Paul Ikeda

l’ve always been happy in a pool. I jumped into one as a small child and my dad jumped in clothes and all to pull me out. I spent summers as a kid at the pool my parents joined. I started swimming laps at the YMCA in the suburbs of Chicago once out of college. After I moved to Seattle in my mid 20s, I started swimming laps with engineering friends from work at lunch time at the pool in Tukwila. The first swim team I joined was ORCA and my first swim meet was an ORCA meet at age 30 in 1990. I’ve been coaching at ORCA since the mid 1990s and I am currently a certified Red Cross Lifeguard and a certified ASCA and USMS swim coach. In addition to swimming, I ride my bike in the AIDS/LifeCycle charity, and I enjoy cooking and gardening. I make a living by working on retirement benefits.

AJ Burt

My relationship with swimming is mature & intimate, and I love learning about yours. My favorite thing about the ORCAs is that we’re IGLA-affiliated, and I’m very excited to grow ORCA’s inclusivity for our deaf teammates.

I grew up in gorgeous & anomalous Wyoming, Ohio and learned to swim during a hot summer by jumping into my family’s backyard pool with no water wings on. I confidently stayed above water before Dad had time to jump in, fully clothed; those water wings have stayed off ever since.

I’ve been coaching since 2005, mostly in Ohio, and I’ve helped develop swimmers & coaches across most ages. While I’ve spent the most time (7 years) coaching (chasing) ages 4-8, my favorite age range is ours. Helping you connect with your body, meeting your goals, and having a gay old time along the way are what motivates and inspires me.

Ask me about my three favorite indoor pools.

As a coach, I invite collaboration, playfulness, intentional consistency and as always, feedback.

SARAH PUTULIN

I love the US Women's National Team, martial arts, ultimate frisbee, Avatar the Last Airbender (original version - duh) and of course swimming. I’ve been coaching the ORCAs Team since October 2023 after joining in June 2023. 

My experience with swimming started when I was 3 or 4 and my parents took me to the local YMCA. After stubbornly refusing to participate and expressing a vehemence against the floating class, my parents decided to try a different approach at the local swim club (Palo Alto Swimming Aquatics) where I thrived; I haven’t looked back since. In high school, I swam junior varsity and varsity for Palo Alto High School, becoming team captain my senior year, and ironically, I ended up coaching the little ones at my local YMCA, an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I try to mix up the practices to give everyone a bit of something they like or perhaps something they need. Seeing what an individual can accomplish always makes me super happy. I always welcome feedback. So, please let me know if it’s ever too challenging or if you’d like to see a specific drill or set in the next practice! 

I love that the Orcas Team is open and inviting to the queer community!

HALEY WEAVER

I hail from Charlotte, North Carolina, where I grew up in a bonafide swimming family. Both of my parents were competitive swimmers, and my siblings and I were destined to follow in their footsteps, starting our aquatic careers on the neighborhood summer league team. After competing through high school and college, I took an eight year hiatus from chlorine before rediscovering my love for the sport with ORCA. 

I’ve been coaching since 2011, primarily instructing ages four through eighteen both at the summer league and high school level. My coaching philosophy stems from a deep love for the sport and the community it fosters. I prioritize inclusivity, collaboration, and safety on and off deck. An ideal swim practice has it all: A bit of challenge, a sprinkle of fun, and a sense of shared accomplishment with teammates.

Outside of the pool, I work as a writer and illustrator. My first book Give Me Space but Don’t Go Far tells the story of my relationship with anxiety (and even has a whole chapter dedicated to swimming!).