Coaches
Coach Santowski joined the Berkmar Swim & Dive Coaching Staff in 2015. She has served as a head coach in the Atlanta Swim League for 18 years. She has coached numerous teams throughout her coaching career. She is a certified special education teacher with her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction as well. Currently, she teaches an ASD 3 class at Berkmar High School. She is the head coach for Berkmar's cross country and tennis team as well. In addition to teaching, she previously was the head coach of the Alpharetta High School swim team , Windward swim team, and an age group coach at Dynamo Swim Club.
She extremely excited about helping your child expand their understanding of the great sport of SWIMMING/DIVING! As their coach, her first emphasis will be on what she calls FUNdamentals. She will work with your child to further develop their fundamental skills and hopefully we will have a lot of FUN learning together. She believes that kids gain confidence and a love for the sport through positive feedback from parents, coaches, and other athletes . Skill level develops at different rates for athletes, but effort and having fun can always be achieved. She tries to always provide positive feedback for effort. She believes in trying to make practices as fun and entertaining for the athletes as possible, while providing the practice and instruction that they need to improve. She has discovered that athletes expect and respond to well structured and organized practices. Competition is an important element of any sport and as athletes grow they naturally become more competitive. She doesn't talk to the athletes about "needing to win a meet" or "how important it is that we win". She feels her role and that of the parents is helping the athletes develop the ability to deal with competition in a healthy way. Effort and attitude is heroics. If we can achieve that, then chances are we'll win the number of meets that we are capable of winning.
Tim Vander Wood
Feel free to reach out if there is anything else I can do to help!
Email: [email protected]
Melinda Heaton
Email: [email protected]
Coach Quinn
Coach Quinn is a proud graduate of Paul Duke STEM High School, in Norcross, GA, where she was part of the first graduating class. In high school she competed as a swimmer and diver at private school prior to attending Paul Duke. Due to Paul Duke not being able to offer sports at the time she was there, she trained and competed for Spartans Aquatic Club and Georgia Diving Club before moving to college and competing at Sewanee. Throughout her time at Paul Duke, Quinn joined theater, DECA, Mock Trial, and was an ambassador of the school. Prior to being a diver, Quinn swam for Thunderbolts swim team and was a gymnast at Ultimate Gymnastics. Quinn also coaches summer league diving at Dunwoody Country Club. She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in History Education from Kennesaw State University (Hooty Hoo). She is a teacher at New Life Academy of Excellence for 6th grade social studies. This is her third year coaching for North Gwinnett and Berkmar. When she is not on a pool deck or at school, Quinn enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and watching stand-up comedy and Formula 1 racing. Email: [email protected]
Coach Quinn
Coach Quinn is a proud graduate of Paul Duke STEM High School, in Norcross, GA, where she was part of the first graduating class. In high school she competed as a swimmer and diver at private school prior to attending Paul Duke. Due to Paul Duke not being able to offer sports at the time she was there, she trained and competed for Spartans Aquatic Club and Georgia Diving Club before moving to college and competing at Sewanee. Throughout her time at Paul Duke, Quinn joined theater, DECA, Mock Trial, and was an ambassador of the school. Prior to being a diver, Quinn swam for Thunderbolts swim team and was a gymnast at Ultimate Gymnastics. Quinn also coaches summer league diving at Dunwoody Country Club. She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in History Education from Kennesaw State University (Hooty Hoo). She is a teacher at New Life Academy of Excellence for 6th grade social studies. This is her third year coaching for North Gwinnett and Berkmar. When she is not on a pool deck or at school, Quinn enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and watching stand-up comedy and Formula 1 racing. Email: quinn.watch@gcpsk12.org
