MEET THE RACE CLUB TEAM

The Race Club swim coaches are a highly skilled group that focus primarily on improving swimming technique. Each Race Club swimming coach is well trained to observe and correct the smallest details and flaws of your swimming technique. Armed with some of the most advanced swimming technology available, including measuring velocity, acceleration and deceleration, drag and propulsion, hand pressure and orientation, our coaching staff will be able to find your most challenging errors and offer some creative ways to correct them and improve your swimming technique.

Because of the high density of water, swimming may be the most technique sensitive sport in the world. Our swim coaching staff will help you master the nuances of great swimming technique in all four swim strokes, starts and flip turns.

GARY HALL, SR.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH

Expertise: Swimming, Mental Training, Strength Training, Nutrition and Recovery.

Gary Hall, Sr.

Since retiring in 2006 as a physician, Dr. Gary Hall has now dedicated his life to swim coaching technique and swim training methods to help children, masters, fitness and health swimmers, and triathletes at The Race Club. He brings his science background, knowledge and experience in swim stroke mechanics and a strong passion for swimming to offer an unsurpassed quality of teaching at The Race Club in Coronado, California or through on-line coaching. Swimmers of all ages and abilities come from around the world to learn from and be inspired by Gary Hall Sr. and give themselves the lifetime gift of swimming.

“Gary Hall Sr. is probably the best collegiate swimmer in the world. He is just as valuable as Mark Spitz ever was and more and has given us academic acceptability. Gary’s accomplishments have helped tremendously in making people realize that Indiana University is a very good academic school.” – “Doc” James Counsilman’s testimony to Gary Hall, Sr. at their final NCAA Championships. Hall’s swimming record is one of amazing successes. Gary has held 10 world swimming records. In both 1969 and 1970, he was named World Swimmer of the Year. In the 1970 NCAA swimming Championship, he alone scored a record 56.5 points. He was a leader as Captain of the Indiana University swim team that in his senior year won its 6th straight NCAA Championship.

Gary was elected team co-Captain for the Olympic men’s swim teams of 1972 and 1976. In 1976, he was selected by all of the United States Olympic athletes to carry the American Flag leading the Olympic Team into the Opening Ceremonies in Montreal, Canada. He was the only USA Olympic swimmer ever selected for that honor until Michael Phelps in 2016. He is the author of two highly acclaimed books, Fundamentals of Fast Swimming, a textbook on swimming technique. The second book is Winning Life’s Gold Medal, an inspirational self-help book that is filled with great swimming stories.

MARY HALL

MANAGER, ACCOUNTANT & MOTHER OF THE RACE CLUB

Expertise: Accounting, Social Skills, Family Support

Mary Hall

Mary is mother of 6 children and the wife of Gary Hall, Sr. She grew up in a swimming family and was a breaststroker and freestyler. Her brother Charlie Keating III is an Olympian. She grew up going to Islamorada from Cincinnati and fell in love with The Keys at an early age. Gary Sr. spied Mary through a telephoto lens camera at a swim meet and it was love at first sight. The rest is history. Mary has managed The Race Club since its inception and is the driving force behind all things Race Club. As you can imagine, she is the glue that holds all of the family and family business together. You will find her on deck at The Race Club camps to answer all of your questions and to talk with parents, family and friends of the campers. Of everyone, she knows the most about swimming and The Race Club. When Mary is not working on business management, accounting and all the Race Club merchandise, she loves to go out on the boat and be on the water. She also loves being around all of her children, her 7 grandchildren and her dog, Goose.

RICHARD HALL

DIRECTOR OF VIDEO PRODUCTION AND ASSISTANT COACH

Expertise: Photography, Swim Training, Mental Training, Strength Training, Nutrition and Recovery

Richard Hall

Richard was an All-American swimmer from Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated in 2003 from the University of California at Berkeley. His swimming experience and training included some of the most renowned swimming coaches in the world, Mike Bottom, Rick DeMont and Pierre Lafontaine. After graduating, Richard spent several years in New York City studying video and music. He also taught swimming and studied the successful learn-to-swim methods used by the Imagine Swim School. Today, Richard directs the video production for The Race Club and has released three successful DVD’s, The Three Styles of Freestyle, Fundamentals of Fast Swimming and Life Is Worth Swimming. Richard is The Race Club’s videographer and director of all video content. Based in Coronado, he loves to surf. Richard also takes care of his dog Lemmy, who is quite a handful.

Nolan Huey

Associate Head Coach

Expertise: Swimming, Mental Training, Strength Training, Nutrition and Recovery.

Nolan Huey

Nolan grew up in Fort Collins, CO developing a passion for the sport of swimming that later sparked my interest in exercise science. After graduating high school, I swam competitively in college at Ohio Northern University while studying exercise science. After getting my degree in 2019, I spent a year in Auburn, Alabama studying for my masters with an increased focus on biomechanics. I also had the opportunity to work as a volunteer assistant coach with the swim team at Auburn which led me to coaching the women’s swim team at Depauw University for the `21-`22 season. In my free time, I like to do outdoor activities (hiking, biking) and spend time with friends/family.

