about us

COMFORT CONFIDENCE COMPETENCE

At Charlotte Aquatics, our company culture is centered around the 3 C’s: comfort, confidence and competence.

When a child masters the 3 C’s of swimming it translates into a lifetime of fun and exercise.

Every member of our staff is a dedicated professional, who genuinely cares about the students they instruct.

Leadership Team

Kelly Gaines

Owner and Big Fish

Kelly Gaines, Owner and Big Fish

Kelly is is a licensed Physical Therapist and has a degree in Nutritional Sciences. She is a passionate advocate for children and an avid promoter of water safety and drowning prevention.

Kelly is thrilled and proud of the quality instruction and valuable skills that her team at Charlotte Aquatics provides. Kelly sits on the board of Safe Kids Char-Meck, is a member of Stop Drowning Now, Hope Floats, and the National Drowning Prevention Alliance.

She was named Aquatics International Power Person for 2019, received the Humanitarian Award from the US Swim School Association in 2017, and was named the 2012 member of the year for Safe Kids.

Allie Gaines

Co-Owner and Little Fish

Allie Gaines, Co-Owner and Little Fish

Allie is the upcoming Owner and “Little Fish” of Charlotte Aquatics. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and obtained a degree in Business Administration from Kenan Flagler Business School, whose undergraduate program is ranked top 10 in the country.

In school, Allie focused her studies on entrepreneurship and business consulting, while also taking Exercise and Sport Science classes to excel her passion for health and fitness. Prior to coming to Charlotte Aquatics, Allie was a business consultant at Ernst & Young (EY) working with multiple of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Stephanie Tomalis

Director of Operations

Stephanie Tomalis, Director of Operations

Stephanie is Charlotte Aquatic’s Director of Operations. She has a BA in Psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

She has been working with children since 1997 in school settings, camp settings, church programs, and aquatic programs. Stephanie has helped make children Safer, Healthier, and Smarter™ at Charlotte Aquatics since 2001.

As the Program Director, Stephanie is responsible for overseeing the entire program at CA, as well as, hiring and scheduling. Her passion is teaching and working with our students with autism and special needs.

Stephanie is a wife and a mom to two very athletic daughters. Stephanie was named as an Outstanding Manager from the USSSA in 2016.

Megan M.

Training Coordinator

Megan M., Training Coordinator

Megan, who has been with Charlotte Aquatics since 2017, is an Instructor and our Training Coordinator.

She swam for her neighborhood swim team for 11 years and enjoyed coaching alongside her big sister during her final season.

As a former lifeguard, she understands the importance of safety and thinks that swimming is a skill that all children need to know.

Megan is the recipient of the USSSA 2018 Outstanding Upper Level Instructor of the Year Award and the 2019 Outstanding Manager of the Year Award.

Devyn

Director of Programming

Devyn, Director of Programming

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Devyn grew up being curious and competitive.

He has been a competitive swimmer for 18 years. From 2013-2017, he competed with Queen’s University of Charlotte and won 3 NCAA D2 Championships.

Prior to that, he won two high school championships. Devyn works hard to stay focused on his goals and always finds the time to give back to the community.

Sandi

Customer Operations Director

Sandi, Customer Operations Director

Bio coming soon!

Customer Experience Team

Emily

Customer Experience Specialist

Emily, Customer Experience Specialist

Bio coming soon!

Bella

Customer Experience Specialist

Bella, Customer Experience Specialist

Bio coming soon!

Olivia B.

Customer Experience Specialist

Olivia B., Customer Experience Specialist

Olivia has been working at Charlotte Aquatics since 2016. She also learned to swim at Charlotte Aquatics! In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family and friends, and she really enjoys hiking.

Olivia graduated from Appalachian State in Elementary Education in 2021. She is currently teaching 2nd grade at a local elementary school. Her favorite part about working at Charlotte Aquatics is being able to come in and have fun with her students and coworkers.

Kristen

Customer Experience Specialist

Kristen, Customer Experience Specialist

Bio coming soon!

Swim Instructors

Mike

Swim Instructor

Mike, Swim Instructor

Mike has been with Charlotte Aquatics since 1999 and is a recipient of the United States Swim School Associations 2011 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

Mike has always enjoyed swimming. His love of water earned him a swimming scholarship to Appalachian State University where he later became the assistant swim coach.

He has a degree in educational media and is a national board-certified teacher in business education. Mike is married to a wonderful wife and has two sons (both of whom work at Charlotte Aquatics).

Deborah

Swim Instructor

Deborah, Swim Instructor

Deborah joined the Charlotte Aquatics team in 2009 as an instructor. She has a degree in business administration from Appalachian State University.

After graduating college, Deborah worked as a flight attendant for fourteen years before making the decision to be a stay at home mother to her two wonderful children. Deborah adores teaching and says working with children is a joy.

Kathryn

Swim Instructor

Kathryn, Upper Level Coordinator

Kathryn, was born and raised in North Carolina. She has been working with children for over ten years, swam competitively through her college years, and coached her neighborhood swim team for three years.

