MASTER THE CHALLENGE
U.S. Masters Swimming appropriately challenges beginner to competitive swimmers by improving stroke technique. Our program has achieved Gold Club designation, the highest level of recognition available. Whether you are a traditional competitive master’s swimmer, an open water swimmer, a triathlete, or you just want to swim for fun, this program is for you! Not only is swimming a life skill, but this program will help you develop a healthier lifestyle through swimming, build friendships through our members, and grow by meeting your personal fitness goals.
Benefits of the Program:
- Opportunity to participate in USMS workouts with a sanctioned swimming group
- Stay active and build a healthier lifestyle
- Meet friends, participate in events, and reach your personal swimming goals
- Opportunities to compete locally or nationally in pool, open-water, clinics, and fitness challenge events
- Ability to track and record your fitness progress and goals
- Subscription to SWIMMER magazine, member e-newsletter, and access to lots of materials on the USMS website
ALL PARTICIPANTS NEED TO BE REGISTERED WITH U.S. MASTERS SWIMMING. Greater Somerset County YMCA is registered with USMS as Somerset County YMCA Masters (SCYM). Registration for the team is a separate cost beyond the monthly practice fees.
About U.S. Masters Swimming
U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) was founded in 1970. A non-profit corporation, USMS supports more than 1,000 adult swim programs in 52 regions throughout the United States. They have more than 50,000 individual members, ranging in age from 18 to over 100.
Greater Somerset County YMCA Master Swimming Records
- Long Course Meters Records
- Short Course Yards Records
- Short Course Meters Records
- One-Hour Postal Records
Meet our U.S. Masters Swimming Coaches
Ed Tsuzuki
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved May 5, 2012), Level 2 (achieved May 5, 2012), Level 3 (achieved October 29, 2016)
Location: Bridgewater YMCA and Somerset Hills YMCA
Ed loves helping people become more efficient swimmers – regardless of their swimming experience or current level of ability. He believes in the philosophy that swimming is not just a life-saving skill, but it is a low-impact activity that enables adults to improve their health, wellness and fitness at any age! Ed grew up in Bridgewater and swam for Bridgewater High School and Cornell University. He retired from Johnson & Johnson where he was employed for 35 years. Ed has a wealth of coaching experience, having coached age group, high school, and masters swimmers for over 4 decades. He coached the Somerset Valley YMCA swim team (1981-1986), the Somerset Hills YMCA team (1987-1988), and the Bernards High School swim team (34 seasons – 1988 to 2022). After retiring from J&J, Ed, as a U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) Level 3 certified coach, started the Somerset County YMCA Masters swim club in 2015 and has grown the club to be the largest USMS club in New Jersey. Ed continues to compete in USMS and serves on the volunteer board of the New Jersey Local Masters Swimming Committee and is currently serving on the World Aquatics Pan American Technical Committee. Ed has been on the Board of Directors for USMS for 8 years and on the Board of Directors for USA Swimming for 3 years. Ed was named the 2009 Somerset County Boys High School Coach of the Year by the Star Ledger, was selected by his peers as the 2015 Skyland Conference Boys Coach of the Year and in 2020 as the Skyland Conference Girls Coach of the Year. He is a 2010 inductee to the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a 2022 inductee to the Bernards High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Dave Lockhart
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved Aug. 29, 2015), Level 2 (achieved Aug. 29, 2015)
Location: Hillsborough YMCA
Dave’s workouts develop freestyle stroke technique, core strength, speed and aerobic base to build an approach to swimming that is optimized for each swimmer. He has an extensive swimming “10k Open Water World Champion” and multisport background “triathlon, aqua bike, running and cycling”. He finds joy in seeing athletes reach their goals and understands the need to balance work and life but still be able to set and achieve personal swimming goals.
