My Team

Nichole Gaines – Head Coach

I have been coaching Brooke Corrigan since 2015.  I can say that not only does Brooke shine in competition, but she shines in practice, as well as, most importantly, as a person. If I had to describe Brooke as a person, I would say she is humble, driven, loyal, ambitious, resilient, kind, easy going and self-disciplined. If I had to describe her training habits, I would say she is a hard worker, well balanced, goal oriented, technique driven, pays attention to details and has a great overall knowledge and feel for the water. It has been my pleasure to work with Brooke over the years and help develop her into the physically and mentally strong person she is continually becoming.

Brooke is highly coachable! She has no problem working outside her comfort zone and she is focused on making herself the best well-rounded swimmer she can be. In training, she shows up no matter what! Brooke gives relentless effort. As her coach, I never have to coach her effort. She knows she cannot control many things that will happen during her swim season, but she knows she can control how hard she works and that the only way to get better is to give her maximum effort. One of the most important attributes Brooke displays is mental strength. She has discipline, focus, confidence, and a good work ethic. This not only makes her better, but her effort pushes her teammates to get better as well. Brooke holds herself accountable and she has high standards. She is a good motivator in the sense that she makes those around her better because her work ethic is so inspiring. By always working hard to improve her swimming, she motivates her teammates and inspires them to improve, making our team better than it was the day before. She is always eager for feedback and then takes it back to the pool.

Brooke puts countless hours of work in the pool with training and competition and outside of the pool with academics and strength and conditioning to strive for greatness and become the best version of herself possible.

Will Zerey – Assistant Coach

I have been coaching Brooke for about 6 years now. When we started working together, she was a very talented young swimmer that was placing well as a 50 free swimmer. As the time went by, she started to realize she could be a lot more than just a sprinter. She has committed to becoming a better all around swimmer and to put in the work and grind that is required from elite athletes. The conversations evolved from “you have to swim fast” to specific techniques pointers, such as angles of dives and under waters. Her ability to assimilate high-end information has made her not only a better sprinter, but a breast stroker and more recently an emerging IM swimmer as well. The dedication Brooke shows day in and day out in practice as well as the desire to learn and to be challenged makes her a joy to coach. She has pushed me to become a better coach, as I have to keep evolving to make sure I can provide the kind of feedback and coaching she needs. I have been very fortunate to be a small part on her swimming career and hope to see many more great things from her in the future.