ALEX MEYER

ELITE Online coaching

Expertise: Open Water Training

Alex Meyer

Alex grew up in Ithaca, NY where he swam for Roy Staley and Ithaca Aquatics Club. The initial spark that ignited his eventual passion for open water swimming was listening to Roy tell stories about one of his swimmers who a couple decades earlier had swam the 40-mile length of Cayuga Lake, finishing at a local park in Ithaca after 20 hours of swimming. After high school, Alex left Ithaca to attend Harvard and swim for coach Tim Murphy, who was supportive of his interest in open water. He made his first National Team in 2009 after finishing 4th in his first-ever 10K, which qualified him for a spot on the FINA World Championships roster in the 25K event. After graduating college in 2010, he pursued a professional career specializing in open water events until retiring in 2016 after winning the 32km Traversee Internationale du Lac St Jean. During that time he competed in 4 more World Championships, winning one gold (2010) and one silver (2015) in the 25K, placed 10th at the 2012 Olympic Games, won four national titles in the 5K and 10K, and also won three FINA World Cup 10K races. He currently resides in the Boston area and still swims frequently.

GARY HALL JR

ELITE ONLINE COACHING

Expertise: Sprint Training Coach

Gary Hall Jr

Gary Hall, Jr. is a three-time Olympian and 10-time Olympic medalist. He held two world records in relay events throughout his career. Born in Cincinnati, Hall was introduced to swimming by his father, Gary Hall, Sr., who competed in three Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games of Atlanta in 1996, Hall won two individual silver medals and two team relay gold medals.

Gary’s Olympic success continued at the Sydney 2000 Games, one year after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. He won his first individual gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle, while also winning three more medals at the 2000 Games. He defended his 50 freestyle title at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, becoming the oldest American male Olympic gold medalist in swimming since 1924. Hall won the humanitarian award at the 2004 Golden Goggle Awards for his work with newly diagnosed diabetics worldwide, and has become a recognized spokesman for those afflicted with diabetes.

Dr Megan Cannon

Sports Psychologist

Expertise: Mental Training

Dr Megan Cannon

Dr. Megan Cannon is a sport psychologist who experienced the demanding pressure of training and competing in swimming, softball, and dance, along with the impact it can have on performance. Upon entering the field of psychology, it became her goal to assist athletes and high-performers in achieving strong emotional health and peak performance.

Dr. Megan received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in 2013, after earning a Bachelors Degree in psychology from Wilkes University. While at Nova Southeastern University, she had the opportunity to work in the Sport Psychology Program within the university’s Sports Medicine Clinic. Dr. Megan gained experience providing performance coaching and individual therapy to college student athletes, along with delivering speeches and conducting team-building activities with collegiate, high school, and youth club teams.

She currently operates a sport psychology company in Pennsylvania where she has had the opportunity to work with athletes and teams at Bucknell University, Duquesne University, Johns Hopkins University, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Old Dominion University, Towson University, University of Massachusetts, University of Pittsburgh, and more. Additionally, she has worked with athletes who have competed in the IronMan Triathlon and CrossFit Games.Dr. Megan has traveled across the country delivering keynote speeches at universities, high schools, and conferences and has appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter multiple times as an expert on sport psychology.

MACON LANE

Office Manager

Macon Lane

Macon Lane has grown up swimming her whole life and continues to have a love for the water. Thankfully, living in North County San Diego helps her with getting to the water everyday. She has been working in aquatics for 30 years and loves helping people share her passion for swimming, aquatics and San Diego.

Coach Maria Vitazka

ELITE ONLINE COACHING

Expertise: Expertise: Swimming, Mental Training, Strength Training, Nutrition and Recovery.

Coach Maria Vitazka

Maria grew up in a small town in Southern Sweden and started swimming at the age of 7. She was not the fastest youngster, but she loved to train hard. After high school, Maria headed to Ohio to swim for the University of Cincinnati, where she had her most successful years as a swimmer. Maria became a five-time NCAA Div 1 All-American and posted several school records in all freestyle events, 200y and longer. At UC, she got a bachelor’s degree in biology, and later at Ohio State University, Maria did a master’s degree in neurobiology and endocrinology. In 2015 Maria was inducted into the UC Athletic Hall of Fame, which is one of her greatest honors as she gets to share it with her husband, Honza Vitazka, who was inducted in 2010. Maria’s most significant swimming accomplishments back home in Sweden are a gold medal in 800m freestyle at Swedish Nationals, winning from lane 1, and being part of the first club relay team in the world to break 8 minutes in the 4×200 freestyle (SCM; at Swedish Nationals 2004). Maria started her coaching career at Greater Columbus Swim Team in 2002 and continued coaching once back home in Sweden after ten years in Ohio. Maria has coached all levels of swimmers, from beginners to Swedish National Team swimmers, and has been the Head Coach of two teams in Southern Sweden. Maria’s specialty as a coach is technique and efficient swimming. She has been passionate about combining measurements with video analysis for the past few years. This passion led to Maria returning to school for a master’s degree in Sports Science and Biomechanics, with a thesis focusing on force and velocity in swimming. Maria and Honza have two children – Anton, who swims competitively, and Emma, who competes in diving. Maria swims only for enjoyment and to test out new drills to use in coaching, and Honza competes in master’s swimming. A family that loves the water!