Britta Wyatt-Head Coach, Executive Director
Britta Wyatt grew up in Ventura, California, and started coaching in 2001 for the Ventura Family YMCA Swim Team. In 2002, she moved to Eugene, Oregon, and immediately began coaching with the Eugene Family YMCA Swim Team. That team eventually merged with other teams in the area and formed TEAM Eugene Aquatics. Britta started as the 10&U coach and eventually coached every age group at one time or another. She became the TEAM office manager in 2009, and then became the Executive Director in 2017. When she first started, the TEAM had just under 80 swimmers and used one 4 lane pool.  The TEAM grew to 200 swimmers by 2017.and had then moved into 3 pools.  Between 2017 and today, the team has grown to over 800 swimmers, training out of 7 different pool locations, with a staff of 19 coaches. 
 
Britta specializes in coaching all age groups, marketing, non-profit management, board development, grant writing, workforce development, staff organization and development, organizational growth, and increasing access to aquatics.  Her passion for understanding how to work with youth led her to earn a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and her master's in Early Childhood Education. 
 
Britta and her husband Jason have been married for over 22 years, and have two children. Her son is in high school and swims for TEAM Eugene, and her daughter is a D-1 rower for Oregon State University, majoring in Computer Science. In her free time, Britta enjoys cooking and running. 
Chas Esping-Director of Operations, Lead Senior Blue Coach

Coach Chas is a native Oregonian, born in Portland. He first discovered his love of swimming while living in McMinnville. There he joined his first club swim team. He loved swimming so much that he started lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons, and coaching summer swim teams. Coach Chas attended Western Oregon University and during that time he started coaching for the local swim club in Salem and was the Head Coach for Sprague High School Swim Team. After graduating college, he then went on an adventure to Austin Texas where he worked outside in conservation and wildfire mitigation.  Coach Chas lives in Eugene with his wife Caitlin and daughter Mo.

Sarah Walters-Wall-Director of Finance and Personnel & 9-10 Blue Lead Coach

Sarah has been coaching for over 15 years and has spent 6 years coaching with TEAM. She has a background in education, psychology, and an MA in Teaching. She is deeply committed to finding all potential athletes a place in this sport and is passionate about inclusive and diversified coaching.

When Sarah's not focusing on things that make TEAM run smoothly, she likes eating good food, reading, waterfall hikes, and spending time with her friends and family. 

Sarah Keim-Head Development Coach, 11-12 Blue Coach, 7-8 Blue Coach,.

Coach Sarah has been coaching since 2015 and taught swim lessons before that from 2013-2015. Getting swimmers excited about this sport is her passion. She’s worked with beginners to state champions and has seen the most success when they are having fun.

Sebastian Pinger 13-14 Grey Coach, Strength Coach

I was involved in swimming from a very young age. Both of my parents and my two older sisters were division I college swimmers. I swam up until I was 11 years old and then I ran cross country and track and field competitively through middle and high school. Currently, I have fallen back in love with swimming and have been swimming masters the last couple of years. I have coached swimming at Lakeridge High School and Legacy Aquatics. I am also an NASM certified personal trainer. I am excited about all types of athletics and when I'm not exercising I'm probably recreating outside or spending time with friends.

Coach Aaron - 9-10 Grey Coach, Junior Varsity Coach

Aaron’s love for swimming started early, diving into the sport as a competitive age-group swimmer. In 2022, he joined TEAM as a Green group assistant coach. Now, as the lead coach for the competitive 9-10 Grey group and the emerging Junior Varsity group, he thrives on helping young athletes grow in and out of the pool.

Beyond coaching, Aaron is pursuing a degree in psychology and counseling at Bushnell University, bringing a deeper understanding of motivation and mindset to his swimmers. When he’s not on deck, you’ll likely find him lifting weights or fine-tuning his car, pushing for peak performance, whether in the gym, garage, or pool.

Miriam Clark - 11-12 Grey Coach

Miriam started swimming when she was five years old and has had a lifelong love of the sport. She's taught swimming lessons, coached in various capacities (including high schools, middle school, and neighborhood swim teams), and has a passion for water safety. She currently works as a researcher at the Oregon Social Learning Center where one line of her research focuses on drowning prevention. Miriam's favorite thing about coaching is helping kids find a love of the sport, learn to set goals and work hard, and show positive sportsmanship. She believes each swimmer deserves to feel like they belong on the team and she wants to make it fun for everyone! Aside from swimming, Miriam loves hiking, reading, and hanging out with her husband and three girls!

