Our Coaches
All our coaches are qualified through the Masters Swimming Australia (MSA) Club Coach Accreditation Program. We have at least one coach on deck at every training session. Every year we are keen to train new coaches. Please contact us if you’d like to know more.
Nick Westaway
Nick has been a member of Wett Ones since 2013 and has been coaching since 2017. As a teenager he competed at a State and National level in the pool and in surf lifesaving. His favourite swimming events are Individual Medleys, this is often reflected in the sessions he plans along with fun drills that make you think.
Marko Antic
Marko is a swimmer and a runner who has been with Wett Ones since early 2018. In 2019, Marko competed and won NSW a state championship in a 1500m fly. Marko's professional career is in education. Years of experience teaching and working as an educational designer in academia come in handy when Marko creates his swimming sets.
Oscar Perez-Concha
Oscar started swimming when he was 6 in Madrid, and he has been swimming ever since. In 2018, Oscar took his passion to a new level and started coaching. Swimming in the WettOnes is more than a sport for him, it is a way to meet people, to exercise and to feel connected to the community.
Luca Alessi
Luca has been a member of Wett Ones since 2018 and has been coaching since 2020. He is from Italy and during his youth he competed at state and regional level. He is a sprinter and an IM swimmer. He always love to make his session funny and challenging. Another skill Luca has is his Italian accent.
Susie Purcell
Susie started swimming as a child and competed at State level at High School and at the University Games. Susie has been swimming with Wett Ones since 2017 and competed with the team at the Gay Games in Paris in 2018. Susie joined the coaching team in 2019 and coaches on Monday nights. In addition to swimming and fitness, Susie loves surfing, teaching spin classes and caring for her rescue animals. Susie is one of sponsors.
Bradley Monks
Brad joined the WettOnes 4 years ago when he moved from the UK to Sydney. Brad started coaching for the club in 2018. Brad is extremely passionate about embracing the social and health benefits of swimming. His general approach to coaching is to help our members enjoy themselves while getting swim fit and race-ready.
Nathan Da Fonte
Nathan started swimming at an early age and enjoyed racing at swimming carnivals. He swam at State and National level for Backstroke in his teens. Nathan joined Wettones in 2020 and immediately loved the social aspect of the sessions. In 2022, he started coaching and enjoys setting challenging sessions for the lanes he coaches.
Haydn Wood
Haydn has been swimming all his life and joint the Wett Ones in 2002 and participated in the Gay Games of Sydney during that year representing the club. He used to like diving and likes to stay in the water as much as he can, he loves swimming because he feels very safe.
Santiago Guisao
Santiago joined WettOnes in 2021. He is driven to sports and outdoors activities e.g. cycling, running, hiking and swimming. As a social enthusiast, Santiago enjoys connecting and engaging with people, hence embarked on his coaching qualification journey in February 2023 with the objective of helping and enabling the club swimmers to achieve their goals, as he defines rewarding the experience of caring and growth together.
Wett Ones coaches are proud to be part of an openly LGBTIQ Masters swimming club. As swimmers, we have gained something special from membership of a lesbian and gay swimming club. As coaches, our overarching goal is to enable others to gain that special experience.
The relationship between coaches and swimmers is a partnership. Coaches encourage swimmers to develop their skills and expand their appreciation of swimming within their specific goals, enjoy the process of training, and develop friendships within the club and the wider swimming community. Coaching is also a learning experience. We gain knowledge about different individuals and deepen our understanding of the importance of swimming. Fundamental to our passion is the love of swimming which we wish share with other swimmers.
We have different backgrounds and experiences, which lead to unique approaches to coaching. The rewards of coaching inevitably differ among individuals. We encourage swimmers to work with us and trust in the programs we set for them. We applaud the efforts made to work with our suggestions. We acknowledge and share the celebration with each swimmer as they develop their technique. We support the swimmers, physically, intellectually and emotionally. The complex role requires complex responses.
As coaches we want the swimmers to strive to refine and improve their swimming abilities and at the same time enjoy the sessions and companionship of other club members in what is a very special swimming club.