Hello Regency Parents,

It is incredible to be back for the 2026 summer season, and I am excited to hit the ground running starting this Tuesday at 4:00 PM.

This email is a preseason overview. Apologies in advance for the length, but I wanted to put everything in one place so you can come back to it throughout the season. Below you will find communication and weekly email information, this week's schedule, 8 & Under/pre-team evaluation information, meet schedules, SwimTopia sign-up instructions, coach introductions, private lesson information, and our major social dates.

I want to express my gratitude to this community for the welcoming environment I found myself in last year. What was supposed to be a one-time summer job reignited my passion for swim coaching and teaching, which had unfortunately lain dormant for a few years. Although this is my final summer at Regency (for real this time), I could not be more excited to share my love for this sport with the community, help our swimmers grow, and train up the next generation of Regency coaches.

Weekly Emails and Communication

I will send a weekly update every Sunday throughout the season, covering timely reminders, schedule changes, meet information, social event details, and anything out of the ordinary.

For questions about the evaluation process, meet logistics, scheduling, or anything administrative covered in this email, please reach out to either Jody Rosen or me by text, email, or in person at the pool. The rest of the coaching staff will be focused on coaching, practices, and working with the swimmers, so please direct administrative questions to the two of us. It will keep communication clearer and make sure you get the right answer quickly.

The Week Ahead

Practice starts Tuesday, May 26th. For this first part of the season, until MCPS releases, we will practice just in the afternoons until the week of June 22nd.

Afternoon Practice Schedule

• 4:00-5:15 PM: 11-18 Practice
• 5:15-5:45 PM: 8 & Under Practice
• 5:45-6:45 PM: 9-10 Practice

8 & Under / Pre-Team Evaluations

If your swimmer is signed up for pre-team or swim team and is 8 or under, please bring them to the 8 & Under practice slot on either Tuesday, May 26th, or Wednesday, May 27th, so we can evaluate their current ability and recommend the proper program.

The goal is simple: we want every swimmer placed in the environment where they can be safe, confident, and successful.

If your child is ready for the swim team, great. If pre-team is the better developmental fit for now, that's great too. This is not a high-stakes tryout; it is just our way of making sure each swimmer starts the summer in the right place.

If you cannot make either of the evaluation dates, please send me a text or email, and we can find another time for an assessment.

If your child is signed up for pre-team and there is no desire to join the swim team this summer, there is no need to attend the evaluation. You can simply wait for the first pre-team practice on June 22nd.

How Swim Meets Work

Starting the week of June 8th, we will have a B meet every Wednesday evening and an A meet every Saturday morning.

For families who are new to summer swim:

B meets are open-entry meets where swimmers get more chances to race, improve times, try different events, and track progress throughout the season against a local team.

A meets are scored Saturday morning meets against another equally matched team. Coaches create the lineup based on times, availability, event limits, relay needs, and team strategy.

Both types of meets are crucial to the team's success. B meets are where much of the development happens, and A meets are where the official league competition takes place.

Time Trials

Our first meet, Time Trials, is for all Regency swim team members. It is an intersquad meet for Regency swimmers only and is an important chance for swimmers to learn how meets work, set a baseline for the season, and track their progress throughout the summer.

This meet is recommended for all, but it is mandatory for swimmers interested in competing in A meets. If your swimmer has a conflict and cannot attend, that is okay, but they must compete in the June 10th B meet instead. Time Trials is strongly preferred, but the June 10th B meet can serve as the backup for swimmers with a conflict.

Time Trials is on Saturday, June 6th. Warmups begin at 8:30 AM, and the meet begins at 9:00 AM. More details will be announced next week.

B Meets

B meets are optional but highly recommended. They are among the best ways for swimmers to race consistently, track progress, become legal in their strokes, gain confidence, and have fun with their teammates.

B meets are open to all Regency swimmers except those ranked in the top two on Regency in that specific event in their age group. For example, if your child is ranked in the top two at Regency in freestyle and backstroke but fourth in breaststroke and butterfly, they are only eligible to swim breaststroke and butterfly in the B meet. If there are any questions about this policy, please let me know.

You do not need to tell me if your swimmer will not be attending a B meet, as long as you do not sign them up.

B meets start at 6:00 PM, with warmups traditionally around 5:00-5:30 PM, and tend to wrap up around 8:00-8:30 PM.

B Meet Schedule:

The only exception to the normal Wednesday evening B meet schedule is the B Relay Carnival, which will be held the morning of Sunday, July 12th. More details will be sent as we get closer to the meet date.

A Meets

A meets are traditionally for the top three swimmers in each event and the top six swimmers in freestyle per age group. Coaches create the lineup each week.

Weekly lineups will be sent out after our Wednesday B meet, with any necessary revisions made on Thursday. The final version will be sent to our team, the opposing team, and MCSL by Friday morning.

