Our Coaches 

James joined the Hillsboro Swim Team in September of 2001. He quickly earned the Head Age-Group coaching responsibilities, a position that he held for over five years. In June 2006, Coach James was hired as the Head Coach of the Hillsboro Swim Team.
James started his competitive swimming career at the age of 14 with the Oregon City Swim Team. While attending college James started his coaching career by "helping out" with coaching duties on the Oregon City Swim Team. Coaching quickly became more addictive and fun than swimming was for James. James coached for OCST for four years. In addition to his duties at OCST, James was the Head Coach of the Gladstone High School Swim Team for four years and was a staff member of the Oregon Zone team in 2001, 2002, and in 2004.  

Some of James' coaching accomplishments include: multiple Oregon Age Group State champions; multiple Age Group Sectional champions; multiple Western Zone champions; multiple Pacific Northwest Senior Sectional finalists; USA Swimming Spring Championship Finalists, USA Swimming Junior National Finalists, and multiple NCSA Junior National Finalists. Along with these feats, James’ swimmers have also achieved: USA Swimming Olympic Trial time standards and multiple USA Swimming Top 10 (previously Top 16) National Reportable standards; including four #1 Rankings. Along the way James’ swimmers have accumulated 30 Oregon Swimming records.

In 2007 James was selected by his peers as the Oregon Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year. In 2008 the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) also recognized James as the Age Group Coach of the Year for Oregon.
James also has an Associates Degree in Education. When James is not on the pool deck, he is spending time with his wife Leah and their three cats.

Mark Bennett is the Senior Development coach for the Hillsboro Swim Team. He has been coaching the Sectional and Age-Group II groups since January 2008. 

Before coaching in Hillsboro, Coach Mark had coached as the Head Age-Group Coach of Poseidon Swimming in Richmond, Virginia. In five years at PSDN, he coached multiple swimmers to National Top-16 finishes, including a national #1 ranked individual and relays. He also coached swimmers to Eastern Zone and Virginia Swimming records and titles. Previous to his stint in Richmond, Coach Mark was acting Head Coach of South County Aquatic Waves in Pismo Beach, CA, where significant improvement was made in team numbers and team finishes at Age-Group and Senior level championship finishes. Mark’s swimmers at SCAW represented the team at the US Open, Junior National, Western Zone, and Sectional levels. Mark began his career with the Santa Maria Swim Club in Santa Maria, CA as a Pre-Senior and Senior Assistant Coach.

Mark’s swimming career brought him success at the age-group and Junior National level in Southern California with the Santa Maria Swim Club, and then later at the National and NCAA Division I level with the University of Nebraska. While at Nebraska, Coach Mark was honored with Athletic All-American and Academic All-American status in three seasons, and was also granted the team captainship in his senior year.

On a personal level, Mark lives in Hillsboro with his wife, Joy and his two children, Nathan and Anne. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska and a California Teaching Credential from Cal Poly University at San Luis Obispo. Mark really enjoys working with adolescents and is firm believer in swimming fast and having fun, and always with each swimmer’s long term best interests in mind.

Caitlin joined the Hillsboro HEAT in September 2007. Her first season with the team was exciting and very enjoyable!  

She grew up in Pennsylvania where she began swimming at the age of 9. She qualified for YMCA Winter Nationals and helped her high school team place 1st in the state. She went on to attend Lehigh University to earn a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and swam at the Division I level.

Before coming to the HEAT, Caitlin was an assistant coach for the Potomac Marlins in Alexandria, Virginia. She even coached in the Northern Virginia Swim League (one of the largest summer swim programs in the U.S.). Her coaching experience also includes assisting at the Potomac School in McLean, VA, working at Lehigh University's summer swim camp, and teaching swim lessons.

Caitlin lives in Beaverton with her husband Jason.

Kaitlin began coaching with the Hillsboro HEAT in December of 2001. She coached part-time and during the summers throughout her four years of college. Kaitlin’s coaching experiences range from coaching the youngest, newest members of the team to the upper age group level swimmers. She has also coordinated and coached at the Hillsboro Heat Swim Camp and NIKE swim camps.  

Kaitlin’s swimming career started in 1993 with the Hillsboro HEAT Swim Team. In addition to swimming for the club team for fifteen years, Kaitlin lettered four years at Hillsboro High School, where she still holds the school record in the 50 yd. Freestyle. In February 2008, Kaitlin completed her fourth year as a Varsity member of Oregon State University’s Division I swim team.

In August 2008, Kaitlin graduated from O.S.U. with a B.S. degree in Exercise and Sport Science with a physical therapy option. Future plans are to apply to graduate school to pursue a Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree. In addition to coaching, Kaitlin has taught both group and private lessons and acts as a volunteer swim coach for Oregon Special Olympics.

Andrew jumped on board with the Hillsboro Heat coaching staff in January 2008, having previously spent several years with HST as a swimmer. He is an assistant coach in the Novice and Age Group squads, as well as a Dry-land instructor. Andrew is currently a full-time college student at Multnomah Bible College and Portland Community College.  

Andrew’s swimming career spanned ten years (from age 8-18) and was split between two clubs: Tualatin Hills Swim Club and Hillsboro Swim Team. Though he specialized particularly in backstroke, he also enjoyed the free-style and butterfly events; he somehow ended up in the 400IM at every meet. For Andrew, competition was always welcomed with excitement and adrenaline, however, he believes that the most important part of swimming is the relationships team-mates and competitors establish over years of training side-by-side.

Andrew’s interests include a number of outdoor activities including: hiking, back-packing, camping, snorkeling (spear-fishing), body-boarding, long-boarding, waterfall jumping, etc. He attempts to play guitar and various percussion instruments. He also serves at a local church teaching a Bible study for young adults.

Matt started coaching with the Hillsboro HEAT in September 2008. He was born in New York and also lived in New Mexico before be moved to Oregon in 2001. He was a competitive swimmer for over 14 years with Duke City Aquatics in New Mexico and both the Tualatin Hills Swim Club and the HEAT in Oregon. Matt was a National Qualifier in the 100 and 200 meter breastrokes and also swam IM events.

Matt also attended Oregon State University where he graduated in September 2008 with a B.S. in General Science with which he hopes to apply to Optometry school. He swam during the summers with the HEAT while attending OSU. This is his first official coaching position where he is an assistant with Age Group, Novice, and other groups as needed.

Matt’s interests outside the pool include football, fishing, hunting, camping, and wakeboarding. He recently was married in July 2008 and lives in Hillsboro with his wife Chelsea.