Our Staff
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 4–18 years.
Some of our instructors go through extra training to specialize in:
- Adults
- Babies (4months–35 months)
- Fearful swimmers
- Little swimmers (2.5–3 years)
- Additional needs
- Team-level
To get to know our staff, click a name to read a staff’s bio and see what extra training and qualifications they have!
Owners
Adam Farber
Business Owner
The family
Kristin Farber
Business Owner
Managers
Amanda
Billing Manager
Jen
HR Manager
Administrative Staff
Allison
Annie
Baby Program Coordinator
Billie
Brenna
Office Coordinator
Courtney
Facility Supervisor
Diane
Michelle
Vyvan
Billing Specialist
Instructors
Adam H.
Annie
Baby Program Coordinator
Ava
Billie
Diane
Dana
Jesse
Kathryn
Luke
Adam Farber
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
2016 – Girls 3rd in state & Boys 3rd in state
2015 – Girls 2nd in state & Boys 3rd in state
2014 – Girls 4th in state & Boys 1st in state
2013 – Girls 2nd in state & Boys 1st in state
2012 – Boy’s 1st in state
2011 – Boy’s 1st in state
2010 – Girl’s 3rd in state
Awards:
2014 – Oregon Athletic Association’s 6A Boys Swim Coach of the Year
2014 – Metro League Coach of the Year
2013 – Oregon Athletic Association’s 6A Boys Swim Coach of the Year
2013 – Metro League Coach of the Year
2012 – Metro League Coach of the Year
2011 – Oregon Athletic Association’s 6A Boys Swim Coach of the Year
2011 – Metro League Coach of the Year
Kristin Farber
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!
Amanda
Billing Manager
Amanda was born and raised in Huntington Beach, CA. She grew up on the beach surfing year round. Amanda has a broad competitive sports background and was on several high school teams including soccer, dive, and track & field. After college she moved to Beaverton in 2008 to escape the hustle of Southern California and give her fair skin a break! Her experience spans over 10 years and includes business management, tax preparation, financial reporting, policy implementation, auditing, and forensic accounting.
In her free time, she and her husband enjoy camping, hiking, golfing, archery, wine tasting, exploring new places, and spending time with family & friends.
FSS employee since: July 2017
Jen
HR Manager
Jen was born and raised in Portland where she lives now with her husband and six kids. She did her undergraduate work at Portland State and got her MBA at Marylhurst University. After earning her SPHR and SHRM-SCP, Jen worked for a lot of really great places including First Unitarian Church of Portland, Camp Fire Columbia, Neighborhood House and, currently, Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. Jen came to work for FSS in April of 2018 and loves it because she really believes in the mission of helping people develop an appreciation of and affinity for water. She also really believes in the staff at Farber and is impressed by how dedicated each is to the mission of the organization and how hard they work for and care about the kids and families.
Annie
Baby Program Coordinator / Marketing & Communications
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: Ages 3–17, Babies, Littles, Fears, Adults, Additional needs
FSS employee since: February 2014
Brenna
Office Coordinator / Instructor
Brenna grew up in Naches, Washington and moved to the Portland area at 14. Brenna’s work has always involved kiddos. In high school she coached their Special Olympics teams and went on to work in daycare for 4 years. Now Brenna is raising her own little lady at home!
Brenna loves how kids’ little minds and bodies are like sponges, which can learn and thrive and accomplish ANYTHING if given the proper resources and attention. In her spare time Brenna loves being outdoors as much as possible. During spring and summer, you can usually find her hiking or floating the river!
Brenna recently adopted Bruno, a small spaniel mix rescue and the sweetest boy in the world!
Disneyland is hands-down the coolest place Brenna has traveled, and she plans to go frequently especially now her daughter is 5! That said, she is a homebody at heart and loves all the beauty and adventures to be found right here in the PNW!
Specialties: Babies & Littles
Courtney
Office Assistant / Facility Supervisor
Courtney learned to swim the old-fashioned way—in rivers and lakes as she was growing up in Gresham! She started working with kids as a teen when she coached hockey for younger children. She loves establishing that trust and bond with her students, and the joy of watching them achieve their goals and grow in confidence. In the office, Courtney loves getting to know the kids, listening to their stories and questions and making them laugh. Likewise, Courtney always wants to bring laughter into her lessons. Swimming is an important skill for everyone to learn, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, too!