Although many lineup decisions are relatively straightforward, coaches' discretion does come into play for close calls. Those decisions may factor in recent times, consistency, availability, event limits, relay needs, the other team's predicted lineup, and conversations among the coaching staff. If there are any questions about this policy, please let me know.

It is crucial that you inform me as soon as possible if your swimmer will be unavailable for an A meet. This not only makes the coaching staff's life easier but also gives another swimmer the chance to compete—a goal many swimmers work toward all season.

A meets start at 9:00 AM, with warmups traditionally around 8:00-8:30 AM, and tend to wrap up around 11:30 AM-12:00 PM. Afterward, we will go to a team lunch near the meet to celebrate the day's successes.

A Meet Schedule:

The only exception to the normal Saturday morning schedule is the A Relay Carnival, which will be held Sunday morning, June 28th. Divisionals, too, operates a bit differently. More details will be sent as we get closer.

One important note: our Week 4 A meet will be held on Friday morning, July 3rd, because the 4th of July falls on a Saturday. I will send plenty of reminders as we approach that date, but please take note of this now, especially for families who are used to the normal Saturday morning schedule.

All meet locations and the full 2026 schedule are posted on the 2026 Swim Meet Schedule tab of the website.

How to Sign Up for Meets and Volunteer Jobs on SwimTopia

For Time Trials and B meets, parents are responsible for signing their swimmer up online. Parents also need to sign up for volunteer jobs online.

Log in to the team website and go to Meets & Events.

For swimmers:

1. Click Meet Entry.
2. Click Edit next to your swimmer's name.
3. Select whether your swimmer is attending.
4. If event selection is open, select the events your swimmer would like to swim.
5. Save your changes.

For volunteers:

1. Click Job Sign-up.
2. Select the volunteer job or shift you would like.
3. Save your assignment.

Parents do not sign swimmers up for A meets. Coaches create the A meet lineup each week.

Coach Introductions

We are lucky to return three of our five coaches from last summer and bring in five new ones. Between our coaching staff, we have Maryland state record holders, Metro champions, year-round swimmers, college swimmers, and some legitimate Regency legends.

Below are brief bios for each of our eight coaches. Six should be familiar faces: three of us, myself, Michael, and Angelica, are returning staff, and three of our new coaches, Aidan, Mia, and Erin, have been swimmers at Regency for nearly a decade. Pierce Arora and Nasim Elkassem are new to the Regency family. Pierce is a 15-18 whose family is new to Regency, and Nasim is a rising junior in college who swam with me at Country Glen growing up. If you see either of them around the pool, please introduce yourselves and welcome them to the community.

Head Coach: Jordan Gross

This is Jordan’s eighth summer coaching and his second summer at Regency. He recently graduated from Georgetown, where he double-majored in Government and Economics and competed for five years on the Division I Swim Team. During his time at Georgetown, Jordan was a team captain, a 200 butterfly school-record holder, a four-time conference champion, and a U.S. Open qualifier.

Jordan’s passion for swimming is clear in the way he coaches, whether he is obsessing over lineups, breaking down tiny stroke details, or helping swimmers build confidence in the water. He loves working with swimmers of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds, and cannot wait for a season full of fast swims, great spirit, strong sportsmanship, and lasting memories. In the fall, he will be saying goodbye to swim coaching and starting his legal education and career at the University of Virginia. Wahoowa!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (301) 312-0729

Assistant Head Coach: Nasim Elkassem

Nasim Elkassem is a former competitive swimmer who was recruited to swim Division I for the USC Trojans, where he is a rising junior, and represented the Moroccan National Team at multiple international meets. He was captain of the swim team at Winston Churchill High School, where he held school and Maryland state records. Currently a junior at USC’s Marshall School of Business, he brings real competitive experience at every level to his coaching.

Over eight years as a summer camp counselor and two years as a swim coach, Nasim has worked with athletes ranging from ages 5 to 18, guiding beginners in building water confidence all the way to competitive swimmers chasing personal bests. He knows how to connect with kids, keep them engaged, and push them to grow. His coaching is built on patience, high standards, and a genuine investment in every swimmer he works with.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (301) 956-0938

Assistant Head Coach: Angelica Hu

Hi everyone! My name is Angelica, and this is my second year coaching at Regency as one of the Assistant Head Coaches. I was a Regency swimmer myself, competing in MCSL and for RMSC for 12 years, and was also captain of the Churchill Varsity Swim team. I am a rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania, studying Healthcare and Data Science, and am involved in Penn Club Swim on campus, where I have attended CCS Nationals. I have experience coaching and providing private swim lessons for children of all ages, from beginners to swimmers looking to improve technique. Looking forward to another great season!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (301) 232-7033

Assistant Head Coach: Michael Kaiser

Hi, my name is Michael Kaiser. I’m a rising junior at Emory University on the Varsity Swim and Dive team, double-majoring in Computer Science and Applied Math. I’m a lifelong Regency swimmer, Regency record holder, and Maryland high school state record holder. I’m super excited to be returning this summer and can’t wait for the season to start. Go Sailfish!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (301) 356-4629

Junior Assistant Coach: Pierce Arora

Pierce has been a competitive swimmer since he swam his first meet at age 5, and was hooked! Since then, he has lived, traveled, and swum in countries around the world, but most recently, he has been competing for All-Star Aquatics and Bullis High School. Pierce just graduated from Bullis and is looking forward to continuing training and competing as an undergraduate at Grinnell College this fall.

