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David Tait - Club Director David Tait has been coaching for the past six years with RIO and has been Head Coach of the RIO Salado Swim Club for over five years. David is an Arizona native and has been involved with the sport since he was seven years old. He trained with The RIO Swim Club during his high school years under Coach Mike Troy. He was a Jr. National, Senior National, and Olympic Trial competitor during his career. David is a graduate from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He enjoys staying physically active and watching good kids swim fast. Coach Tait prides himself on developing the "total athlete". He believes each swimmer has an opportunity to use the sport to learn the skills necessary for a successful life, while having fun and swimming fast at the same time. Physical, mental, emotional, and social traits are all aspects of his philosophy. His goals for the team include developing each athlete at every level in swimming to their greatest potential. He wishes to ensure that swimming maintains a bright and respectable future in the world of sports through the development of new training techniques in order to attain greater and greater levels of human potential. David is passionate about what swimming can do for athletes who apply themselves to excellence and has dedicated a large portion of his life to the expansion and enrichment of the sport.
Michelle Macpherson-Hojnacki started with RIO as an age-group coach in 1994.
She was assistant to the men's and women's division I swimming team at her alma
mater, the University of Cincinnati. She has coached all levels of swimming
from young ones, masters and Olympic trial qualifiers. Michelle
represented Canada in the 1982 Pan American Games, 1983/1987 Commonwealth
Games, 1983/1987 World Championships, 1980/1984 Olympic Trials, 1988 World
Student Games and the 1984 Olympics where she placed in the top 8 for the 100
fly and medaled in the 4 x 100 medley relay.
Chad Bartlett has been coaching for the past 8 years of
his life. He joined the Rio Salado Coaching staff in 2002 and hasn't
looked back since. As an athlete, Chad swam for Rockville Montgomery
Swim Club (RMSC) in the Washington D.C. Metro area. Under coach Rob
Bergholler, Chad became a junior national level breaststroker. Chad went
on to swim at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where he trained breaststroke
and IM. Chad also earned a B.S. degree in Cartography and Geography. Outside the pool, Chad enjoys camping, traveling, snowboarding, white water kayaking, and playing guitar and banjo. Chad has a 5 year old pit bull/lab mix named Clyde that will fetch anything you throw for him. Like his lifestyle, Chad is upbeat, happy and outgoing with the kids he coaches.
Melissa Belote was born on October 16, 1956 in Washington D.C. and grew up in Springfield, Virginia. She has been called one of America's greatest swimmers. Melissa first appeared on the national swimming scene at the age of 12 when she qualified for her first United States National Championship. In 1972, Melissa won both the 100 and 200 meter backstroke at the United States Olympic Trials and set a world record in the 200 meter backstroke. Later that year in Munich, Germany, Melissa led the women's American Swim Team as she won three Gold Medals. She placed first in the 100 meter backstroke, setting an Olympic and American record. She finished first in the 200 meter backstroke setting a World, Olympic, and American record. She also swam the lead off leg on the World, Olympic, and American record setting relay team. In 1973, Melissa continued her dominance when she won the 200 meter backstroke at the World Championships. In 1976, Melissa made her second Olympic team, which competed in Montreal, Canada. Melissa finished fifth in the 200 meter backstroke, setting a new American record. From 1970 to 1979, Melissa won 8 AAU Individual National Championships and was a 16 time AAU All-American. She also won 6 individual National Collegiate Swimming Championships and led her college team, Arizona State University to two National Championships. Melissa was a four-year All-American at Arizona State University. In 1972 and 1973, Melissa was the runner-up for the Sullivan Award, the highest amateur award recognized in the United States. In 1977, she won the Broderick Award as the Outstanding Women's Collegiate Swimmer in America. Melissa is in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the Washington Hall of Stars, the Arizona State University Athletic Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 1999 Melissa was selected to the United States Swimming “Team of the Century,” as well as, Sports Illustrated top 50 athletes from the state of Virginia, and the Arizona Republic Newspapers top 100 Athletes of Arizona. Melissa is married to Richard A. Ripley and they have two children, Rachel Alexandra (15) and Erik Alexander (13). Melissa Belote
Ripley
Trisha VanNatter - Assistant Competitive Team Coach Trisha F. VanNatter otherwise known as Trish the Fish has been involved with the sport of swimming for as long as she can remember. As a child she never left the pool and that didn’t change as she got older. She swam for a club in Texas and continued on in AZ. She swam for Highland High School 2 years, and finished her last 2 years at Gilbert High School. Thru school she worked as a Lifeguard and then moved onto teaching swim lessons for the city and privately. She started coaching in 1996 for Gilbert Parks and Rec. and then went back to life guarding as she started college in 1998. She attended EAC in Thatcher, AZ and started their first swim club ever. She thrives around water and doesn’t know what to do when she is not near it. She served a mission for her church for a year and a half in Venezuela. When she returned it was straight back to the water as she started swimming again. Trisha is a licensed Massage Therapist and loves to work with athletes in taking care of their bodies and preventing injuries. She is big into working muscles the right way and giving them the rest and nutrients they need. As a coach she is constantly telling her kids to drink lots of water and stretch! She started working for Rio Salado just this last year and has loved every second of it. She loves working with our swimmers and is committed to doing whatever they need of her so that they have a good time and achieve success. She loves working one on one with them, and her greatest rewards are the hugs they give her after a swim meet or practice when they worked their best and share their joy with her. Trisha promotes the importance of hard work and really likes to try and motivate the kids so that they enjoy the sport of swimming as much as she does. Trisha says, "the most important lesson that I want to teach to the kids is three fold. First, that our talents are a gift and must be developed thru hard work, patience, and diligence. Second, that the kids are responsible for the success they have in life and swimming. I comes from a large family of six kids and she knows how important it is to feel support from those around you, but also how more important it is to take upon ourselves the responsibility of achieving our success. Nobody is responsible but ourselves for how well we do, and we alone have to work hard so that we can see the fruits of our labors. Third, that as coaches we do everything in our means to help them achieve their success. However, ultimately the kids must understand the great responsibility they have to do their best and perform above and beyond what they think is possible.
Rich Jacobs - McClintock Pre-Competitive Team Coach
Rich Jacobs has participated in swimming since the age
of four and has been dedicated to the sport ever since. He has been coaching
with RIO since 2004. He was the captain of his high school swim team his
senior year and took 1st place at the Washington State Championship
in the 100 Freestyle. Rich was a Junior and Senior National Championship
qualifier. He qualified for the Olympic Trails in 2000 in the 400 IM, and in
2001, Rich took 10th place at Senior Nationals in the 400 IM. He
swam and competed at the collegiate level for both the University of
Washington and Arizona State University. At both universities he was involved
in numerous stroke clinics and lessons conducted by the university swim teams
for the communities of the Seattle and Phoenix areas.
Rich enjoys working with children especially in the sport of swimming. He is currently pursuing a second degree at Arizona State University in physical education in order to further his goals with helping children in sports. Rich thrives at the chance to motivate children in athletics, just as he was, in order to help them to achieve personal bests and lifetime memories. Rich lives in Tempe with his dog, Coco. He enjoys cheering for his favorite Seattle sports teams and taking his dog swimming at the lake.
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