Balcones Woods Blue Wave

COACH LESLEY has coached for Blue Wave for over fifteen years, and before that she swam for Blue Wave since she was five! Being on this team is the thing she is most proud of, and it's what keeps bringing her back to the pool deck each summer. Other than BW, she grew up swimming club and for Anderson High School, and went on to be an NCAA DII Finalist in 200 Butterfly while swimming for the University of the Incarnate Word. On top of her swimming career, she has a passion for fitness of all genres and is a certified Personal Trainer, Deep End Fitness Instructor, Underwater Torpedo player and uses a bicycle more often than not. She has loved getting to know the ever-growing BW community more all the time, and can't wait to keep contributing to our future as the Mighty Blue Wave.

COACH RAY has swam for the Blue Wave since he was 4 years old, and this will be his 7th year coaching the team. Ray was a 2-time All-State Swimmer, as well as an All-State water polo player for Anderson High School. He was also the head coach for the Texas A&M club swim team and helped lead the team to finish 16th place at Nationals. Ray graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Supply Chain Management in 2019. He worked in the logistics industry for a couple years before becoming a middle school math teacher in 2021. Swimming has been a huge part of Ray's life and he is ready to help inspire the next generation of Blue Wave to share the same passion for the sport. He is looking forward to his 21st season with the mighty Blue Wave, filled with team spirit, improvements in the water, and fun memories!

COACH PATTY was born and raised in Naperville, IL and has been coaching since she was 15. Coach Patty grew up swimming in the summer and started club swimming at the age of 12. Swimming was her first love, as it changed her life’s trajectory when she achieved her lifelong goal of swimming at the Division 1 collegiate level. While at Eastern Illinois University, she broke records in the 100 and 200 breast, learned to truly love the 400 IM, and was an integral part of the teams’ medley relays for 4 years.

Coach Patty's love of swimming took a slight pause when she moved to Austin, but coaching for the Blue Wave a few summers ago helped it ignite quickly. Coach Patty strives to meet swimmers where they are at, but also tries to push them to be better versions of themselves, both in the pool and outside of it.

When Coach Patty isn’t at the pool, she can be found working out via Peloton, teaching 8th graders at Ojeda Middle School, being a book fairy, FaceTiming with her nephews/nieces, reading, or going on long walks/hikes through Austin.

COACH Z is back coaching with the Blue Wave after a few years away! Coach Z spent 9 years coaching with the Blue Wave in addition to spending 12 years coaching the Anderson HS Swim Team; she has also coached club swimming, and started teaching lessons in the mid ‘90s. While head coach at Anderson, she had over 20 swimmers named to the All-American Team, 45 swimmers named to the All-State Team, was named District Coach of the Year for 9 consecutive years, had many amazing years at the State Championship Meet, and had many athletes continue their swimming careers in college. She’s very proud of all her athletes, but has always loved coaching relays most. In 2018, she decided to step away from coaching after becoming a mother; but now that her son Tillman is 4, Coach Z is getting back into coaching as a volunteer because there’s no other team she’d rather her family be a part of than the Blue Wave! She has missed the pool deck and looks forward to coaching a new generation of Blue Wave swimmers together with so many of her former swimmers who are now BW coaches!

COACH CLAIRE - What a joy it is to coach for the Balcones Woods Blue Wave! I grew up in Northwest Hills and cultivated a love for swimming being a part of our neighborhood summer league, the Westover Wild Orcas. It was so long ago in fact we were named the Heat Wave back then! As a mermaid at heart I continued playing in the water long after my summer league days – competing for my high school, lifeguarding in the summers and teaching swim lessons. My three sons Jackson (17), Evan (15), and Andrew (13) have been a part of a summer league swim team since they were four years old. This will be our family’s eighth season competing and coaching with the mighty Blue Wave and we couldn’t be prouder! 

Over these past summers I have loved watching the neighborhood kids become more confident in the water and in their strokes but even more so, develop friendships and memories with the kids they live in community with! I can’t wait to root your swimmers on, help tune-up their strokes, and encourage a lifelong love for swimming in your children.

