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.

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!

This coach is awesome!

Ashley has been swimming for as long as she can remember. As an athlete, Ashley competed in the Fly, IM, and Back Events. Upon graduating from her club/YMCA program, Ashley moved into a coaching role with the Peninsula Piranhas (a joint effort between Newport News and Hampton family YMCA’s). Ashley remained full-time in this role until 2008, at which point she went part-time to focus on family. Ashley returned to full-time coaching in 2015 with the YMCA of Southern West Virginia, where she also served as the General Chair of West Virginia Swimming. Ashley has continued to coach to the present day and is excited to spend more time on the pool deck again, as this sport has been such an integral part of her life.

Over the years, Ashley has had the privilege of coaching athletes of all skill levels and prides herself in pushing athletes to achieve their goals and find their love for the sport. She is also a certified Stroke & Turn Official, Administrative Official, and she is working on her Meet Director certification.

Ashley has three children, one of whom is currently swimming in college for WVU Tech. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors.

A native of York and an alumnus of both the York YMCA and Northeastern High School, Coach Almoney brings over two decades of coaching experience across all levels of competitive swimming.

A former PIAA State Champion in the 100-yard butterfly and an All-American, Almoney remains a record-holder at Northeastern High School and is a proud inductee of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame. He continued his swimming career at West Chester University, earning 16 All-American honors, PSAC Rookie of the Year, and multiple All-PSAC selections. He was also a former school record holder during his tenure.

In his club career, Almoney was a Junior National and U.S. Open Finalist and earned multiple top finishes at YMCA Nationals, including two runner-up performances in the 50 fly.

Almoney's coaching résumé is equally impressive, spanning over 20 years across YMCA, USA Swimming, and NCAA collegiate programs. He has served as a head coach at the NCAA Division I and II levels for 15 years, with his teams excelling both in the pool and the classroom. Under his leadership, athletes achieved top-three finishes at conference championships, NCAA B cuts, and significant academic and community engagement accolades.

Returning to his roots, Almoney now leads the YMCA Swrimming Pre-team, Novice, and Advanced training groups at the York YMCA’s Shrewsbury location. In addition to his coaching duties, he serves as the Community Health Director for the YMCA of the Roses, continuing his mission to foster excellence, character, and community well-being.

Coach Almoney resides in Lancaster with his wife, Coach Jillian. They are passionate sports fans, owners of media group that covers the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, and proud cat parents to three felines. The York YMCA is thrilled to have Coach Almoney back, continuing the tradition of excellence he once helped build.