Coaches/Instructors
Adam Braun
Director of Aquatics, Head Coach of FCA & FCS
Coaches: Senior (Lead), Junior II, Junior I, Novice, & Mini's
Adam joined FCA in December of 2020 as the Director of Aquatics and Head Coach. After spending eight years coaching at Drexel University, the last six as the head coach, he briefly tried life in the "real world" as a professional recruiter. When the opportunity at FCA presented itself it was crystal clear to Adam that he belonged back on the pool deck.
While at Drexel, Adam helped lead the Dragons to heights the program had never seen before. This included program high finishes at CAA championships, individual & relay champions at CAA's, and coaching multiple swimmers to qualify for and final at NCAA's, U.S. Nationals, and Olympic Trials. During the six years as head coach all but one of the team records were broken and over 400 new All-Time Top 5 Performances were swum. During his tenure, Adam was a two-time CAA Coach of the Year and one-time Drexel Athletics Coach of the Year once.
Prior to Drexel, Adam served as the Director of Competitive Aquatics at the Western Family YMCA in Newark, Delaware for nearly five years. A native Michigander, Adam grew up just north of Detroit swimming for the South Oakland YMCA competing and national level meets. throughout high school He followed in his brother Matt and Uncle George's footsteps by attending and swimming for Ohio State University where he graduated with a degree in Coaching & Management.
Adam currently resides in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of South Philadelphia with his wife Mary, their daughter Emilia and their mastiff mix dog Millie Bobbie.
Will Gallagher
Assistant Head Coach
Coaches: Senior, Junior II (Lead), Junior I (Lead), Novice, & Mini's
Will came to FCA in August of 2019 as the Assistant Head Coach. During his tenure at FCA, he has become their Meet Director and Operational Risk Director while also being a coach. He is active in the Middle Atlantic (MA) LSC. He is on the Board of Directors of Middle Atlantic as the Safe Sport Chair, and recently was part of the Middle Atlantic Summer All-Star Zone Coaching Staff in 2021 & 2022. Additionally, he has been appointed to the USA Swimming National Committee of Safe Sport. Prior to joining FCA, Will was the Assistant coach at Lower Moreland and was also their Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Will is from the Philadelphia area, and grew up in Upper Dublin Township. While attending Upper Dublin High School, he swam for the high school team all four years and was captain his senior year. Since then, he has always loved the sport! Will graduated from Slippery Rock University with a BS in Exercise Science and has his Masters in Sports Management from the University of Texas-Austin.
Will’s love for Philadelphia Sports teams spreads to all four major teams! His favorite team is the Philadelphia Eagles and his favorite memory is attending the 2017 NFC Championship game. He also enjoys running and has completed numerous marathons!
Bridget Brown
Head of Swim School & Assistant Head Coach
Coaches: Senior, Junior II, Junior I, Novice (Lead)
Bridget is the Head of FCA's Swim School and Assistant Swim Team Coach. She is a Philadelphia native and a mother of two. During high school, she swam for world-renowned and recently inducted Swim Hall of Fame legend, Jim Ellis—check out the biopic film about him: Pride!
Bridget is a University of Pittsburgh graduate, where she participated in Varsity Swimming and Track. Her BS is in Health and Physical Activity, and her Masters is in Sport Management. Bridget has also been the Aquatics Manager at the KROC Center and the Coordinator of Aquatics Safety at Drexel University. Bridget is a Level II Member of American Swim Coaches Association.
Victoria Gillison
Team Phoenix Head Coach
Coaches: Team Phoenix, Novice/Mini's
Victoria is the Head Coach of the Team Phoenix program and assists with multiple groups for FCA and Swim School when needed. Victoria is a Friends' Central School and FCA alumnae and went on to receive both her Bachelor's and Master's from the University of Pennsylvania.
While she was a student at FCS, Victoria was a four year varsity high school swimmer during which she set multiple records and was on the FSL Championship for four consecutive years. She was a member of FCA from the age of nine until she left for UPenn.
