Coach and Assistant
Coaching Staff
Matt Zachan- Co-Head Coach
Matt began swimming competitively when he was six years old for the
Dana Hills Swim Team. After four years, he lost his interest in
swimming and decided to take a break. He began swimming again for
Dana Hills and Clayton Valley when he was fifteen years old. In his
final year of swimming, he earned the Most Valuable award for
Clayton Valley and the High Point Award for Dana Hills. After high
school, Matt moved on to play water polo for Chico State where, in
2007, he was the captain and club president. Next fall, he will be
taking over the position of head coach for the team. Matt began
teaching swim lessons when he was fifteen for the Dana Hills
Homeowners. After five years of swim lessons, he wanted to move on
and become a full time coach for Dana Hills. He was given the
position of assistant coach for the summers of 2006 and 2007. Matt
is extremely excited to be returning as the co-head coach with
Kelly. He truly believes that Dana Hills is one of the best
recreational teams in the area and is thrilled to be part of it. GO
OTTERS!
Kelly McCabe
– Co-Head Coach
Coach Kelly has been coaching rec swimming for the past 7 years with
Gehringer and Valley Vista, but her career in swimming goes way
beyond that! Kelly started swimming when she was three and competed
on the Gehringer Gators until she was 18. She went to Ygnacio Valley
High School where she swam, played water polo and basketball. She
was able to compete in the NCS championships and place in the top 10
for the 100yd breaststroke and 100 yd IM. She continued her sports
career at Diablo Valley College where she was named an All-American
water polo player and swimmer. She swam in the State Championship
Swim Meet both years and placed in the top 10 for the 100 yd
breaststroke, 50 yd breaststroke and the 100 yd IM. Although her
long stint as a competitive swimmer has ended, she still enjoys
getting in the pool and of course coaching. When Kelly does have
free time away from school, she enjoys working out and nannying. She
is currently at American River College in Sacramento, pursuing her
major (Phychology/Child Development). She is really excited to be
coaching Dana Hills for her third year and can’t wait for the season
to start!
Chris Yang
Chris started swimming at the age of four with Miramonte Swim Club.
He attended DVC for two years, where he placed in the top three in
the state in all of his events: 100 fly, 200 fly, 400 IM, 200 IM and
500 free. Chris also swam for the University of Hawaii, where he
studied Sociology and Political Science. Chris is a returning coach
and has also coached for two summers at Moraga Valley Pool. He also
coached Campolindo High School’s JV team in Moraga, as well as
Pacific 5 Institute’s water polo teams in Hawaii. Outside of
swimming, Chris has distinguished himself in the field of music, as
a composer and a violinist. He was all-state in orchestra all for
years of high school and concert master for two years, and was given
the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York. He is thrilled
to be helping us with pre-season this year.
Dean Marcic
Dean is excited about helping us with pre-season this year. Dean is
not new to DHST. He was a junior coach for us in 2004. Currently,
he is an off season youth coach at DVC and he coaches the Lamorinda
water polo camp for 10 and unders.
Kelsey
Brassil
Kelsey is returning for her third year as an assistant coach. She
has been swimming with Dana Hills since she was four years old and
last year finished out fifteen years of swimming with the Otters.,
where she earned most improved, and multiple high points and coaches
awards throughout the years. She swam for four years and played
water polo for three years at Carondelet High School, ending her
senior year with 2nd place in the NCS Championships in
water polo and as captain of the NCS Champion swim team. She is now
a sophomore at the University of Oregon and studying as a business
major. She is a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and is
pretty well adjusted to the wet lifestyle in Oregon. She is very
excited to return to Dana Hills yet again this summer, but this time
solely as a coach and no longer a swimmer!
Dana Hill
Dana started swimming at the age of 3 as a flyer at Forest Park Swim
Club. She swam there for 12 years and still holds the 7/8 girls
backstroke record. When she gave her name at the blocks, she was
often told either that she should be swimming for Dana Hills or that
she needed to give her name, not her swim team’s name. At 15 she
finally decided to join Dana Hills. This will be her 4th
summer as a swimmer at Dana Hills and her 3rd as a junior coach.
Dana has participated on the varsity swim team at Clayton Valley
High School for the past 4 years. As a senior, she is one of the
team captains. Dana is looking forward to attending college in
Southern California this fall and will hopefully swim at the
collegiate level. She is looking forward to seeing everyone this
spring and having a great season!
Matt
Bishop
Matt has been swimming since the age of 5, first for Gehringer Swim
Team and then for Bishop Estates, where he was a junior coach for
the 6 and under age group. When he was 13 he decided to go to year
round swimming and joined the Terrapins Swim Team where he has been
on the National Team for the past year. That was his goal since
starting with the Terrapins and he worked very hard to achieve it.
He is a senior at Clayton Valley High School and has been on the
varsity swim team for the past 4 years. Last year he was given the
Coaches award and this year is team captain. This will be his 4th
year competing in the NCS Championships before going to college in
the fall where he plans to continue his swimming career. He is
really looking forward to coaching again and being with Dana Hills
this summer!