Wes Becherer- 13-14 Blue Coach, Masters Coach, Equipment Manager

Wes Becherer is from Roseburg, Oregon, where he swam most of his childhood for the RYST. He is returning to TEAM after a two-year break to pursue an education in Arkansas. Wes is also a musician and can be heard performing with the Eugene Ballet in the orchestra pit. He is very interested in how athletics and arts can work hand in hand to promote positive development in students.

Taylor Cole-Masters Coach, Green Group Coach

Coach Taylor has been coaching in his two hometowns Eugene and Springfield since 2006. Taylor brings a breadth of competitive aquatic experience, having coached at the age group and collegiate level.  His passion for the water started long before his introduction to a pool. Raised in Oregon he spent most of his summers on family rafting trips. When not on deck, you can find him cruising on his boat through the beautiful Oregon creeks and rivers.

Charlize Her - Assistant Coach

I have swam competitively for 10 years. I swam for the Minnesota White Bear YMCA Mariners, then transitioned to my high school team, the North St. Paul Polars Swim and Dive. After I graduated, I volunteered to be a swim manager for the girls and boys swim team at North. I realized in that time I still wanted to be connected to swimming and it's community. I decided to start coaching at the Minnesota Jewish Community Center is St. Paul for the U.S Master's Program there. As I started working there more, I became a assistant coach for our swim team, the Minnesota JCC Stingrays. Teaching people of any age how to swim always gives me gratitude as well as feeling like I've made a difference in the swimming community. I had two great coaches, and what they've taught me - I want to pass on to other kids that were my age and struggling.

Dan Sauter-Senior Varsity Coach

After a long break while his kids were growing up, Dan returned to coaching in 2021. Previously he was an assistant coach with the Boise YMCA swim Team from 1993-1998

Emily Puleio - Echo Lead Coach

Emily move to Oregon from Maine in 2016 and immediately engaged with the Eugene swim community. She began swimming competitively at the age of 4. She grew up working in the aquatic field, starting a summer Rec League and directing a successful swim lessons program for several years. Emily swam as a scholarship Division I athlete at the University of Maine. She competed at national levels, zones, NCAAs, America East and more! Emily has her bachelors degrees in Studio Art and Sociology and a Masters in Social Work.

Most recently Emily coached for 10 years with Emerald Aquatics, as Head Coach for the last 2 years. She also represents Willamette High School, as their Head Coach. Emily spent 3 seasons as University of Oregon's College Club Swimming Head Coach. Her passion for the sport has driven her to make a career near the pool. Emily is eager for this next chapter of coaching and leads with a mindset that swimming happens in and out of the water, with both mind and body working together. She has two young children and enjoys spending her spare time outdoors and reading.
Jennifer Thompson - Assistant Coach

Jennifer has been coaching here in Eugene for 25 years. She has worked with all ages of swimmers, but most recently has focused on elementary aged youth. She has been a lifelong swimmer herself, still enjoying a good workout with master swimmers. Sharing her love of swimming and helping others improve their technique are her favorite aspects of coaching. She has two sons who swam competitively through college. Outside of swimming she earned a BS in Chemistry, working in that field before becoming a coach. She likes to read, do jigsaw puzzles, logic games like sudoku, and spend time with family.

Emma Lee - Assistant Coach
Emma was born and raised on the East coast and moved to Oregon to pursue her studies at the University of Oregon. Being in the water from a young age, she was a USA swimmer for 15 years competing at a national level, eventually moved to being a coach. With a background in swim, dance, CrossFit, being a CPT and weightlifting she is a well-rounded athlete. 
 
Currently she is an Olympic Weightlifter with the UO and Eugene Weightlifting. Throughout her adult life, swimming still remains a passion for her and looks forward to working with the team to make swimming a lifelong passion for kids and give back to the sport that gave her so much! 
Reilly Kompaniet - Assistant Coach
Coach Reilly Kompaniet (Pronounced Com-Pan-Yet), was born and mostly raised in Grants Pass, Oregon. After finding the sport of swimming relatively late in childhood, he quickly developed a love for the water and spent as much time as possible around the pool. In addition to swimming in high school and college, he has worked previously as a swim coach, lifeguard, and taught swim lessons. After taking some years away from the pool to focus on school and starting his career, he has reignited his love for the sport after joining TEAM’s Masters program where he competes regularly. 
 