In her downtime, Courtney’s favorite thing to do is spend quality family time with her partner and her 5-year-old son. Together they enjoy hiking and camping, especially in Courtney’s favorite travel destination, Sisters OR.
Specialties: Babies, Littles, Ages 3–18
Diane
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: Ages 3–18 years, Babies, Littles, Adults, Fears, Additional needs
FSS employee since: May 2017
Jennifer
Office Assistant
Bio coming soon!
FSS employee since: July 2017
Nicole
Office Assistant
Dominick
Office Assistant
Photo & Bio coming soon!
Vyvan
Billing Specialist
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
Dana
Intructor
Dana grew up in Northern California and started competitive swimming at age 7, when her parents realized her desire to always “be first” needed to be channeled in a more positive direction. Swimming took her through school, national and international meets, and gave her her first chance to teach children to swim. From the age of 11 she found joy in watching a child’s smiles (and tears) as they recognize their ability to swim.
Following college, Dana’s career in the biotech/biomedical field led her away from the pool (although the smell of chlorine always made her look for one). The next 20+ years were spent working and traveling while still finding time to volunteer with children (and animals). Now, living in Portland, she is excited to have found Farber Swim School. Dana feels honored and blessed to be given an opportunity to, once again, participate in teaching the thing she feels so passionate about: swimming. She is also training again to, hopefully, compete in future open water swims and triathlons.
Specialties: Ages 3–18, Babies, Littles, Adults, Team-level
FSS Employee since August 2018
Aria
Aria was just a year old when she moved to Portland and made it her home. She has loved working with children ever since she was young and helped out in her mom’s kindergarten classroom. In her free time Aria enjoys concerts, going on walks with Percy, her golden retriever, and chatting with her penpals in Australia. She loves all things music, theatre, film, and books.
Doug
Instructor
Doug 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, Additional needs
FSS employee since: April 2016
Isabella
Instructor
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
FSS Employee since May 2019
Luke
Instructor
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, Adults
FSS Employee since November 2018
Marco
Instructor
Marco was born in Beaverton, but hails from California’s Central Valley. After high school, he came back to his Oregon roots. Marco was on his high school’s swim team for two years and also participated on his high school’s Water Polo team for three years.
Now Marco teaches others what he loves to do, always in a fun and positive way! When Marco isn’t in the pool or listening to music, he’s out on the dance floor! He teaches ballroom dancing and his biggest inspiration for how he moves on the floor is WATER!
Specialties: Babies, Littles, Ages 3–18, Adults
Stephanie
Instructor
Born and raised on the gulf coast of Florida, Stephanie has been swimming since she was two years old and began competing at the age of five. She has competed in triathlons, open water swimming, and championship swim meets. In 2020 she was part of the Oregon state winning relay.
Stephanie has completed a junior life guarding course and assisted with in-water swim lessons before coming to Farber. Swimming is truly one of her life’s passions, and she loves to share the joy of swimming with her students. Stephanie has worked with children of all ages for years, both as a swim instructor and a regular camp counselor.
Stephanie loves kids and wants them to be the safest swimmers that they can be, while still having a FUN time in the water. Safety is always the first goal, and after that she loves seeing her students progress to true proficiency!
Specialties: Ages 3–18 years
Liv
Instructor
Liv grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with a pool in the backyard, and her love of swimming started at just 6 months! One of her first jobs as a high schooler was as a part-time swim instructor. Liv went on to work with children in other capacities for several years, often drawing on her experience helping raise her 13-years-younger siblings, one of whom has Down Syndrome. This has given her a unique perspective on working with babies and children, and showed her how to be flexible and adapt her interaction style to the needs of each individual.
Outside of swim, Liv is working toward becoming an Occupational Therapist. When she’s not in the pool you can find her painting, playing guitar, and traveling.
Liv is very excited to be working at Farber Swim School. Her teaching goal is to find the right mix of fun and challenge: pushing the swimmer to be the best they can be, and having a great time doing it! Her basis for teaching is flexibility; adapting instruction to each individual student is key!
Specialties: Babies, Littles, Ages 3–18 years
Fiona
Instructor
Fiona grew up in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Earth Science. Fiona’s love of water started from a young age through a small swim school back home and has continued throughout her life, eventually leading her into SCUBA diving. When she is not swimming at FSS, she is cuddling up with her two cats, Fernando and Benito. Fiona is looking forward to helping kids reach their swim goals and, most importantly, have fun!
