Moreland Swimming and Diving. At age 14 she started coaching competitive swimming, and at age 15 she started lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons. In 2019 she began coaching for the Special Olympics.

Rachel is a full-time honors student at West Chester University where she is studying Political Science. She plans to attend law school upon graduation. In her free time, she enjoys being with her family and dog, baking, cooking and finding the worlds best coffee.

Jessica grew up in Bucks County and swam for Council Rock and in college at Slippery Rock University. She also played water polo at SRU! She has her BS in Sports Management and Physical Education. She taught and coached swimming during her high school and college years.

Jessica has had many fun jobs over the years – flight attendant, waitressing and an orthodontic assistant for 20+ years.

She has two children who are both competitive swimmers, so her children are following in her footsteps. In her spare time, she likes to workout, walk her dog, staying active and traveling with friends and family. She wants her swimmers to be positive and seeig the good in being a swimmer!

Sophia is originally from the San Diego California area and now attends school at Hatboro Horsham High School. She started swimming as a baby and continued swimming on the Rancho San Dieguito swim team until moving to Montgomery County in 2020. We were so lucky to find her as an instructor through her brother taking lessons at KSS.

In her spare time, Sophia enjoys acting, video editing, playing with her dog Jasper and being with friends and family.

Laura grew up in Bucks County, and swam for her local swim team and CB South. She has been teaching swimming for over 15 years, and coached for USA Swimming for over 10 years. She currently works in data acquisition for the pharmaceutical industry.

In her spare time, Laura enjoys doing yoga and working on home projects.

Faith grew up in Bucks County, enjoying swimming in the summers with her friends at Menlo Park. She completed her BS in Education and French at Colgate University, moving back to Bucks County in 2022.

Faith has years of experience teaching young children how to swim. She loves working with the younger children, and wants to share her love of learning and the water. Her motto when teaching is “whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.”

In her spare time, Faith enjoys walking her dog, reading a good book and playing the piano.

Jade is a Montgomery County resident and proud mother of 2 young ISR graduates. After watching her own children become skilled swimmers, a passion for ISR, water safety and drowning prevention was born. Formerly an elementary school teacher, she trained in 2019 and is now a certified ISR Instructor working to aid in the mission that “not one more child drowns”.

When not teaching Self-Rescue, she enjoys the beach, traveling, biking, camping, kayaking, and volunteering in her children’s schools.

Courtney was born and raised in Doylestown PA and currently attends Penn State University studying Elementary Education. She started in the aquatics world as a swim instructor when she was 14, and progressed to leading the group swim lessons in the summers at Fanny Chapman Swimming Pools with her older brother Spencer).

If she has any spare time, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

Emma was born and raised in Telford PA and is a student at MCCC. She has been teaching swim lessons for six years and a lifeguard for four year at camps and at the Indian Valley YMCA. For Emma, it’s always safety first, but encourages swimmers to really enjoy the process of learning.

Emma has a younger sister, two cats and a dog. In her spare time, she enjoys music, singing and crocheting.

Molly grew up in Morrisville PA and is currently a student at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown studying Small Animal Science. At home she is the middle of three children, with an older and younger brother.

Molly joins KickSmart Swimming with 3+ years of experience teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding at the Fairless Hills YMCA and North Wildwood Beach Patrol.