Outside of coaching and swimming, Reilly works full-time as an Associate Director, Healthcare Economics at Optum, focusing on forecasting revenue for Optum’s Care Delivery Organizations. In his free time he loves hiking, reading, going to the movies, and spending time with his wife and their two cats.
Megan Oesting - Technical Advisor

Megan is an ASCA Level 5 coach,a member of the ASCA Board of Directors since 2020, and a member of the TritonWear Elite Advisory Board.  

Megan grew up in Seattle, Washington winning multiple Junior National titles and going on to represent Team USA internationally on the Junior and Senior National Teams.  She swam at UCLA being voted “hardest worker,” earning All-American honors, and ending her career ranked 18th in the world earning a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.  

Megan was a 2018 finalist for the ASCA National Age Group Coach of the Year award and went on to win the award in 2019 while coaching the Eastern Iowa Swimming Federation where her team broke over 30 state records and posted over 25 Top 100 All-Time National age group rankings.  She also owned and operated SwimFastIowa, a private lessons business in her Endless Pool studio serving clients from all over the midwest.   

Megan appears in USA Swimming’s Foundations of Coaching 101/201 coaching education videos, and ASCA Educational materials for levels 1-3, and has been featured in Swimming World Magazine and SwimSwam postcasts multiple times. She was selected as the Head Coach of the 2019 USA Swimming Southern Zone Select Camp in Louisville, KY, assisted at the USA Swimming Leadership Summit Camp in 2019, and assisted at the 2018 USA Swimming National Girls Select Camp at the Olympic Training Center.  

Megan serves as a speaker at national coaching conferences including the ASCA World Clinic and regional clinics in California, Indiana and Texas. She is a part of the USA Swimming Women’s leadership conference, the National Team Coaches Conference and an active member of the USA Swimming National Team Alumni Association. Her goal in coaching is to offer the highest level of teaching and programming in order to empower swimmers to build trust in themselves and confidence in their abilities so they can take their success as far as they dream.    

Megan has a B.S. in Applied Math with a minor in Computer Science, an M.A. in Psychometrics, and is a certified Newfield Network Life Coach.

David Berkoff-Coach/Clinics Coach/Advisor

Coach Dave swam collegiately at Harvard with Joe Bernal where he pioneered the “Berkoff Blastoff”

underwater start that revolutionized swimming. Dave’s efforts led to four American and NCAA records and two NCAA Division I titles in the 100-yard backstroke. In 1988, Coach Dave set three world records in the 100-meter back and became the first swimmer to break 55 seconds. Dave won gold and silver medals in the 400-meter medley relay and 100-meter backstroke at the Seoul, South Korea Olympic Games for the USA. Dave returned to his Philadelphia roots in 1990 and began training with Dick Shoulberg and an international cast of pro swimmers for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Dave broke 55 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke three more times in 1992, winning bronze in the 100 back and gold in the 400-medley relay for Team USA. Dave retired from swimming in 1992 and served as a USA-Swimming Athlete Representative and Board of Directors member through 1993 when he moved to Montana.

 

Dave began coaching for the Missoula Aquatic Club in 1993 and served as the team’s Head Coach from 2008 to 2018. In those ten years, Coach Dave led MAC swimmers to hundreds of team records, dozens of Montana LSC records, numerous Montana LSC short course and long course State Championship Team titles, a half dozen Northwest Sectional Top 10 Team finishes, and seven Bronze Medal Club Excellence awards. Dave has coached multiple Junior National and National Finalists and four Olympic Trials Qualifiers. Click HERE for Coach Dave's full Bio

 

Olivia Bachman- Assistant Coach

Olivia Bachman was born and raised in rural Iowa, and her love for swimming began at the age of 7. Olivia has competed in multiple USA Swimming sectional meets and holds school records for her high school. Her coaching career began coaching in 2020. She hopes to share her joy of swimming with the younger generation. She is an ASCA level 2 coach and continues to hone in on opportunities and education that will broaden her skills. She is currently a student at the University of Oregon, where she is earning her degree in advertising with a minor in sports business. When she’s not on a pool deck, you can catch her running on Pre’s Trail or attending a Duck game.