The Chabot Marlins have continually worked hard to ensure that we have a great coaching staff who are competent in the skills needed to coach swimming, but who also offer great encouragement while building the confidence of every swimmer. 

We are pleased to announce our coaching staff for the 2025 season, a team of coaches that were all Marlins themselves!

HEAD COACH:
TOMMY RYKEN

How long have you been coaching? 5 years

Why do you like coaching? I like coaching because it allows me to stay close to the sport of swimming and continue to help make the Marlins one of the best teams in the EBSL.

What is your favorite Marlin memory?  My favorite Marlin memory is when my teammates and I broke the team record for the 15-18 freestyle relay and won gold.

What age did you become a Marlin?  I started with the Marlins when I was 6 years old.

What is your favorite stroke?  My favorite stroke is butterfly.

What advice would you give to swimmers? The advice I would give to young swimmers is to set goals for yourself. Just saying you want to swim faster isn’t a goal, set a time and work towards that.

ASSISTANT HEAD COACH:
ELMA SABANOVIC

How long have you been coaching?  This is my fifth year coaching.

Why do you like coaching? It brings me so much positivity and joy into my daily life.

What is your favorite Marlin memory? My favorite Marlin memory is watching throughout the years my kids progressing and maturing as swimmers and people.

What age did you become a Marlin? I became a Marlin at around age 6.

What is your favorite stroke? My favorite stroke is freestyle.

What advice would you give to swimmers? Advice I would give to my swimmers is to enjoy the time you get because you will miss it when it’s over. 

ASSISTANT COACH:
EMILY MILLER

How long have you been coaching? This is my second year with the Marlins.

Why do you like coaching?  I love getting to watch swimmers improve over the season, even though we’re a team, there’s a lot of individual focus so there are so many opportunities for kids to grow and it’s really rewarding as a coach to have a front row seat to all of their accomplishments.

What is your favorite Marlin memory? Favorite memory would have to be when I was 14 and our medley relay got gold at champs and beat the team record.

What age did you become a Marlin? I was 11.

What is your favorite stroke?  Butterfly would have to be my favorite, but it’s definitely a love/hate relationship.

What advice would you give to swimmers? Definitely to show up to practice and be intentional with your time in the water, the more you’re in the water the better, but making sure that you’re pushing yourself in practice and working on what you know you need to improve on will always reflect in meets.