Tom McRae

Head Coach

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Coach Tom graduated from Ohio State University with a Physical Education degree specializing in developmental motor patterns in children. He was Assistant Coach for the Ohio State Women’s Swim Team in 1988-90, and Assistant Coach for the Stanford Women’s Swim Team in 1990-91. Coach Tom has worked with several 1992 & 1996 Olympic medalists from Stanford, and coached swimmers from the Mexican National Team for the 2000 Olympic Games. He is a Certified Level 4 member of American Swimming Coaches Association.

In 1990 he started as an Age Group Coach for SOLO, and became the Head Coach in 1992. Unlike many other Head Coaches, Coach Tom works with all levels of swimmers. His daily activities included being in the water teaching the youngest swimmers, helping Age Group swimmers with their strokes, and running practices for National level swimmers.

Coach Tom is also the Head Coach for Menlo-Atherton High School’s swim team. In 2006 the MA girls finished undefeated in the PAL league and finished fourth in CCS. Four girls made All-American for the second year. On the boys side there were great improvements moving into the second place in PAL with boys finishing in the top 16 in CCS. The size and depth of the team has really been tremendous the past five years that Coach Tom has worked with the program.

Following his older brothers to the pool put Tom on his first swim team at the age of four. As a high school swimmer things really took off as a member of the Greater Columbus Swim Team. He was a walk-on swimmer at Ohio State as a freshman, which led to coaching the sport. As a masters swimmer Coach Tom broke the World Record in the February Fitness competition in 1995 and again in 1996 swimming over 725,000 yards in a month. The purpose of this exercise was to show the swimmers that if they wanted to achieve success, they needed to work toward a goal. For Tom that turned out to be 25,000 yards per day, which took eight hours.

Sean Horan

Coach

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Coach Sean started as the SOLO Aquatics Age Group Coach in 2009, immediately falling in love with the positive environment and coaching philosophy. His goal is to encourage swimmers to learn swimming technique for a lifetime of healthy living. He empowers his swimmers with peer leadership at every level in order to develop physical, mental, and social skills that will apply to all aspects of their lives. 

Coach Sean grew up in the East Bay, and began swimming for Woodlands Swim Team at age five. He reached Junior Olympic qualifying time by age twelve in 50 Back, then later achieved Far Western Qualifying Times in 100 Back, and the 50, 100, and 200 Free. Coach Sean had the honor of being part of very talented relays in high school, winning the 200 Free, 200 Medley, and 400 Free Relays at the North Coast High School Championship Meet, and setting records at the Contra Costa County Championships. 

Sean began coaching in 2001 at the Woodlands Swim Team in Walnut Creek, leading cheers and developing a passion for swimming spirit. After following an offer to coach the fledgling Chicago Wolfpack Aquatics Club in 2005, he returned home.  Sean coached Water Polo and Swimming at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, helping to coach two National Qualifying Rec Swimmers and the Championship Finalist Girls Water Polo Team. Coach Sean moved to the Peninsula to complete his Broadcasting degree at San Francisco State University. Since 2008, Coach Sean has integrated new hierarchical teaching methods as Head Coach of the Eichler Gators in Palo Alto. Sean prides himself on creating a cooperative learning environment, which is necessary to develop interpersonal, intrapersonal, and kinesthetic awareness for athletes.

Robert Peck

Coach

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Coach Bobby joined SOLO Aquatics in early 2010, and absolutely loves it. His goal is to teach swimming technique to swimmers of all ages, and to ensure they have fun along the way. Enjoying swimming at an early age is the best way to create a lifelong love for the water.

Coach Bobby grew up in Palo Alto, and started swimming before he could walk. He joined the Eichler Gators summer league team at age 4, and enjoyed it so much that he spent the next 15 years there, even coming back from college to swim and help out the team. He was on the GUNN High School water polo and swim teams, competing in every event, especially the 50 and 100 Butterfly, and the 100 and 200 IM.

Coach Bobby started teaching swim lessons in high school, working for the City of Palo Alto as a lifeguard, and again in 2009 for Menlo Swim and Sport. He met Coach Sean while working at the Palo Alto JCC, and Sean brought him to SOLO. He graduated from UC Davis in 2008 with a B.S. in Medical Microbiology, but discovered upon graduation that he had a stronger passion for connecting with children than exploring the physical sciences. He loves passing on his swimming knowledge to children, and making the learning process a fun and exciting experience.