Specialties: Ages 3–18 years, (Babies & Littles pending)
Amanda
Instructor
Amanda grew up near the coast of the great Pacific Northwest, which inspired her deep love for the ocean and nature! She began swimming at age four, starting with lessons and progressing to a junior lifeguard certification and the role of a co-teacher at another program. She now swims competitively for the Westview High School team. In her free time Amanda enjoys creating art, playing the piano, and exploring the beautiful Oregon beach with her dog, Ginger. Another of her passions is environmental preservation, with a special emphasis on Earth’s oceans and all the incredible wildlife who live there. Amanda is very excited to share her love for swimming with others, and looks forward to providing a safe and fun experience for all swimmers.
Specialties: Ages 4–17 years
Additional languages: Vietnamese
Kathrynx
Instructor
Tyler
Office Assistant / Instructor
Tyler was born and raised in Vancouver, WA and recently relocated back to the area after residing the past two years in Provo, UT. Tyler has several years experience working with young children with various additional needs as a tutor at Sunnyside Elementary. Tyler believes patience and playfulness are key to helping swimmers overcome new challenges. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn, and Tyler loves continually guiding his students toward their next breakthrough!
Tyler loves to travel, in particular to his family’s farm in Innsbruck, Austria. He plans to attend to University of Portland next year.
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years, Babies, Littles, Additional needs
Megan
Substitute instructor
Megan grew up in the Hillsboro/Beaverton area and had swimming lessons when she was in elementary school. She was part of her high school’s competitive speech and debate team and even graduated a semester early from high school. Megan was a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Orkila this past summer working with kids aged 8-14.
Megan loves helpings kids to challenge themselves and to see how proud they are of themselves when they do something that was scary before. Seeing kids grow and change and use their new knowledge is one of the more rewarding things about working with kids in Megan’s opinion.
Megan is planning a future career in psychological profiling with opportunities to travel the world. She loves reading and music and she tries different creative activities whenever she gets a chance, her favorites so far being writing and makeup. Megan loves traveling and seeing new places and new cultures and hopes to learn tons of new languages.
Specialties: Ages 4–18 years
Taylor
Instructor
Taylor was born and raised in Oregon, and has been teaching swimming the past 4 years, for students aged 4 months and up! She swam competively as a teen and now especially enjoys bringing that experience into her teaching, when her students are ready to start working on team-level skills. Taylor’s hobbies include snowboarding and surfing. She loves pushing students to be their best selves in the water!
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years, Babies, Littles
Peri
Instructor
Photo and Bio coming soon!
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years
Grace
Instructor
Photo and Bio coming soon!
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years
Additional languages: ASL
Jesse
Instructor
Jesse is from the Adai Caddo tribe in Louisiana and has been swimming since he was two with his community. After moving to Texas, he joined his high school swim team to adventure into more rigorous swimming. He then began working for the City of Austin as a lifeguard & swim instructor. One of Jesse’s favorite sayings is “Our culture teaches us that water is sacred and must be respected.” As a lover of all things adventurous, Jesse enjoys cliff-jumping, hiking, and skateboarding. Jesse is fluent in Spanish.
Specialties: Ages Babies, Littles, 3–18 years
Additional languages: Spanish (fluent)
Kathryn
Instructor
Photo and Bio coming soon!
Specialties: Ages 4–18 years
Ava
Instructor
Photo and Bio coming soon!
Specialties: Ages 4–18 years
Stefanie
Office Assistant
Photo and Bio coming soon!
Allison
Office Assistant
Allison was born across the river in Vancouver, Washington. She attended Skyview High School and graduated in 2019. While going to school, she worked as a swimming instructor and lifeguard for a pool close to her home. Allison found a love of teaching and learning through her experience. During her free time, Allison enjoys drawing, spending time with her best friend, and cuddling with her little cat named Toast.
Michelle
Office Assistant
Michelle was born in Orange County and fell in love with the water at a very young age. She took swim lessons as a kid and grew up spending her free time going to beaches along the West Coast. In her early 20s, she taught swim to kids 3mo.-10 years old, where she discovered her love for teaching and kids. She spends her free time exploring trails, doing yoga, eating French pastries, and reading books.
