Meet
Our Team

Swimming has been a big part of my life – I grew up in the Littleton area swimming at both the summer club level as well as competitively. I started swimming competitively around the age of 12 and swam for Foothills Swim Team excelling in both butterfly and breaststroke events. I lifeguarded and taught swim lessons throughout high school and college. I swam two years at a D1 college (Tulane University) before quitting in order to focus on my academics. I hung up my suit for several years while I started a family. My three children all swam competitively for many years and now that they are grown and in college, I miss being around the pool all of the time. This is why I choose to work at SwimLabs! I also currently work as a statistician at Denver Health full time.

Alex has been coaching swimming since 2009 where he started with his summer league team. In 2013, he started coaching club swimming for the YMCA of Columbia Swim Club, where he worked with all group levels from beginner swimmers to National-level competitors. He also helped start a local Masters program for the YMCA, the Soda City Swarm. During his time in Columbia, he taught group and private lessons to swimmers of all ages and abilities.

Alex started his swimming career for the Jersey Storm Swim Club at 11 years old and continued his journey with Ridge View High School and Clemson's club team. He continued to swim with his fellow Masters Team and has competed in several southeastern meets.

Alex is a swim nerd in and out of the pool, enjoying learning, talking, and applying new techniques in the sport. He believes in teaching the core foundations of each stroke but is most intrigued by figuring out what works best for each swimmer! Outside of swimming, Alex likes anything related to fitness and other sports. He played lacrosse throughout middle school & high school and has participated in a variety of obstacle-course races for the past 8 years. He is extremely excited to be a part of the SwimLabs Team and is ready to help you develop a passion for the sport!

Danny is a 2019 graduate of Regis Jesuit High School and a recent graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he majored in Global Securities and Intelligence. He is currently taking graduate level classes online at MIT while working at SwimLabs. Danny has been very active in sports since he was young. He started swimming for his neighborhood summer club team at age 4 and started swimming competitively at 7 years old. He swam locally for both ACES and Denver Swim Academy. Danny has also played competitive hockey through much of his life. He enjoys working with children and adults teaching them how to swim. 

Mary has been an athlete her entire life. She played softball, basketball and volleyball growing up and then played competitive tennis through high school. In college, she discovered running and shortly thereafter became involved in endurance sports through marathon running and eventually triathlon. Mary has been a marathon and triathlon coach since 2000. She is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach, Ironman certified coach and a Slowtwitch Master Coach and has experience coaching triathlon masters swim programs as well. She loves coaching beginner to intermediate level triathletes for swimming. Her focus is on helping triathletes feel more comfortable in the water, becoming more efficient, and getting more power from their freestyle stroke. Mary has coached hundreds of triathletes to complete races of all distances. She has personally completed 5 Ironman triathlons and 16 half Ironman distance races and the Ultra 520K Canada.

Amelia is junior at Cherry Creek High School. She has been swimming her whole life. She started on her neighborhood swim team, Holly Park Sharks, and has been swimming competitively for 8 years. Her favorite stroke is butterfly. Besides swimming, she is also active in theater and choir at Cherry Creek. Amelia loves helping kids develop their swimming skills and making them feel confident along the way. 

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada her growing years were always active ones. Skiing, horseback riding, swimming, volleyball, camping … and when not participating she was teaching or coaching them. An Elite volleyball player in High School and College. Early adulthood training and showing horses filled the years. Next marriage and motherhood made her cup runneth over…5 kiddos!! And all the parenting, volunteering, coaching and patience that entails. Through it all (last 20 years) swimming has been her happy place. Teaching groups and privates from 6 months to 60 years, she has taught them all. Her specialty though might be the little ones, so rewarding to see them smile with success and gain confidence. If you need references, you could ask any of her 6 pool confident grandchildren! Brenda is very excited to be part of the SwimLabs Family!

Laura Dravenstott has been working at SwimLabs Highlands Ranch for six years as a LTS, competitive and triathlete instructor. Laura has been a competitive swimmer for 36 years, beginning as an age group club swimmer, competing for Harvard University as a D1 sprinter, and then enjoying competition as a Masters athlete. In 2019, Laura was part of a National Championship-winning relay for the state of Colorado and was a Relay All-American. Laura and her husband Rob have three children: Aden, who swims for the Club team at CU Boulder; William, who swims for Cherry Creek HS and Aquawolves; and Daniel, who plays baseball and runs cross-country and track. Laura also trains new instructors at SwimLabs and helps with the on-going coaching that keeps all instructors performing at the high level our customers expect, informed by the latest information on swimming technique and teaching methodology.

Faith is a Colorado native who first learned to swim on her neighborhood summer league team. She loved the team environment and challenge of swimming. Then in 8th grade, she decided to join a club team and swim year round. Club swimming made her realize her passion for swimming and the friendships she made there inspired her to try out for her high school swim team at Arapahoe High School, which she participated on for all four years. After graduating from Arapahoe she plans to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver in the fall of 2017 for Elementary Education. She has a passion for working with children and has experience as a lifeguard and preschool teacher assistant. She enjoys going to the mountains and swimming whenever possible. She can’t wait to join the SwimLabs team!

Grace is a junior at Mullen high school and has been swimming for as long as she can remember. She first learned how to swim when she was 2 here at SwimLabs! Grace moved on to swim for the Holly Park Sharks after her time at SwimLabs and is now back to spread the joy of swimming to the kids around her.

