Coach Michael Brooks returns to the York YMCA after a long hiatus coaching around the country and Canada; most recently, he has coached swimming and learned French in Montreal, Quebec, with Neptune Natation, then spent a summer with NBAC down in Baltimore.

A featured speaker at major coaches’ clinics across the country and Canada, he has spoken on wide-ranging topics, such as creating a culture of excellence, teaching technique, coaching effective practices, age group coaching for long-term success, coaching swim parents, creating talent in a small town, coaching IM’ers, and engineering success for age groupers at meets. In addition, he has taught the ASCA Stroke Technique School three times and the Physiology School once. In 2011, his book Developing Swimmers, a guide for age group swim training, was published by Human Kinetics, and in 2020, Championship Productions published his 5-part video series on Motor Learning and Swimming.

Coach Brooks was the head coach of the York YMCA swimming team from 2006 to 2016. During that time, York Y swimmers represented the USA internationally at meets ranging from Junior Worlds, Youth Olympics, Junior PanPacs, PanAms, and various World Cup meets. Four of his swimmers were named to USA Swimming’s National Junior Team and two to the National Team, York Y alumna Hali Flickinger won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, and York Y alumnus Coleman Stewart broke the world record for the 100 scm backstroke. The York Y was named a Gold Medal Club in both 2013 and 2015, the smallest team to achieve this honor. And in 2016, the York YMCA girls won the team title at the YMCA national championships.

Michael served on US National Team staffs to the Pan-American Games, Junior Pan-Pacific Championships, and World Cup stops in Doha and Dubai. He has been named the Coach of the Meet at the YMCA National Championships four times, Middle Atlantic Senior Coach of the Year twice, Maryland Age Group Coach of the Year twice, and Utah High School Coach of the Year twice. His swimmers have raced to fifty-plus YMCA national titles and over two hundred USA Swimming national Top 16 and Top 10 rankings.

Michael studies excellence of all sorts and is a voracious reader about people and organizations who are the best at what they do, whether in sports, business, art, academia, etc. He is continually “borrowing” ideas from other disciplines to improve his program. He aims to develop swimmers who are beautiful to watch, superhumanly fast and fit, and who think like champions.

Anthony Preda is excited to join the York YMCA Swimming program as an Assistant Coach. A native New Yorker, Anthony has spent much of his life in competitive swimming as both an athlete and coach.

Anthony competed collegiately at Lehman College, where he set school records in the breaststroke, individual medley, and relay events. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Lehman before completing a Master of Science in Exercise and Wellness at Arizona State University.

Most recently, Anthony served as the Senior II Lead Coach and Team Administrator for the 92NY Flying Dolphins in Manhattan, where he led a training group of more than 50 swimmers ages 13–18. During his time with the program, he helped seven swimmers achieve their first Junior Metropolitan Championship qualifying standards while supporting consistent improvement and a high percentage of lifetime-best performances.

Prior to 92NY, Anthony coached with the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester, served as the first Head Coach of the Swim Club at Arizona State University, and spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant with Grand Canyon University’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s programs. At Grand Canyon, Anthony worked in a high-performance environment that included NCAA Championship, Olympic, and international-level athletes.

Anthony’s coaching philosophy emphasizes strong technical fundamentals, purposeful training, consistency, and long-term athlete development. He believes swimmers improve most when they understand both what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Anthony looks forward to working alongside Coach Brooks, getting to know the swimmers and families, and contributing to the continued growth of the program.

Coach Jillian (Beck) Almoney has coached at the York YMCA since 2018 and primarily leads the Advanced, Novice, and Pre-Team groups at the GAC. She began coaching during college in the summer for Lancaster Aquatic Club and various summer league teams in the Lancaster area, including head coach of Golden Meadows for 2 years and the Conestoga Sharks for 8 years. She coached for 2 years at the Lancaster YMCA before coaching for 10 years at Marauder Aquatic Club, where she was head age group coach and also ran swim lessons. She also spent time as a volunteer coach at Hempfield High School and Millersville University. Additionally, she has had the honor of being a Middle Atlantic Zone Team coach 2016-2022.

Coach Jillian’s swimming experience began at age 5 at Woodridge Swim Club under her dad, retired Hempfield coach Steve Beck, but she has really been around competitive swimming since birth and swimming has always been a way of life and a passion. She also swam for the Lancaster YMCA and other area clubs, as well as Hempfield High School, where she was an Academic All-American, and East Stroudsburg University, where she specialized in back/fly/IM and was a PSAC Scholar Athlete. She holds a BS in elementary education, a Masters in secondary/middle level education from Edinboro University, and is also certified in family and consumer sciences and middle level math. She currently teaches middle school FACS in the Solanco School District. Additionally, she is part of a media outlet that covers the Philadelphia Union soccer team. She lives in Lancaster with her husband (a proud York Y alum) and their 3 spoiled cats. She believes in building a great foundation of technique in swimmers while fostering a love of the sport, and making swimmers LOVE hard work!

Anthony Preda is excited to join the York YMCA Swimming program as an Assistant Coach. A native New Yorker, Anthony has spent much of his life in competitive swimming as both an athlete and coach.

Anthony competed collegiately at Lehman College, where he set school records in the breaststroke, individual medley, and relay events. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Lehman before completing a Master of Science in Exercise and Wellness at Arizona State University.

Most recently, Anthony served as the Senior II Lead Coach and Team Administrator for the 92NY Flying Dolphins in Manhattan, where he led a training group of more than 50 swimmers ages 13–18. During his time with the program, he helped seven swimmers achieve their first Junior Metropolitan Championship qualifying standards while supporting consistent improvement and a high percentage of lifetime-best performances.

Prior to 92NY, Anthony coached with the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester, served as the first Head Coach of the Swim Club at Arizona State University, and spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant with Grand Canyon University’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s programs. At Grand Canyon, Anthony worked in a high-performance environment that included NCAA Championship, Olympic, and international-level athletes.

Anthony’s coaching philosophy emphasizes strong technical fundamentals, purposeful training, consistency, and long-term athlete development. He believes swimmers improve most when they understand both what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Anthony looks forward to working alongside Coach Brooks, getting to know the swimmers and families, and contributing to the continued growth of the program.