Naomy
Instructor
Naomy is a life-long Oregonian. She grew up swimming in lessons and for fun, and she is more than happy to be back in the water and teaching others to enjoy the water as much as she does! Naomy is a high school senior and the captain of the Speech and Debate team. She stays active in the community, and currently volunteers at a small secondhand bookstore where she loves the opportunity to help and interact with young kids. In the future, she plans to pursue a degree in computer science at a university in the United Kingdom. Her primary goal is to make sure the kids have a great time while learning to stay safe in the water.
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years
Additional languages: Spanish
Billie
Office Assistant / Instructor
Billie was born near Chicago and raised in Albuquerque. She started swimming lessons at 3 years old after giving her mom a scare at a local water park. Living in the desert Southwest gave Billie 8 months a year in, on, or around the pool. She began teaching family and friends and, later, her two sons (who are grown and live here in the Portland metro also.)
Billie “visited” Portland for the last time in 2013 and became a resident after falling in love with the Timbers Army. In her spare time since, Billie has volunteered and served on committees for the 107IST and the Red Dress Party Portland.
Billie was a career corporate trainer in the restaurant industry and combined her love for teaching and swimming four years ago. She is always excited to swim with the kids and says, “We often teach each other something.”
Billie also enjoys painting and paddle boarding.
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years, Babies, Littles
Adam H
Instructor / Office Assistant
Adam was born in Tennessee but has spent the majority of his life in Oregon. He is a very active person who enjoys the outdoors and lots of exercise. He graduated from U of O and now works as a sports journalist for multiple websites. Adam began lifeguarding in college and went on to teach swim lessons to children from kindergarten to middle school age. He has several years of experience in the aquatics industry. In his free time Adam loves to write and draw, as well as spend time outdoors with his wife and family.
Specialties: Ages 4–17 years
Marisa
Instructor
Marisa was born in Salem, Oregon where she grew up taking swimming lessons at the local YMCA and taking trips to the coast with her family. She moved to Nebraska her junior year where she swam on her high school swim team. Years later she suffered multiple injuries due to her time in the U.S. Army, but after months of aqua therapy she gained more mobility and reclaimed her passion for swimming again! She recently moved back to Oregon to pursue her bachelor’s degree at Pacific University. She is currently a senior studying child psychology and will be graduating next spring! She enjoys video games, exploring the outdoors, watching old television series and movies, and cuddling with her cat (Dexter). She has many years of experience working with children of different age groups and is excited to teach them how swimming can be beneficial in multiple ways!
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years (Babies & Littles pending)
Sankarsh
Instructor
Sankarsh is a Portland native. He has been working with kids since high school, first as an Outdoor School Counselor and later as a swim instructor. He swam competitively in high school and comes to FSS with several years of competitive coaching experience, both at the recreational and the university level. While he was earning his degree at Western Oregon University (with a minor in Education Psychology), Sankarsh worked for the Campus Recreation department. Sankarsh has experience teaching all ages and abilities, from babies to adults, novices to competition level. Sankarsh loves working with people and helping them acquire new skills and find their confidence in the water. Kids are especially fun to teach, due to the cuteness factor and also their incredible senses of humor! His goal is to provide a relaxed and flexible teaching style, with just the right amount of goofiness to keep those kiddos smiling.
In his spare time Sankarsh is an avid baker, currently working on his cake decorating skills. He also loves archery, and hiking in the beautiful PNW wilderness.
Specialties: Ages 3–18 years, Team-level, Adults
Hunter
Substitute Instructor
Hunter has been swimming his whole life! He grew up taking lessons and began competing at a young age. This naturally transitioned him into a teaching role, and he’s been coaching and teaching swim lessons since June of 2015. Out of the pool, Hunter has worked extensively with kids in a variety of roles, from nanny, babysitter, to serving as the Kids’ Activities Director at his church. Hunter loves kids’ energy and enthusiasm, and knows how to harness it to teach them new skills, whether it be how to solve a math problem, how to tie a shoe, or how to do a great racing dive. His experience with literally hundreds of kids has shown him how to create the right balance of fun, laughter, learning, and a little bit of crazy for each child he interacts with!
Specialties: Ages 3–17 years, Babies, Littles, Additional needs