COACH LYNETTE is very excited to come back as a Blue Wave coach. She’s been coaching since 2019 and her family has been a part of Blue Wave for over a decade, since her 3 boys were very young. When offered the chance to join the BW coaching staff she just could not resist. To give back to this group and help the young swimmers develop their talent and watch their confidence grow was just too appealing. "It's been more rewarding than I can ever imagine being alongside these great coaches and helping guide the team to our recent championships. Couldn't be prouder!"

COACH SAM grew up both in Cypress and McKinney, TX. Sam has swam on summer league swim teams since she was 5 years old, and she also swam on the varsity swim team at Cypress Ranch High School. She graduated from Texas A&M in 2019, and was an assistant coach for her summer league swim team that summer. Sam has spent the past 4 years as an elementary school teacher, and is currently a kindergarten teacher in Round Rock ISD. Sam loves working with children and helping them achieve their goals.

Coach Sam has been able to witness the Blue Wave magic over the years, and she was so excited when given the opportunity to be one of the coaches. She's looking forward to an amazing summer serving as a piece of the incredible community the Blue Wave has!

COACH KELSEY started swimming in elementary school. Her family moved to Balcones Woods when she was 9 and she joined Blue Wave the following summer. She spent her summers in high school baby/pet sitting, lifeguarding, swim coaching, and swim instructing. Kelsey has always loved learning from her interactions with younger kids. She currently attends the University of Arizona, where she studies psychology with a minor in film and a minor in human development and family sciences. She enjoys swimming year round in the beautiful Arizona weather, reading, and movies and is looking forward to her 3rd summer coaching for the mighty Blue Wave.

COACH BRANDON BARNES is back! After a few summers out of the pool, he's excited to rejoin the Blue Wave staff. Brandon began swimming for the Blue Wave at 6 years old, swam through high school, and coached the team throughout college. While his swimming career peaked in the 10&U Breaststroke, Coach Brandon brings a passion for helping kids learn the basics, grow in their confidence, and have fun in the water. When not at the pool, you can expect Brandon to be smashing burgers, performing in improv comedy shows, or passionately talking about Aggie sports.

COACH LUCY started swimming for Blue Wave when she was 4 years old. She loves working with children, and you may have seen her cheering others on at the starting blocks all her swim career! Her favorite event is Breaststroke. She’s thrilled to be coaching this year alongside her favorite coaches from when she was growing up. The magic of Blue Wave is in her blood!

COACH JULES is enjoying her fourth year coaching Blue Wave, though she’s been part of the team since she first joined as a five-year-old swimmer. Blue Wave is where Jules first fell in love with the sport, a passion she carried all the way to the Colorado School of Mines, where she competed collegiately on their swim team.

After retiring from collegiate swimming and becoming a “swammer,” Jules couldn’t fully stay away from the water and added triathlon to her growing list of athletic pursuits, especially enjoying open water swimming. Jules also loves trail running, skiing, and hiking in her free time.

Jules continued her education at the University of Oregon, where she earned a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics and Genomics. Following this Blue Wave season, she will begin her career as a Computational Biologist at Humboldt University in Berlin.

COACH ZJ grew up around Blue Wave, spending years watching his older siblings from the sidelines until he finally got his turn to jump in at age five. Over time, he became fully committed to the sport, yet Blue Wave remained the place where he could step away from the grind and simply enjoy swimming.

During high school, ZJ earned six state medals, qualified twice for Junior Nationals, and was a 2025 Austin American-Statesman Athlete of the Year nominee.

ZJ is currently taking a gap year to focus on his training and classes at ACC while working as a swim instructor and lifeguard at Life Time. Next year, he will enroll at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania to swim Division I and major in Civil Engineering.

As a coach, ZJ loves helping the next generation of swimmers build confidence, perfect their technique, and have fun in the water.

ANYA SANCHEZ is a senior on the swim team and has been coaching since 2025.

LEX TAMBLIN is a senior on the swim team and has been coaching since 2025.

PAIGE HOGAN is a junior on the swim team and this is her first year coaching the Blue Wave.

LILY ECKERLING is a junior on the swim team and this is her first year coaching the Blue Wave.

CAEL HOGAN spent his entire childhood swimming for the Blue Wave and this is his first year coaching.