Our Staff

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. Doug also 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-level

FSS employee since: April 2016

Isabella started swimming young for fun with her large extended family, and gained competence at an early age so she could keep up with her bigger cousins! In middle school Isabella started working with kids in childcare and discovered a passion for spending time and helping them grow.

Isabella is excited to be teaching at Farber and help create the next generation of swimmers. When she isn’t teaching at Farber or attending classes, Isabella can often be found at a nearby dog park with her dogs, getting involved in a choir or theater, or learning a new sport or art hobby.

Specialties: Ages 4–18

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 

Photo & Bio coming soon!

 Title: Instructor

Specialties: Ages 3–18 (pending: Babies, Littles, Adults, & Team-level)

Kona moved from Las Vegas to Portland in fall 2018 to attend PSU. She grew up swimming in lessons and for fun, and has worked with kids for over 5 years and in 3 different states! She loves working with kids because their contagious energy keep you on your toes. You never know what they’re going to do next! Seeing her students of all ages progress is what Kona loves most about teaching swim lessons. Even seemingly small breakthroughs, like finally putting the face in the water, mean so much to new swimmers and is cause for great celebration. Every student has strengths to build on and fears to overcome; watching them conquer those fears makes Kona very proud.

If Kona had to pick a favorite swim stroke it would be the nice relaxing Backstroke. In her free time, Kona enjoys reading and hanging out with friends. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Urban & Public Affairs at PSU. In her travels Kona has gotten as far as India, which immediately became her favorite travel destination as soon as she saw how beautiful and vibrant it is! She hopes to go there again someday!

Specialties: Ages 4–18, Adults

Photo & Bio coming soon!

Luke had his first swim lesson at 6 months and has been swimming ever since! He has always felt at home in the water and was on a competitive swim team from age 6 to 13. Luke is passionate about teaching, and got his Master’s degree in Instructional Design from Western Illinois University. Currently he works in the field of mechanical design at an amazing company in Wilsonville.

Born in Clinton, Iowa, Luke spent most of his life in the Hawkeye state until relocating to Beaverton, Oregon in the summer of 2018. He lives here with his lovely wife and their two adorable cats and is feeling more at home every day. He is happy and excited to be back in the water on a regular basis!

Specialties: Ages 4–18

Photo & Bio coming soon!

Specialties: Babies, Littles, Ages 3–18, Adults

Meghan grew up in Montague, CA, where she took swimming lessons as a young child and fell in love with the water. As a young adult Meghan worked as a teaching assistant for a special class for transfer students at CSU Sacramento. After moving to Oregon, she again got the chance to work with kids at THPRD. Meghan admires kids’ determination and courage, and finds their unique points of view fascinating to discover. Their excitement and joy is contagious, and Meghan loves to make them laugh and to celebrate their successes with them! 

Meghan is currently pursuing a degree in Social Science and English at PSU, after which she plans to get a Master’s in education toward a career teaching middle school. Her favorite swimming stroke is the Breaststroke. In her free time, Meghan loves visiting the beach and mountains. Favorite hobbies include hiking, camping, karaoke, slam poetry, and cuddling her kitty, Midnight Monster.

Specialties: Ages 4–18

Additional languages: ASL (conversational)

Rowan grew up in Welches, Oregon near Mt. Hood and has been in Portland since March 2019. She began swimming as a toddler and continued in swim classes into her teens. Growing up, Rowan worked as a nanny for multiple children of family and friends, for babies and young children. Rowan loves working with kids, and thinks it’s one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. She believes the student/teacher relationship must be built on a foundation of trust, and once that is there it’s wonderful to see how much kids can achieve and grow, until they reach their full potential! Water confidence and safety is a crucial life skill, and one which opens up the wonderful world of fun swimming activities!

Rowan’s favorite swim stroke is the Breaststroke. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, snowboarding, or curling up with a book and her cat, Nikomi. Having grown up near Mt. Hood, Rowan has a special place in her heart for mountains, and her favorite travel activity is to go explore new mountain ranges. Rowan is currently studying nutrition and intends to become a yoga instructor, following her passion for teaching and guiding people to master new physical skills. 

Specialties: Ages 4–18

Additional languages: ASL (basic)

Sophie was born and raised in the UK and lived most recently in Germany for 9 years. She moved to Oregon a year ago, and is enjoying this new adventure! Sophie first swam as a toddler and has been a passionate swimmer ever since. She completed lifeguard training courses in the UK and in Germany, where she swam competitively for 4 years at a private club. Soon after moving to Oregon, she joined another swim team and is currently competing for Sunset High School.

Working with children is another of Sophie’s callings, and she has many years’ experience volunteering at a kindergarten, babysitting for multiple other families, and taking care of her 4-year-old sister. Kids are so wonderfully curious and eager to learn—just like Sophie herself, who enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures. She loves helping children progress from stepping-stone to stepping-stone and then seeing their faces light up when they reach their goal. Sophie always wants to get kids laughing, and believes that fun and play are integral to a child’s learning process. 

Other than the pool, Sophie’s favorite place to be is somewhere comfortable with a book. 