Victoria is excited to broaden her horizons with coaching at FCA and looks forward to helping her swimmers enjoy the sport of competitive swimming while continue to evolve as people, much like her coaches did for her.
Kerry Sherin-Porter
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Masters (Lead), Junior II, Junior I, Mini's (Lead), Team Phoenix, Swim School Level I
Kerry has been teaching and coaching in the area for over 25 years and has been with FCA since the summer of 2003. Kerry is our swiss army knife of coaches as she works with all possible levels from masters swimmers to level I swim school participants. She is the lead coach for Masters, Mini's and Level I swim school. Kerry was also a FCA swim parent as one of her sons swam for FCA who still holds the 15-18 50 free team record and later went on to swim at West Chester University.
Kerry has a BS in Music Education from West Chester University and plays professionally with a string quartet and Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra.
Olivia Gillison
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Senior & Junior II morning practices
Olivia is an Assistant Swim Coach at Friends’ Central Aquatics. Olivia has worked with young swimmers for more than 15 years including FCA Swim School, FCS Summer Camp and OWU’s Bishop Bubbles program. She began her swimming career with FCA at the age of eight (8) in the Novice Group and swam all the way through high school, at Friends’ Central, and collegiately, at Ohio Wesleyan University. Olivia graduated from OWU Cum Laude with a BA in Geography, Environmental Studies and Urban Studies. She has had many successes in being a part of record breaking relay’s through high school and college, as well as holding individual records. She continues her love for the sport of swimming through coaching the next generation at FCA and by advocating for equitable access to swimming for BIPOC communities.
Ace Macdonald
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Senior, Junior II, Junior I, Novice, Swim School Level 3
Ace is joining FCA for his first season as an Assistant Coach. He is a Philadelphia native and Quaker, having attended a Friends’ school for much of his youth. During childhood, Ace spent much of his time in the pool, swimming for various local club teams.
As a four-year varsity swimmer and Captain of the Water Polo team at Germantown Academy, Ace went on to continue his athletic endeavors both in the pool, with Wagner College Water Polo, and in work, fighting wildfires across the western United States. Since returning from the west, he had taken up directorship over the Souderton Pool, focusing their swim program on beginner and intermediate instruction.
Ace is excited to bring his extensive swimming knowledge and many work experiences to FCA and its surrounding community.
Felicity Tso
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Junior II, Junior I, Novice, Swim School Level 2
Felicity is an Assistant Swim Coach at Friends’ Central Aquatics. Growing up, she loved to be in the water and has competitively swam and played water polo for over ten years. In her time as a swimmer, Felicity was captain of her club and high school swim and water polo team for two years. She has over seven years of experience teaching and coaching at the Bridgeton Swim Club, Flyers Aquatics Swim Team, and the Jewish Community Center in her hometown, St. Louis.
Felicity has a BS in Microbiology from the University of Kansas and recently moved to Philadelphia to attend Drexel University as a Microbiology and Immunology graduate student.
She is excited to be a part of the FCA community and explore Philly. Felicity likes to spend time with her cat, Toast, and try new food in her free time.
Sam Sjosten
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Senior, Junior II, Team Phoenix
Sam is very excited to be joining FCA as an Assistant Swim Coach. A 2020 Ursinus College graduate, Sam competed on the Men’s Swim Team, and has since gone on to graduate from law school. Before that, he was a Co-Captain of the Daniel Boone Area High School Swim Team. Sam has coached many different levels of swimming and is excited to be returning to coaching.
Sam is a Berks County Native and has been swimming since he was 10 years old. He grew up swimming for the Boyertown YMCA Navy Seals, the Amity AC Marlins, and the Maple Springs Sea Dogs, which is also where he began his coaching career. In his spare time, Sam enjoys training for triathlons and being a new addition to the FCA Masters team.
Currently, Sam lives and works full-time in Philadelphia, where he can either be found in one of the many Wawa’s in the area getting another coffee, or on the Schuylkill River trail.
Sarah Staudenmeier
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Senior, Junior II, Junior I, Swim School
This is Sarah’s first season as a coach with FCA, and she is thrilled to be a part of the community! Sarah grew up in the greater Philadelphia area, and calls Doylestown home.
