About Shaker Swimming

Meet the Coaches

Eric Peterson

Eric is entering his ninth year with the Shaker program. He is the head coach for the Shaker Heights High School program. He was the Lake Erie League coach of the year from 2002 - 2010. Eric graduated from Kent State University. Prior to coming to Shaker, Eric was the head coach for the Kent Roosevelt High School team and the Western Reserve Seariders. Eric has served as the head counselor for Richard Quick and Skip Kenney's National Stanford University Swim Camp. Currently, Eric is a swim instructor at Woodbury Elementary School.

Rob Fellinger

Rob was an All-American Hawken High School swimmer and an All-American swimmer at Ohio Wesleyan. Rob has a master's degree in Education. Rob coached the Shaker Sharks and High School swimmers for eleven years. For seven years, he taught in Shaker as an elementary school teacher. Rob will be working with the youth and high school Sharks. Rob will also be co-director of the Shaker Sharks this year.

Brendan Pham

Brendan has been with the Shaker Sharks since its inception twenty three years ago. He is a graduate of Cleveland State University. Brendan will work with the youth sharks and Middle School swim team throughout the year.

Bryan Wamsley

Bryan (seventh year as a shark coach) swam with the Shaker Sharks from 1988 through 1997. Bryan was an All-American Shaker High School swimmer. Bryan graduated from Princeton University in 2001. He also holds a master's degree in Education from John Carroll University. Bryan was a 2007 and 2008 Lake Erie Zone Coach. For the past five years, Bryan has been a teacher at Hawken Lower School. Bryan also developed and continues to run the Shaker Swimming website. He is the head coach of the Select Youth program.

Grace DuGar

This is Grace's third year with the Sharks. She is a graduate of Denison University. Grace was a four year member of the Cleveland Heights High School Varsity Swim Team. Grace will be working with the youth Sharks again this season.

Irena Mazi

Irena is in her second year with the Shaker Sharks. Her coaching experience began at Cleveland State University as the Assistant Women's Swimming Coach for three years. Irena was the head coach of the Willoughby South and Eastlake North Swim teams where she was named the Premier Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005. She has also been an assistant coach at Westlake High School and Saint Ignatius. Irena holds master's degrees in Sports Management from Cleveland State and in Education from Ursuline College. She is currently a 9th grade science teacher in Willoughby-Eastlake Schools. Irena will be working with the select youth and high school swimmers.

Mike Larsen

This is Mike's second year with the Sharks. Mike was a four year member of the Cleveland Heights High School Varsity Swim Team where he earned All Lake Erie League Honors in 2001. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Ohio University in 2007, and recently received his teaching license in Middle and High School Language Arts from Cleveland State University. Mike will be working with the Select Youth and High School swimmers.

Melissa Heiss

This is Melissa's second year with the Sharks. She has been a swim instructor at Cleveland State University and pool director for the Willowick City Pool. She is a Junior at CSU studying Special Education.

Jesse Lewis

Jesse Lewis is entering his first year with Shaker Swimming. He is a 2005 graduate from Walsh Jesuit High School. In 2009 he graduated from Saint Lewis University where he studied history, theology, and philosophy. Jesse swam and set records at both Walsh Jesuit High School and St. Louis University. Jesse's experience in coaching includes Hudson Explorers Aquatic Team, Chagrin Valley Country Club, and The Country Club. Jesse's interest include classic rock, all-you-can-eat buffets, and the Green Bay Packers.

Sarah Tobin

This is Sarah's twelfth year with the Sharks. Sarah was the head coach at Cleveland Heights High School and Notre Dame Cathedral Latin. Also, Sarah was the swim coach at Forest Hill Swim Club. Sarah manages the Sharks; she takes care of all the fees and paper work for the Shaker swimming program. Currently, Sarah is a swim instructor at Woodbury Elementary School and is the pool manager for the City of Mayfield Heights in the summer.

Ernest Welsch

Mr. Welsch founded and co-directs the Shaker Sharks Swimming Program. He is a graduate from Temple Universtiy, Penn State and Cleveland State University with a variety of degrees in recreation, health, physical education and exercise physiology. Welsch, the head Shaker High School Swimming Coach from 1982 to 2002, was voted Northeast Ohio Women's or Men's High School Swimming Coach of the Year ten times. Mr. Welsch was also voted State High School Coach of the year for women in 1995 and for men in 1998. Mr. Welsch was inducted into The Ohio High School Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005. "King" Welsch has been teaching Physical Education in the Shaker School District for thirty one years.