Specialties: ages 3–18

Additional languages: German (fluent) & Spanish (basic)

FSS Employee since: May 2018

Teresa was born and raised in California, and developed an affinity for water at an early age. She earned her B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, TESOL, from the University of Nevada, Reno and continued her education by attending the University of San Francisco for graduate school. Teresa enjoys being civically engaged, attending and participating in local neighborhood association committee meetings, Beaverton Diversity Advisory Board meeting, Beaverton Organizational Leadership and Development seminars. Further, this fall she will be a part of Beaverton Citizens Academy. Teresa finds helping people in her community enriching and looks forward to working with the next generation of swimmer(s) learn and build swim/pool safety skills.

Specialties: Ages 3–18, Babies, Littles

Thaly (“Taw-LEE”) has been involved in swimming from the age of nine. He swam on various clubs throughout his youth, in addition to being part of the Tualatin High School swim team. In the 10 years since then, Thaly has continued learning about fitness and exercise science. He is influenced very much by George Hebert and Ido Portal, two physical educators who developed their own systems of education. The former developed a system known as Natural Method; the latter created a philosophy that emphasizes movements that work the body as a whole. As an instructor, Thaly is excited to help his students become water-safe and learn essential skills, while at the same time fostering an attitude of sheer enjoyment, playfulness, and freedom that comes from being in the water. He is especially excited to coach the FSS Swim Team, the Pee Wee Penguins! GO PEE WEES!

Specialties: Ages 3–18, Adults, Team-level

FSS Instructor since: May 2018

Zoe grew up in San Francisco, where she learned to swim and surf at a young age. Later she swam competitively for a total of 7 years: 2 on her high school team plus 5 on the private local team (Go Waterdevils!). She also spent a year in high school playing waterpolo. Her favorite swim stroke is butterfly.

Zoe has been a lifeguard for over 6 years and has been working with kids since she was one herself! She loves watching young swimmers discover the joy of swimming, especially if they are conquering a fear or making progress through challenging skills. She loves the freedom that private teaching give her to really focus on her students as individuals, learning to see life through their eyes and find creative solutions to whatever specific challenges they face.

In her free time, Zoe enjoys exploring the great outdoors. She absolutely loves all the beautiful hikes the west coast has to offer! She spent 2 years living in New Zealand, so that has become a favorite travel destination. Zoe also loves to read and to paint, and has recently added a little black kitten named Felix to her fuzzy family along with her bunny, Ace.

Specialties: Ages 3–18, Adults

Additional languages: ASL (basic)

Holly is a native Oregonian, born and raised in Portland. She swam for the first time when she was 6 months old and hasn’t stopped since! She has competed on Jesuit Swim Team all through high school. For the past 5 years, Holly has spent her summers volunteering to work with children with disabilities. She loves working with children; it always brightens her day to hear all about their opinions, stories, and unique perspectives. It’s amazing to see what kids can accomplish when they challenge themselves and work hard. Other sports Holly has competed in include track and lacrosse. Holly also loves languages: she speaks fluent Spanish and is learning Mandarin Chinese. Her hobbies include sailing, kayaking, traveling, and horseriding; one day she hopes to own her very own horse (and a few dogs, too).

Specialties: Age 3–18

Additional languages: Spanish

FSS employee since: May 2017

Michelle grew up in Antioch, California. She has loved the water ever since her parents brought her into their backyard pool at 6 months old. At the age of 5, Michelle started swim lessons and instantly caught on to all four strokes, qualifying to join her local recreational swim team at the young age of 9. She stayed on East County Stingrays all the way to age 18, meanwhile competing on her high school water polo team. During high school Michelle played 3 sports simultaneously but her true loves were, and always will be, swimming and water polo: the two that involve water, of course!

Michelle has been teaching swim lessons for 15 years. She has taught all ages, from infants to adults, and absolutely loves it. Her passion for teaching swim lessons has inspired her to become teacher in a classroom, too. During college Michelle worked as a substitute teacher in a variety of classrooms in San Diego, and is now pursuing a teaching career in a Montessori classroom. In another year she will earn her elementary teaching certificate along with a Masters in Education. This is one of the most exciting times in her life as she has finally discovered exactly where she is meant to be. And that is all thanks to swimming and being a swim instructor and recent swim coach over the summer!

Specialties: Ages 3–18, Babies, Littles

Nathan is Portland native and started his first swim lessons, at 6 months of age, here at this pool when it was Le Petit Dauphin. 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, Team-level

FSS employee since: May 2017 

Tanya was born and raised in California near the sandy beaches. Tanya has been swimming for as long as she can remember. At the age of twelve, she participated in a swim team called the mako sharks, and was nearly recruited to be a part of the Junior Olympics. 

At eighteen, Tanya took up a Lifeguarding position at a parks and recreation center in Los Gatos California. At that time, Tanya began teaching her passion for swimming. 

Tanya now lives in Beaverton Oregon with her three cats, and as of 2018, encountered snow for the first time! She enjoys adventure activities such as biking, hiking, rock climbing, dancing, and of course swimming. Tanya is honored to be a part of the FSS team she hopes to build confidence safety and trust within her students.

Specialties: Ages 4–18, Adults