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!

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.

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.

Emma grew up in Doylestown, swimming competitively year round and spending her summers
teaching swim lessons at Fanny Chapman. She now attends Boston University, where she’s
studying Psychology and Behavior & Health, with plans to pursue nursing post-grad. She loves
working with kids, and is passionate about teaching swimming skills and water safety in a fun
way! In her free time, Emma enjoys being in nature, listening to music, and spending time with
her family and dog

Kaylin started swimming competitively when she was seven, training with several teams in the Bucks County area. She has been teaching swim lessons for more than five years. Most recently, she started her first season as an assistant coach for the Warrington Swim Team and has also become a member of the executive board for her club swim team at college!

Kaylin is currently studying health sciences and occupational therapy at James Madison University. When she’s not by the poolside, you can find her enjoying the outdoors or traveling to new places!

Emma was raised in the Warminster area. She moved to Horsham and now goes to school at Gwynedd Mercy High School. She has been swimming competitively since the young age of 7! Emma has swum for Hatboro-Horsham, Warrington swim team, Nor-Gwyn swim team, and currently swims for Gwynedd Mercy.  

In her free time, she loves playing with her 4 siblings and swimming. She loves spending time with family members. She enjoys playing with pets and being outside.

Kristen swam competitively through college at East Stroudsburg University. She specialized in breaststroke and freestyle middle distances, and has taught swimming ever since! She has years of experience teaching people of all ages not only in swimming, but in many different recreational and competitive sports. She taught elementary school physical education for 11 years, and has been a certified athletic trainer for over 20 years for middle school and collegiate athletes. 

When she is not with her husband and daughter, she loves to exercise – especially yoga and hiking!

Ashley was born and raised in Philadelphia. She comes to KickSmart with years of experience working with children and in the aquatics industry. She started working with people who have special needs as a residential skills trainer before moving to the Greater Philadelphia YMCA as a before and after care provider. She progressed into their aquatic department as a lifeguard and teaches group and private swim lessons as a special abilities swim instructor.

Ashley has a daughter and helps raise her step-son. If she has any spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children, creative writing, singing vocals and reading. Her aquatic motto is “just keep swimming” like Dory in the movie Finding Dory.

Jordan grew up in Bucks County and has enjoyed swimming since he was a young boy. He completed his BS in Computer Science at University of Rochester in 2022. After graduating, he used his coding skills to build a website for local dog rescue, Tiny Miracles Rescue.

Jordan is passionate about making a positive impact on the world, and he enjoys working with animals and children. When teaching, Jordan’s top priorities are safety, learning, and fun.

In his spare time, Jordan enjoys playing guitar, listening to the Beatles, and watching The Office.