Kathryn has her BA in biology from Lenoir Rhyne University. In addition to swimming, Kathryn enjoys working with animals and children; her passions are teaching and caregiving.

“Working with children is a blessing,” she says. In her free time, she loves doing outdoor activities with her family and close friends.

In the future, Kathryn hopes to finish nursing school and travel around the world helping those in need.

William

Swim Instructor

William, Swim Instructor

William was born in Mexico but moved to North Carolina as a child. William is the son of Mr. Mike and maintains that he taught Mr. Mike everything he knows about swimming!

William is an avid soccer fan. He is also a rugby player and spends his free time staying active through sports.

William is a recipient of the United States Swim School Associations 2018 Outstanding Instructor of the Year Award.

Christian

Swim Instructor

Christian, Swim Instructor

Christian is an Instructor at Charlotte Aquatics. Christian attends Charlotte Catholic High School and is on their swim team; she has been swimming since she was 9 and her favorite thing about the sport is how different it is from any other, she also loves being on such a big team.

Christian and her entire family are from Charlotte, she is an only child and loves spending time with her family and friends.

Her favorite thing about working at Charlotte Aquatics is the gratitude and love shown by the kids, it makes her appreciate what she does even more!

Joy K.

Swim Instructor

Joy, Swim Instructor

Joy enjoys giving back to her community, where she is an Ambassador in Girls Scouts of America and a member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Joy began swimming at 4 years old at Charlotte Aquatics, where she earned her Level 6 Red Cross certification.

She then went on to compete in Junior Swim League at SwimMAC. With over ten years of swimming experience, Joy now returns to Charlotte Aquatics as a Instructor. She enjoys spending time with her family, friends and her furry friend, Muffin.

Olivia B.

Swim Instructor

Olivia B., Swim Instructor

Paige

Swim Instructor

Paige, Swim Instructor

Paige grew up in Charlotte but was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She loves working with kids and has babysat many people for a long time. She has competitively swam for 5 years at MAC. She has a dog named Rosie and a younger brother. She loves competitive swimming and hanging out with her friends.

Jane

Swim Instructor

Jane, Swim Instructor

Jane grew up competitively swimming at the sunny beaches of Australia. She moved to New York City and subsequently Charlotte for her gig in the corporate world. Since the birth of her daughter Rooney in 2020, perspectives have shifted, and Jane decided to follow her passion in teaching children the importance of water safety and swim.

When not in the pool, Jane enjoys spending time with daughter Rooney, husband Brad and dog Danner in the NoDa neighborhood.

Alexa

Swim Instructor

Alexa, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Bailee

Swim Instructor

Bailee, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Kira

Swim Instructor

Kira, Swim Instructor

Kira is from New York, where she got a BS in Biology. She learned how to fly a plane and scuba dive when she was a teenager. As a CMS teacher she loves working with children in the classroom and pool. She was captain, MVP, and highest point scorer on her high school team multiple years in a row. She held two club records. She competed in freestyle and butterfly at the collegiate level State Championships. You can find her on her days off hiking with her puppy Vanderbilt.

Olivia

Swim Instructor

Olivia, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Kristen

Swim Instructor

Kristen, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Ayanna

Swim Instructor

Ayanna, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Kaela

Swim Instructor

Kaela, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Trudy

Swim Instructor

Trudy, Swim Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Teaching Assistants & Deckhands

Caitlyn

Teaching Assistant

Caitlyn, Teaching Assistant

Bio coming soon!

Katelyn

Teaching Assistant

Katelyn, Teaching Assistant

Katelyn grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and has lived there her whole life. She learned how to swim at Charlotte Aquatics and has swam on her neighborhood swim team for 9 years.

She loves working with children because they are fun to be around. She has babysat a lot and is on her school dive team. She has 2 dogs named Macy and Riley and has 3 younger siblings.

Maddy

Teaching Assistant

Maddy, Teaching Assistant

Maddy grew up in Charlotte and has lived in the same house since birth. Maddy is very energetic and loves working with children because she thinks “they are very energetic and fun to be around!” Maddy has two horses (Prada and Caruso) and rides competitively. She also swam competitively for two years. When she is not riding or swimming, she plays with her dog, Archie.

Kendall

Teaching Assistant

Kendall, Teaching Assistant

Kendall recently moved from Atlanta, Georgia where she grew up. She swam competitively for three years with the MAC team. She has three younger siblings and loves being around kids. She enjoys reading and playing with her siblings in her spare time.

Troy

Teaching Assistant

Troy, Teaching Assistant

Bio coming soon!

Jillian

Teaching Assistant

Jillian, Teaching Assistant

Bio coming soon!

Lily

Teaching Assistant

Lily, Teaching Assistant

Bio coming soon!

Bennett

Deckhand

Bennett, Deckhand

Bio coming soon!

Banner

Deckhand

Banner, Deckhand

I grew up here in Charlotte. I started swimming competitively when I was 5 years old. Unfortunately, I stopped when COVID hit. I love to paint and draw multiple different things that just come to my mind.

Shaunak

Deckhand

Shaunak, Deckhand

Bio coming soon!