Here at Farber Swim School, we pride ourselves on having a fun and energetic staff who love the water and love to teach! All of our instructors are trained to teach ages 3-18 years. Some of our instructors go through extra training to specialize in: Adults, Babies (4-35 months), Fearful swimmers, Little swimmers (2.5-3 years), Additional needs, and Team level.
Get to know our staff, click a name to read a staff’s bio & see what extra training and qualifications they have!
Owners |
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Adam Adam Title: Business Owner / Swim Instructor / Coach Adam has been around pools all of his life. He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where he started swimming competitively at the age of 5. He swam through high school and then afterward began teaching lessons for Hubbard Family Swim School. After moving to Nevada, Adam continued teaching professionally at multiple facilities, which led to coaching positions at Sparks High School and the University of Nevada. Adam then moved to Oregon and after working at a local swim school for a couple years, founded Farber Swim School in 2007. Adam oversees all aspects of the swim school, including coaching the FSS Penguins and Pee Wees swim teams. In addition he is Head Coach of Sunset High School's men's and women's swim teams. Adam is a US Swim School Association Level 2 Instructor as well as an American Swim Coaches Association Level 3. Oregon State High School Swimming Titles: 2017 - Girls 1st in state & Boys 2nd in state
Awards: 2014 - Oregon Athletic Association's 6A Boys Swim Coach of the Year
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Kristin Kristin Title: Business Owner Kristin's background is in teaching and coordinating sports and recreational programs for youth and adults. She has worked for Oregon State University's recreation department and KidSpirit Youth Programs, Willamette Valley Girls on the Run, Mittleman Jewish Community Center, and Tualatin Hills Park Recreation. At FSS, Kristin's focus is on managing the business side of things: coordinating programs, keeping the office running, and making sure FSS is providing the best customer service to its participants! |
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Managers
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Amanda - Billing Manager Amanda Title: Billing Manager Bio coming soon! FSS employee since: July 2017 |
Maddie - Staff Manager Maddie Title: Instructor Maddie was born and raised on Maui where she found her passion for swimming in the warm water of the Pacific Ocean! She swam competitively for twelve years on an age group team as well as her high school team. She then moved to Omaha, Nebraska to experience seasons and study Sociology and Legal Studies at Creighton University. After graduating, Maddie served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest/AmeriCorps in Aberdeen, Washington. She enjoyed being near the Pacific Ocean once again and falling in love with the PNW she decided to move to Portland to explore a new city. Maddie has experience teaching swimmers of all ages with a range of skill-levels and is excited to be teaching babies! She enjoys watching kids build confidence in the water and have fun learning new skills. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors, reading, drinking coffee, and exploring PDX! Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults, Babies, Fears, Littles FSS employee since: Sept 2016 |
Jared - Facility Manager Jared Title: Facility Maintenance Manager / Instructor Jared grew up in the rural Northwest Arkansas region. At a young age Jared began building boats and sailing on the family pond in just about anything that would float. The limited engineering ability led to a few capsized vessels and Jared's parents taught him to swim right away. The many lakes and rivers of the area were the perfect teaching grounds for any young boys adventurous mind. While in his youth Jared participated in multiple water safety and extreme water rescue courses. To this day Jared continues to enjoy many water activities including kayaking, sailing and surfing. Jared's other passion is aviation. His day job is in aircraft sales and market analysis and he is currently pursuing his commercial pilots licenses with the goal of flying fire suppression for the Forest Service. Specialties: Ages 3-18, Babies, Littles FSS employee since: October 2016 |
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Administrative Staff
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Annie Annie Title: Office / Events & Marketing / Swim Instructor Annie grew up in Beaverton and attended college in Idaho. She then moved to England where she earned her master's degree at the University of Kent, Canterbury. She has always loved swimming, and it wasn't long after starting office work at Farber that she just had to get in the water with those cute kids! Her favorite parts of the job are: watching her amazing students learn; organizing fun events; and creating the monthly coloring contests. Annie's favorite swimming stroke is the breaststroke. She is a nerdy English major who enjoys writing poetry, singing show tunes, and petting her dog. Specialties: Babies, Littles, Fears FSS employee since: February 2014 |
Vyvan Vyvan Title: Office Assistant Vyvan was born and raised in Beaverton, where she currently resides. She is a proud mom to two rambunctious boys and has taken the last two years off to be home with them. Previously she worked in banking, cosmetics, and at a aquatic center. When she's not chasing her boys around she likes to spend time with family and friends and being outdoors. She's enjoys finding new restaurants to try, traveling, and shopping. FSS employee since: May 2017 |
Priscilla Priscilla Title: Office Assistant Priscilla grew up in Papua New Guinea where one of the favorite pastimes in the hot afternoons was hanging out by the river and tubing in the icy mountain river water. After graduating from high school, Priscilla moved to the USA to Ohio where she studied at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and received a degree in English. As a lover of the disciplines of reading and writing, Priscilla would love to continue learning and studying more about literature in the future. At every stage of life, Priscilla has enjoyed and been passionate about environments that invest in kids and their development, a passion which has lead her to tutor, teach, and nanny throughout high school, college, and post-graduation. In August of 2016, she moved to Portland, Oregon with her husband and was refreshed to be back where there are mountains on the horizon and lush rain-forests within walking distance! FSS employee since: May 2017 |