Laurie grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Some of her greatest childhood memories were swimming related- swim meets, snorkeling, and scuba diving around the world Since she was 4, she swam for Dayton Country Club until her teenage years where she swam for her high school team. Two of Laurie's greatest passions are water and children. Starting at 18, Laurie was fortunate enough to combine both passions by teaching swimming to kids. She is married now and has 3 children. She loves teaching people water safety in addition to teaching how swimming can become a lifelong activity! Laurie's goal is to encourage everyone to enjoy the water as much as she has. If people are confident, safe swimmers, it opens up a whole world of opportunities to explore!

Jordan graduated from Cherry Creek High School in 2019 and has been swimming for as long as he can remember. He took lessons here at SwimLabs in his youth and has grown to love the sport. He was a varsity swimmer at Cherry Creek where his team went on to win the state championship his senior year. When he was 15, he started teaching lessons for his summer club swim team and loved every minute of it. He loves how he can share his ability to swim with kids and teach them to grow and become stronger and faster swimmers. He can't wait to continue growing as a swim instructor and continue to help kids feel safer in the water!

Darcy is a former K-8 classroom teacher of almost 20 years. She taught in California and the International School of Bremen in Germany. She is an active volunteer in Cherry Creek Schools and serves as a girls swim coach at Cherry Creek High School. Darcy is also active in the Mountain Hi Swim League and holds multiple leadership positions with her local summer league team. Darcy has been a swimmer for as long as she can remember. She swam for Clovis Swim Club in Clovis, California during her high school and college years. She currently swims masters at Club Greenwood where she enjoys swimming outdoors year-round. She loves new adventures and challenges - especially when they involve swimming. While she prefers the pool, she has participated in several open water swims, the most exciting among them being the Trans Tahoe Relay. Darcy is the mother of two active teenage girls who also enjoy swimming among other sports and activities. She has experience working with children of all ages and is passionate about sharing the joy of swimming with people of all ages in the community and takes water safety and proper swim technique very seriously.

Kyra is a 2020 graduate of Cherry Creek High School. She just finished her freshman year of college at Montana State University majoring in Biochemistry. Kyra has always been very active, she has been a swimmer for as long as she can remember. In her earlier years she developed a love for swimming and dedicated many years to competitive club swimming. In high school she participated in many sports such as Swimming, Water Polo, Poms, Tennis and Lacrosse. She was also a member of Deca and German Honors Society. Teaching Swimming has always been a passion of Kyra’s. She has been coaching for her neighborhood swim team since her freshman year of high school. This past summer she worked as head coach and also had her last ever swim season before aging out. Kyra loves getting to share her passion for swimming with kids and not only getting to help them improve but have fun doing it along the way. Over the years she has built many relationships throughout coaching and teaching swim lessons and it is something she hopes to continue doing well into the future. 

Jenny has been swimming since she was tiny and has always loved being a part of a swim team. Growing up in Colorado, she swam for Highlands Ranch Aquatics, Tops and Highlands Ranch High School. She started coaching for the Wildcat Ridge Tigersharks in 2000 and is currently on their board of directors. She is also currently an assistant coach for the Rock Canyon High School girl's swim team. She went to school at the University of Northern Colorado and taught early elementary education before shifting gears to the home front where she takes care of 3 amazing kiddos. As a coach she will always draw from her passion for teaching and working with kids!

Jackson is a senior at Cherry Creek High School and has been swimming since he was four years old. He is a varsity swimmer at Cherry Creek and also swims competitively for Aquawolves. His favorite stroke is freestyle. Jackson loves helping kids develop their confidence in the water while learning how to swim effectively.

A Colorado native, Karin is a former assistant coach from the University of Louisville. Alongside coach Arthur Albiero from 2003-2012, coached two NCAA Division 1 Champions, 45 All American’s, and 8 Olympians. Prior to Louisville, Karin coached National Championship men’s and women’s swimming teams at Kenyon College 2001-2003. In 2019 she was a volunteer assistant to CCHS girls team, her alma mater. Karin had the amazing opportunity to be on the USA Swimming National Open Water Team Staff at the 2012 and 2015 Pan American Games, as well as the 2013 World Championships. She also finished the 2016 70.3 Ironman Chattanooga.

In her free time, Karin mixes up her day with swimming, spinning, hot yoga and being a super auntie! She loves teaching swimming and gets so excited watching kids accomplish amazing feats!

Taylor is currently a senior at Rock Canyon High School and has been swimming since she was 9 years old. She swims for Wildcat Ridge Tigersharks and started coaching for them in 2020. She swims for Rock Canyon and absolutely loves being around the pool! She has been teaching lessons for about a year and a half and is super excited to teach at SwimLabs. Outside of school and swimming, she likes to spend time with friends and family, listen to music, travel, play volleyball, and go to concerts!

Riley is a junior at Cherry Creek High School. She is involved with FCCLA, Creek swim, and Red Cross Club. She has been swimming since she was 6 years old. Her swimming career started on her neighborhood swim team, Homestead Hurricanes. Riley has been swimming competitively on Aces Swim Club since she was 8 years old. She has two younger brothers that are swimmers as well. During the summer she is an assistant coach for the Hurricanes. She loves spending time with kids and is super excited to help them learn to swim and become better swimmers!