Meet the Coaches

Morning Coach Stan Steck

Stan Steck began swimming competitively at age 12, and continued through his college years. After college graduation, he lived hours from the nearest pool so took many years off from swimming. A career move brought him to rural Alaska in 1991; so he got back in the water with SWAM. The team became his Alaska family.

Once again, he enjoyed competitive swimming, especially after he met and fell in love with a lane mate. He spent his honeymoon at the 2000 FINA Masters World Championships in Munich with his new wife. After retirement in 2005, and a move to Anchorage fulltime, Stan became a regular morning SWAMmer.

Stan began coaching SWAM as a volunteer several years ago, so when a departing coach left a void on the deck, Stan decided to help others enjoy swimming as much as he does by accepting the morning coaching position.

Evening Coach Paula Smith

Paula is a former age-group and college swimmer and coached age-group swimmers in a previous lifetime. After a long hiatus from swimming, she joined SWAM in 1999 and has been re-learning how to swim ever since.

Paula started coaching with SWAM on a volunteer basis and was offered a contract to fill a coach vacancy. She has been the co-head coach of SWAM since 2005 and coaches the evening and Saturday workouts. She is
also the assistant coach for the East High School swim team. Paula is also a certified referee and serves as the records/top ten recorder for Alaska Masters.

"I first joined SWAM as a way to regain physical fitness after working a desk job for a number of years. I stayed because the people make it such a fun place to be. As a coach, my goal is to maintain that positive environment while striving to meet the varied needs of our members."