Diane Diane Title: Office Assistant / Instructor Diane grew up swimming, sailing, and ice skating, in Mountain Lakes, NJ which has five lakes, but not a single mountain. While lakes are lovely, she much prefers swimming in pools where there are no water snakes or snapping turtles. After high school, Diane came to Oregon to climb real mountains and to study English at Reed College and later worked as a computer programmer for Fred Meyer, a secretary at a genetics institute in Germany, and as a high school and college English instructor in Ohio. These days Diane lives Southwest Portland with her husband, three teenagers, one dog, and three cats, and can often be found at her daughters’ softball games, her son’s theater productions, or on the trails in Forest Park. Diane is thrilled to be a part of the Farber Swim Family because she loves to help people learn and feels privileged to be able to teach swimming. Just learning how to move your body in water is magical, but learning to swim is also about learning to trust: your teacher, the water, and most of all, yourself. If you can learn to swim, you can learn just about anything! Specialties: Age 3-18 FSS employee since: May 2017 |
Jennifer Jenn Title: Office Assistant Bio coming soon! FSS employee since: July 2017 |
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Mary Mary Mary grew up in rural Eastern Washington, spending most free time at the family ranch. She moved to the Portland area about 5 years ago where she has since finished high school and is now studying in college. In her spare time she enjoys reading, writing, and live music. She is pursuing a major in linguistics and audiology, in the hopes of becoming a speech therapist. Mary grew up surrounded by swimming, and comes from a family of swimmers. Ironically enough, she doesn’t particularly enjoy swimming, but believes it is a critical life skill. |
Sydney Sydney Title: Instructor & Pee Wees Coach Sydney first started competitive swimming at the age of twelve for a local swim club. She swam for her Middle School and High School teams and the neighborhood summer league swim team for seven years. She was born in Houston, Texas and moved to Portland, Oregon in the Fall of 2013 to attend Lewis & Clark College. After graduating from Lewis & Clark College in May of 2017 Sydney worked as a nanny and loves working with kids. This is her first experience teaching swim lessons but is excited to work with kids so that they love the water as much as she does! In Sydney’s free time she enjoys exploring the outdoors, bouldering, and doing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. She hopes to attend graduate school within the next few years but in the meantime is excited that she gets to do something she loves. |
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Instructors
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LeAnn LeAnn Title: Instructor LeAnn has always loved being in the water and she took her first swim lessons when she was 8 years old. LeAnn started babysitting at the age of 13 and quickly found that working with children was her niche in life. She dreams of opening her own daycare one day. LeAnn has traveled far and wide during her life, but recently settled down here in Portland and she is very excited about all of the new and fun things to do here. In her free time, LeAnn finds comfort in books and trying new foods around the city with her sister-in-law. LeAnn is very excited to mix her two talents of swimming and working with children here at Farber! Specialties: Ages 3-18 FSS Employee since August 2017 |
Cait Cait Title: Instructor & Pee Wee Coach Cait began her competitive swimming career in 1994 in Shaker Heights, Ohio when summer swim lessons were full at her local rec center and her mom decided to try her on the swim team instead. Cait never left the pool and swam competitively for club teams in Ohio, Nebraska, and Minnesota before swimming in college for Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. She continues to swim in triathlons and Master’s swimming. In 2001 she found an additional outlet for swimming as a teacher and coach. She’s been working as a teacher and coach since then, taking a break only to complete her MFA in Film Production at FSU in 2012. She is excited to continue her swimming career in her new Oregon home. When not at FSS, Cait is an Assistant Coach at Westview High School for the men’s and women’s swim teams. Cait most enjoys preparing swimmers for competition, but has experience teaching all ages and skill levels, including babies and toddlers! Her teaching focuses on developing good technique at every level and fostering a life long love of the sport. Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults, Babies, Littles, Team Additional languages: German FSS employee since: November 2016 |
Jessie Jessie Title: Instructor Jessica was Born in San Francisco and lived all over the West Coast during her childhood. She grew up swimming and exploring the Pacific Ocean. Once moving to Oregon she began competitive swimming for the next six years with the Hillsboro HEAT swim team & the Hillsboro High School team. She spends her free time camping, kayaking & hiking with her Puppy (Penny). She is attending PCC for her Associates of general studies and hopes to go on to study Oceanography & Communications. Jessica has fostered her passion for the ocean into teaching others & looks forward to helping everyone have a safe and fun under the sea experience. Specialties: Age 3-18, Babies, Littles FSS Employee since November 2017 |
Keith Keith Title: Instructor / Penguins Coach Keith is a swim instructor and USA Swimming registered coach. He has has been teaching and coaching swimming since May of 2002. His teaching philosophy is simple, he believes in teaching with love and kindness. He also believes that growth in anything is a constant struggle. Through that struggle character and inner strength are born.? M.A.R.S: is an acronym that describes how he teaches. Motivation: It is my job to make it fun and interesting.