Sarah began her swimming career at age five, swimming in the Bux-Mont summer league, and f North Penn Aquatic Club. She went on to be a varsity swimmer and captain at Central Bucks High School West, and eventually swam collegiately at West Chester University, specializing in backstroke and freestyle. Sarah began coaching while she was still in college, and has worked with Lenape Valley Swim Club, Pennridge Aquatic Club, and Central Bucks Swim Team.
Sarah graduated magna cum laude from West Chester with a dual degree in elementary and special education. She currently works as a special educator in the School District of Philadelphia for students in first, second, and third grade with behavioral needs.
When coach Sarah isn’t on deck, you can find her with her nose in a book, making some sort of craft or baked, or out playing disc golf. Sarah currently resides in West Philadelphia with her boyfriend and their two cats (one-eyed Walter and Perry).
Sofia Moran,
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Mini, Swim School Level 5
Sofia is starting her first full season as an assistant coach at FCA this year. Sofia joined FCA in the summer of 2019, right before her freshman year at Friends’ Central School. Sofia has been competitively swimming since she was 9 years old. As someone who always had a love to teach people how to swim, she jumped at the opportunity to become an instructor for Swim School. Since her sophomore year, she has been teaching level 5 at swim school, as well as becoming a lifeguard/instructor at FCS Camp Tenderfoot over the summer, teaching 3-6 year olds. Sofia has also had some experience teaching private lessons.
As a senior in high school, Sofia is getting ready to take the next big step in her life: college! She hopes to major in something in the science area, possibly Biology or Chemistry while continuing to swim at the collegiate level.
When Sofia is not swimming, teaching, or doing school work, she is either playing the piano (which she has played since she was 8 years old), running, or walking to the Dunkin’ Donuts right up the street from her house, ordering her all time favorite order: iced coffee and bagel with cream cheese.
Clara Behling,
Assistant Coach
Coaches: Mini, Swim School Level 2&3
Clara is a new assistant coach this season. She has been on FCA for 8 years and has been swimming since she was 6. Clara is an instructor with FCA's Swim School and has taught lessons/lifeguarded at the FCS Tenderfoot Camp for the last two summers.
Clara is a junior at Friends' Central Upper School. She has attended and finaled at the USA Futures Championship meet the last two summers, competing in the 100/200 Breaststroke and the 200/400 IM. Clara plans to swim D3 or D1 in college and pursue her interest in veterinary medicine.
When Clara is not swimming, teaching lessons, or coaching, she is hanging out with her brother, cuddling with her cats, or playing the viola (which she has been playing fir 6 years).
Beth Tedesco
Private Lesson Instructor & Assistant Coach
We are thrilled to have Beth continue during the 2022-2023 season a private lesson instructor and a sub coach for the Team Phoenix, Novice and Mini's groups. Beth has been with FCA since the beginning and a PE Teacher at Friends' Central School for more than 30 years! Beth also serves as the Director of Swimming at FCS's Tenderfoot Summer Camp as well as the a coach for multiple middle school sports.
Beth holds a Master’s degree in Exercise Science from Smith College.
Taylor Mullens
Assistant Coach
Private Lesson Instructor & Assistant Coach
Taylor came to FCA to teach private lessons in the Fall of 2019 and this is her first season coaching with the swim team and Team Phoenix groups. Originally from Portland, OR, she grew up competitively swimming and started teaching swim lessons over 16 years ago. Taylor attended Temple University and earned a BS in Exercise Science and a Masters in Sport Business. During her time at Temple she worked as the Aquatics Coordinator for their Campus Recreation Department.
Taylor currently works for Rowan University in the Campus Recreation Department as the Assistant Director of Aquatics and Risk Management. With years of experience in aquatic program development and instruction, student development and safety/risk, Taylor is eager to have the opportunity to develop a new skill set in coaching. She is excited to be a part of the FCA community and can’t wait for the season ahead.
Taylor lives with her husband Devon and dog Adele in West Philly. She loves to bake, exercise and take beach vacations.