Seattle Synchro


	meet our Coaches...

A huge part of our success in 2006/2007...

...and here are our coaches for 2007 - 2008!!

Julie began her training as an ice skater, where she both skated and then coached for four years. She also trained for more than 10 years in both ballet and dance.

Julie has been a synchronized swimming coach with Riverside AQuettes for the past six years. She first assisted at the 12/13 level and then assisted RAQ’s Junior A and B teams, specializing in figures.

In 2005 Julie coached RAQ’s Age Group swimmers to gold at the National Age Group Championships, with her girls taking first place in 16/17 Team and Duet, and first place in 14/15 Solo, Trio and Figures.

Julie is the wife of Eric Abel and the mother of 4 children, including 2008 Olympic Team member, Brooke Abel. Julie has a love of both coaching kids of all ages and for the sport of synchronized swimming.

Julie Abel

HEAD COACH

Junior/Senior

Elly is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She started her synchro career with Peach State Synchro in Atlanta (for 5 years) and then headed off to college at the University of Washington and swam with Husky Synchro for two years while at the UW.

She is now our Team Director, in charge of all the little details that go on behind (and in front of) the scene. She currently works for the city of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. She is also a talented coach and will be there to help out in that capacity if needed.

Elly Beerman

Team Director

Yuki began her coaching career in 1978 in Osaka Japan. She coached at Hamadera Swimming School until she moved to Seattle in 1982. She has been coaching Seattle swimmers at all different levels and stages (11 and under to Jr./Sr.) for 14 years.

As a swimmer, Yuki swam for 10 years for Hamadera School and was six time national champion in team and competed in the I-IV Pan Pacific Games representing Japan.

Yuki is a certified Level II U.S.S.S. coach, and a Level II U.S.S.S. judge. Yuki has two daughters who swam for Seattle and then moved on to swim in college - Mari swam for Stanford and Sachi for Incarnate Word. In addition Sachi was a member of US National Team II.

In 2006 Yuki was named the United States Age Group Coach of the Year - a very great honor, and our girls are so lucky to have her!!

Yuki Maekawa

2006 U.S. Age Group Coach of the Year

Age Group

Picture coming soon

This is Rachel’s first year returning to Seattle Synchro after living in Southern California for six years. Rachel swam for Seattle Aqua Club and Seattle Synchro from 1991-2001. After that she was an assistant coach for the Riverside AQuettes 12-13 team from 2002-2006.

Rachel graduated from the University of Redlands in 2004 with a double major in Business Administration and Economics. She currently works in investment banking.

Rachel Walton

Junior/Senior

Tiffani was a synchro swimmer for nine years from 1993-2002, with the last three years being with Seattle Synchro. She coached the 14 & over team for the 2005-2006 season, then moved to New York City in August 2006 to spend her last year of college at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She's very happy to be back home and coaching the juniors again.

Tiffani graduated in June 2007 from Seattle Pacific University and now works at Volt Technical Resources in Redmond.

Tiffani Bendick

Juniors

Aleksandra has been a synchronized swimmer for 12 years, beginning her career at age nine in Serbia. After she and her family moved to the USA she joined Seattle Synchro. During her time with Seattle Synchro she competed at numerous national meets, placing in the top eight every year. Unable to represent the USA at Junior Worlds due to her citizenship status at the time, she represented her home country of Serbia at two Junior World Championships. As a Senior athlete (after Juniors), she continued to rank in the top 25 athletes in the USA.

After attending UW for 3 years as a Communication major, she transferred to the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas on an athletic scholarship. She swam synchro for the Cardinals and was coached by Kim Wurzel LoPorto, a USA Synchro Olympian in 2000. While at Incarnate Word she was part of the 3rd ranked collegiate team in the nation. Upon graduating and completing her Communications degree, she moved back home to Seattle and is now a proud coach of her amazing 13-15 team.

Aleksandra Lazovic

Age Group

Lacey started synchronized swimming in 1993 at the age of 9 on the Tacoma Synchronized Swim Team. She moved to Seattle Synchro at 14 and swam for 5 more years. While competing with Seattle Synchro she competed at national meets such as Junior & Senior Nationals, Age Group Nationals and US Opens. She also swam for Husky Synchro at the UW from 2002 to 2004 and competed in Collegiate Nationals - AND competed in the Duet Olympic Trials in 2003. Lacey was an assistant coach for Seattle in 2004 for the Intermediate team.

Lacey moved to Hawaii for 3 years after getting married in 2004. She finished her degree in Psychology at the University of Hawaii and moved back to Seattle in July of 2007. She is really excited to be back home and involved with Seattle Synchro once again.

Lacey Ethier

Juniors

Picture coming soon

Cherity Smythe

Intermediate

Meredith swam with the San Francisco Merionettes for 11 years, from 1992 – 2002, competing in four Age Group Nationals and two US Opens including a 3rd place team finish in the 2001 US Age Group Nationals.

After finishing high school, Meredith attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY where she majored in Aeronautical and Mechanical engineering, and coached for the Albany Capital District Sculpins, working with beginners and 12-13 and 14 & over intermediate teams.

Meredith moved to the Puget Sound in 2006 to take a job with Boeing in Product Development Aerodynamics. Recently she has been swimming with the Kaleidoscopes Masters synchro team and getting more involved with her other interests; skiing and rock climbing. She's looking forward to coaching our up and coming synchro stars!

Meredith Anderson

Novice

This is Kelly's 4th year coaching Seattle Synchro. She swam for Seattle Aqua Club from 1985-1996 before going to Linfield College in Oregon. Kelly competed on the national level with the college's swim team and then graduated from Linfield with a BA in Exercise Science and Psychology in 2000.

She lived in Siberia for a year, got married in December of 2001 to her husband, Keith, and then moved back to Seattle in 2004. Keith and Kelly have a son, Koen, born in the spring of 2006, and work in ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ on college campuses in the Seattle area.

Kelly also enjoys swimming with the Seattle Cascades masters synchronized swim team.

Kelly Eckert

All Levels

Joy is originally from Fort Collins, CO where she began her synchro career at the age of 7. After swimming with the Village Green summer synchro team for 7 years, she joined the Alpine Angelfish in Boulder. For the next four years she competed in Age Groups, Junior and Senior Nationals. During that time she returned to coach the Village Green synchro team for 4 consecutive years and helped start a year round team in Fort Collins, the Norco Orcas, with whom she competed for her final year of synchro.

Joy attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and competed on their nationally ranked water polo team for 3 years. Graduating in 2006 with a degree in Chinese and Art History, she moved out to the northwest to assist a Chinese art curator in research for an upcoming art exhibition. She is excited to be back in the synchro world and to be coaching the talented intermediate I team!

Joy Bloser

Intermediate

Elly, Julie, Yuki and Rachel

Julie A, Elly, Julie B, Yuki

Back to the top