Specialties: Ages 2-18, Additional Needs, Adults, Fears, Littles, Team FSS employee since: May 2013 |
Sarah Sarah Title: Instructor Sarah was born and raised in Southern California and grew up spending most of her time swimming and body surfing at the beach. She swam in middle school and also played Skwim and water polo for fun. Sarah loves animals and loves to take her dog for hikes. In her free time she also enjoys sketching, singing, and acting. She loves everything Disney, superheroes and villians, and Halloween! She can't wait to swim with you. FSS employee since: August 2017 |
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Matt Matt Title: Instructor Born and raised in Kansas, Matt moved to Portland in 2014. Swimming has been a passion of Matt's since taking lessons and swimming competitively starting at the age of five. He continued swimming through high school where his favorite event was the 50 Free, and in college he competed in Butterfly at Nationals! Matt also has 7 years of Indiana University & Longhorn swim camp training. He has been a swim instructor for over 8 years teaching at YMCAs, water parks, and residential private lessons while also coaching USA Swimming for 4 years. This has allowed him to work with hundreds of swimmers giving him the ability to assess a swimmer’s ability level and the steps to reach their swimming goals, whether that be to build confidence in the water, strength, or skill in individual strokes or to just blow some bubbles. He has fun and works great with kids. He likes to get to know them and works to get them excited about swimming while challenging themselves to learn and excel all while having fun. Specialties: Ages 3-18, Team FSS employee since: Feb 2017 |
Jeff Jeff Title: Instructor Jeff is a certified PADI SCUBA instructor and Dive Medic who first learned advanced swim and rescue techniques during his four years in the Navy. His love of water started much earlier in life, and Jeff was on swim and water polo teams all through high school and into his college years. After that he enjoyed many years of swimming adventure and challenges in a variety of roles: underwater tour-guide, maintenance and observation diver for Hopkins Marine station, 6 months commercial diver training in Australia (where he was certified for 50 meter-deep dives), and dive master/onboard rescue asset in Monterey, California. For the past ten-plus years he has worked as a certified Hyperbaric Chamber Operator and Dive Medic and, currently, in hyperbaric chambers. Jeff is married to a fellow diver and they have two daughters, 7 and 9. He has loved teaching them to swim, and looks forward to more teaching opportunities at Farber Swim School, more chances to share his passion for the water with people of all ages and abilities. In his spare time Jeff is an avid recreational diver, spear fisherman, and general fishing fanatic. Recently he has been eagerly exploring his new home state and trolling its beautiful coastal streams for Steelhead. FSS employee since: August 2017 Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults Photo coming soon! |
Mark Mark Title: Instructor Mark was born in Montana and has been in the water most of his life. He started swimming after moving to Idaho when his family got a pool in his backyard. Later, in high school, Mark got a job as a swim teacher and lifeguard, where he discovered a love of teaching. Out of high school, Mark joined the armed forces and spent six years there learning how to coach and train young adults, including teaching his whole platoon how to swim! Coming back to Oregon for school Mark got a degree in welding technology and put it to use throwing beads and teaching those less experienced. Mark looks forward every day to finding something new to teach everyone he knows, whether it's new swimmers or refining an advanced technique. On the dry side, Mark has started a business of his own: bringing wall street needs to main street families. He consults about income protection, debt management, and preparing for retirement. He's looking forward to all the new challenges that he will get to face and overcome. He can't wait to meet you and help you improve! Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults FSS employee since: April 2017 |
Doug Doug Title: Instructor Doug, 58, is a life-long swimmer who began competing at age 6 (along with his four swimmer siblings) in various pools of New Jersey and Missouri, where he was raised.? Doug attended the University of Missouri as an athlete scholar, which took him to the 1980 Pan American games in Mexico City! A shoulder injury ended his competitive career and opened the door for his move to Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1981 with a BS in Psychology. ?Douglas rejoined the competitive field, joining the U.S. Masters Swimming association to swim for the Multnomah Athletic Club, where he swims daily.