Pierce is delighted to be joining the Regency Sailfish coaching team this summer. He believes the secret to swimming fast and feeling good in the water is clean, efficient technique, which starts from a beginner’s very first strokes. When coaching a brand-new swimmer, Pierce breaks each stroke down into simple building blocks. Mastering each skill independently builds confidence and competence until the almost-magical “aha” moment when everything comes together, and students find themselves cruising across the pool almost effortlessly, sometimes without quite realizing what just happened. To help more experienced swimmers improve, Pierce relies on his analytical eye to identify trouble spots and taps into the variety of strategies and drills he has learned from his years of training with more than a dozen coaches to adjust and refine their technique.

As the oldest of three siblings, Pierce delights in mentoring younger swimmers. His favorite part of coaching is being able to pass along the inspiration and wisdom he has been fortunate to receive from his own coaches over the years—and to help younger swimmers discover that they are capable of so much more than they ever thought possible.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (571) 267-8962

Junior Assistant Coach: Erin Demitz

Hi! My name is Erin, and I am a rising senior at Winston Churchill High School. My family has been a member at Regency since 2008, and I joined the swim team as an 8 & Under. I swam year-round for JFD for four years before joining the Churchill Track and Field team. This is also my second year lifeguarding at Regency, and before that, I spent my summers working as a teaching assistant at RockSpring Children’s Center.

I am so excited to return to Regency this summer as a Junior Coach. I have loved growing up around the pool and being part of the swim team community, and I am looking forward to helping younger swimmers build confidence in the water, improve their skills, and have a great summer with the team.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (202) 507-0024

Junior Assistant Coach: Aidan Mishkin

My name is Aidan Mishkin, and I am a rising senior at Winston Churchill High School. This is my 10th year on the Regency Estates Swim Team, my 6th year swimming at RMSC, and my 3rd year on the Churchill Swim and Dive team. This will also be my third year as a certified lifeguard at Regency Estates. For the past three years, I have assisted with pre-team, and I am very excited for a fun-filled Regency Swim summer as a Junior Coach.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (240) 885-1646

Junior Assistant Coach: Mia Rosen

Hi! My name is Mia, and I am a rising junior at Winston Churchill High School. I have been on the Regency swim team since I was 6, and this will be my second year as a lifeguard here. I swim competitively on NCAP, as well as on the Churchill swim team, 2026 MD State Champions, where I have swum at Metros and States both years. I have worked as a FINS swim instructor and as a Regency pre-team coach, and I have been offering private lessons since 2024. My favorite part of summer swim has always been dressing up for themes and our fun Friday practices, traditions I can’t wait to continue. I’m very excited to be part of this year’s coaching staff!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (301) 461-0994

Private Lessons and Development

Private lessons are not required, but swimmer development looks different for every child.

Team practice will be the foundation of the summer. It is where swimmers learn to train, race, listen in a group setting, support teammates, and build confidence. At the same time, some swimmers benefit from more individualized instruction, especially when working on specific skills such as legal strokes, starts, turns, breathing, body position, or race details that are harder to address during a full-team practice.

If your swimmer connects well with a particular coach, is trying to become legal in a stroke, wants extra help before meets, or would simply benefit from more focused attention, private lessons can be a great supplement to practice. They are not required, but they can be very helpful for swimmers who want more individualized development.

Our emails and phone numbers are listed on the coaches tab of the website, as well as at the end of each respective bio above.

Social Events: Save the Dates

We will be bringing back some fan-favorite social events this summer and introducing a new one. Huge shoutout to Jamie Bolgiano and the rest of the Spirit Committee, who have taken the lead in organizing these events and helping lock down the dates.

These dates are set enough to save now. Details will be sent as each event gets closer.

• June 27: Team movie at the mall after the A meet, time TBD
• June 30: Big Train baseball game at 7:00 PM
• July 11: Lock-in, evening
• July 20: Hershey Park trip, details TBD

Closing

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I know this was long, but my goal was to put the major preseason information in one place so you can come back to it throughout the season.

I hope this answered most of your early questions about the 2026 Regency swim season. If anything remains unclear, please feel free to text or email me, or come find me at the pool. I will be there whenever we have practice, and as the season progresses, I will likely be spending more and more time at Regency, becoming fully engulfed in the magic that is the MCSL.

I am incredibly excited for this summer and cannot wait to get started.

Go Sailfish!

Best,

Jordan

301-312-0729