Retired from his career as an occupational safety officer for the Oregonian Publishing Co., Doug became certified through USMS as an Adult Learn-to-Swim instructor.? Doug lives in Raleigh Hills with his wife, Bridget. Along with swimming, Doug enjoys kayaking, golf, skiing and traveling, which often takes him to Long Beach, CA to visit his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons.
Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults, Team FSS employee since: April 2016 |
Maddie - Staff Manager Maddie Title: Instructor Maddie was born and raised on Maui where she found her passion for swimming in the warm water of the Pacific Ocean! She swam competitively for twelve years on an age group team as well as her high school team. She then moved to Omaha, Nebraska to experience seasons and study Sociology and Legal Studies at Creighton University. After graduating, Maddie served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest/AmeriCorps in Aberdeen, Washington. She enjoyed being near the Pacific Ocean once again and falling in love with the PNW she decided to move to Portland to explore a new city. Maddie has experience teaching swimmers of all ages with a range of skill-levels and is excited to be teaching babies! She enjoys watching kids build confidence in the water and have fun learning new skills. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors, reading, drinking coffee, and exploring PDX! Specialties: Ages 3-18, Adults, Babies, Fears, Littles FSS employee since: Sept 2016 |
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Mutile (Momo) Mutile (Momo) Title: Instructor & Pee Wees Coach Mutile (Momo) discovered her love for swimming as a toddler learning to swim with her parents in Washington, DC. She eventually moved to Seattle where she participated in recreational lessons throughout her childhood and swam competitively for a brief time while she went to boarding school in Kenya.
Momo recently moved to Portland to continue her education in nursing and looks forward to spreading her love of swimming to all her students. In her free time, she regularly visits her family and friends in Seattle, reads, watches movies and cooks. Specialties: Team FSS Employee since November 2017 |
Diane Diane Title: Office Assistant / Instructor Diane grew up swimming, sailing, and ice skating, in Mountain Lakes, NJ which has five lakes, but not a single mountain. While lakes are lovely, she much prefers swimming in pools where there are no water snakes or snapping turtles. After high school, Diane came to Oregon to climb real mountains and to study English at Reed College and later worked as a computer programmer for Fred Meyer, a secretary at a genetics institute in Germany, and as a high school and college English instructor in Ohio. These days Diane lives Southwest Portland with her husband, three teenagers, one dog, and three cats, and can often be found at her daughters’ softball games, her son’s theater productions, or on the trails in Forest Park. Diane is thrilled to be a part of the Farber Swim Family because she loves to help people learn and feels privileged to be able to teach swimming. Just learning how to move your body in water is magical, but learning to swim is also about learning to trust: your teacher, the water, and most of all, yourself. If you can learn to swim, you can learn just about anything! Specialties: Age 3-18 FSS employee since: May 2017 |
Abby Abby Abby grew up in Montana but moved to Oregon by way of Boston in 2013. She has been working full-time as a nanny for 12 years and absolutely loves working with kids! Also a lifelong lover of swimming, she is super excited to have the opportunity to pass that enthusiasm and knowledge on to young swimmers. Abby took one of her nanny-kiddos to swim lessons at Farber for years, and FSS is now thrilled to have her as a teacher! Abby loves the outdoors and especially enjoys playing softball and tennis. She also reads a lot and enjoys volunteering at her local committee theater.
Specialties: Babies, Littles, Adults, Special Needs |
Natalie Natalie Natalie first started teaching swim lessons three years ago at Children of the Sea. After two and a half years there, she took the summer of 2017 off to counsel up at a camp in Lebanon, OR. She was on her high schools competitive swim team for two of four years of high school along with many other sports. Natalie was born in California and raised here in Oregon.
Natalie has always had a love for kids. Natalie has a younger brother and sister and an older sister and a two year old niece. Natalie enjoys being outdoors and exploring new and uncharted territories.
Natalie likes to spend her free time with her horse Angel (pictured with her). She rides six times a week and spends her summers traveling up and down the west coast showing horses in jumping. Natalie is going to school at PCC to become a Vet Tech. |
Nathan Nathan Title: Instructor Nathan is currently a Jesuit High School student who was born in Portland. He started his first swim lessons, at 6 months of age, here at this pool when it was La Petit Dolphin. He continued his swim lessons until he was 5 years old and then joined the competitive club swim team, the Dolphins. He swam with the Dolphins until he was 12 where he successfully competed in several local, state, and sectional meets. His favorite strokes are backstroke and freestyle. Nathan also ran competitively at an early age for school and the Nike Bowerman Track Club. He stopped swimming competitively in middle school to focus on his running. Nathan currently runs on the Jesuit Varsity Cross Country team and Track team. This past year Nathan was drawn back to swimming and swam on the Jesuit Varsity Swim team. Outside of school, Nathan enjoys the outdoors — especially camping. He loves to mountain bike, hike, fish, kayak, and, of course, swim. He also likes to volunteer his time and worked last summer at an overnight camp for people with disabilities. Nathan enjoys working with kids and is excited to share his love of swimming. Specialties: Ages 3-18, Babies FSS employee since: May 2017 |
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Katherine Katherine Katherine has been swimming since she was 2 months old. She had been on competitive swim teams all the way up until she was fourteen. However, she took a break from swimming during high school due to wanting to pursue theater design. In her free time, she enjoys playing her ukulele, doing spfx makeup, going to concerts, attending comic conventions in cosplay, and hanging out with friends. Katherine is planning on attending cosmetology school around her FSS hours, for Hair, Makeup, and Nails. Working towards becoming a professional spfx makeup artist.
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Nanatzy (Nana) Nanatzy (Nana) Nana began teaching students how to swim during his senior year in high school back in Southern California. He swam competitively during his high school years and made CoCaptain during his final season. As CoCaptain he primarily taught football players techniques for competing in the water. He recently moved up from California and is working as a graphic designer in addition to the classes he teaches on Sunday. His teaching channels his passion for competitive swimming and admiration in watching his students develop in the water. In his free time, Nana gets lost wandering the city, exploring new restaurants and of course all the greenery. |
Sydney Sydney Title: Instructor & Pee Wees Coach Sydney first started competitive swimming at the age of twelve for a local swim club. She swam for her Middle School and High School teams and the neighborhood summer league swim team for seven years. She was born in Houston, Texas and moved to Portland, Oregon in the Fall of 2013 to attend Lewis & Clark College. After graduating from Lewis & Clark College in May of 2017 Sydney worked as a nanny and loves working with kids. This is her first experience teaching swim lessons but is excited to work with kids so that they love the water as much as she does! In Sydney’s free time she enjoys exploring the outdoors, bouldering, and doing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. She hopes to attend graduate school within the next few years but in the meantime is excited that she gets to do something she loves. |
Blake Blake Title: Instructor Blake was born in Portland and has lived here his whole life. Throughout his younger years, he received swim lessons from his cousin who was a swim instructor. He loves swimming and is also currently a competitive swimmer on the Sunset Athletic Club's team. Blake plays soccer for Sunset High School and is looking forward to baseball tryouts too! He loves how happy and excited the kids are to learn swimming and it is probably his favorite part of the job. Blake also enjoys going on bike rides. Specialties: Ages 3-18 FSS employee since: September 2016 |
Roni Roni Title: Instructor Growing up here in Portland, Roni has been a MESD Outdoor School Counselor, volunteering to educate sixth graders on water field studies in an immersive outdoor experience. This year she joined Congregation Shaarie Torah's Sunday and Saturday School Staff, educating youth in language arts and culuteral studies . A strong swimmer since grade school, Roni loves adventures in the water, including wake-boarding, jet ski, and a member of the 2014 PJA Stingrays Swim Team. A honor roll rising junior at St. Mary's Academy, Roni has future interest in psychology and medicine. Outside of academics and work, Roni is also a certified scuba diver, having dove both in Washington and in Eilat, Israel. Specialties: Age 3-18, Babies Additional languages: Hebrew FSS employee since: June 2017 |