Adele Morgan
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved April 18, 2015), Level 2 (achieved April 18, 2015), Level 3 (achieved Oct. 29, 2016)
Location: Bridgewater YMCA and Hillsborough YMCA
Adele Morgan started swimming when she started crawling! She swam competitively in high school and some of college. Now, in addition to open water swimming and triathlons, she also competes in U.S. Masters. Adele started coaching when she was in college for a summer team, but it took her a few careers to realize this was the perfect place for her. It’s the people that make the sport. Through the sport, she has been surrounded by amazing swimmers, coaches and parents, and she feels very fortunate to wake up to a job every day that she loves. She is a USA, Y, and US Masters certified coach as well as a Red Cross WSI. She has been coaching age group swimming at the Somerset County YMCA since 1999, Hillsborough High School since 2004, and Masters since late 2015.
Megan Bull
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved April 24, 2024)
Location: Bridgewater YMCA and Hillsborough YMCA
Megan Bull swam for Roycefield, the Greater Somerset County YMCA Swim Team, and Hillsborough High School as a youth. Megan continued her swimming career as a student at William and Mary where she holds the women’s 500 Free record and also volunteered as a Special Olympics coach. Fun fact: As a sophomore in college she competed at the 2019 Richmond TYR pro series and swam in the same heat as Katie Ledecky in the 200 free! After graduating, she has been coaching the Pingry Prep School swim team and is very excited to take on this additional role of coaching U.S. Masters Swimmers.
Elena Soisson
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved January 25, 2025)
Location: Bridgewater YMCA and Hillsborough YMCA
Elena “Ellie” Soisson has been a competitive swimmer since she was 8 years old; competing year round for Roycefield Swim Club, the Greater Somerset County YMCA swim team, and Hillsborough High School over that time. Ellie has 4 years coaching experience as a volunteer and assistant coach for Roycefield, and as a swim lesson instructor there as well. She joined the Hillsborough Masters group after graduating from Seton Hall, and with a lot of influence and support from her USMS teammates, she recently competed in half-marathons and Olympic distance triathlons. Elena looks forward to participating, albeit in a different way, in the infectious positivity and motivation U.S. Masters Swimming is so great at providing!
Nick Farr
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved Mar. 29, 2023)
Location: Princeton YMCA
Nick himself has been competing in triathlons since he was 15; he has done races of all distances, including the Ironman 70.3 World Championships and the Leadville 100.
Anne Laurita
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved March 29, 2023), Level 2 (achieved March 25, 2023), Level 3 (achieved March 25, 2023)
Location: Princeton YMCA
Anne is a Level 3 Certified Coach with USMS. She has coached at the age group level for the Princeton Tigers Aquatics Club (PTAC) since 2019. Anne has always shared a love of swimming with her sister. She began competing with the summer league Bernardsville Swim Team at age 8 before joining the Somerset Hills YMCA team. She swam year-round throughout high school, qualifying for YMCA Long Course Nationals, and stayed with Bernardsville throughout this time, later serving as its Head Coach for three seasons.
Anne attended Cornell University and received a BS ‘13, MA ‘15, and PhD ‘17 in developmental psychology. As a postdoc, she swam with Cornell’s club team. She currently works at Princeton University as Director of the TigerWell: Health Promoting Strategies Office. Anne continues swimming (she still favors fly and back), training and racing with Greater Somerset County YMCA Masters, running with various run clubs around Princeton, and cycling when weather permits! Anne is excited to support U.S. Masters swimmers at the Princeton YMCA. Go Team Tsunami!
Lorna Cialdella-Morehead
Location: Somerset Hills YMCA
Lorna is excited to assist fellow U.S. Masters Swimmers (USMS) reach all of their swimming and fitness goals! Lorna grew up in Western New York state in the local YMCA program and of course, swam in the fun youth summer league. Having no high school swim team to participate in, Lorna was fortunate and thrilled to swim at the University of Rochester, co-captain her senior year, and participate in NCAA Division 3 championship meets. Many years later, Lorna has chalked up over 35 years in USMS swimming and competed in several triathlons and open water swims, posting many USMS top ten and NJ records along the way. For more than a decade, Lorna has been a youth coach for USA Swimming, YMCA, JCC, and High School, as well as serving as a youth summer league official.
Lorna is currently the NJ LMSC Sanctions Chair and continues to swim with the Somerset County YMCA Masters club for both fitness, social connection, and fun trips for competition. Lorna is happily married, currently residing in Bridgewater with three sons who are in college and post-college phase. Lorna currently works in the pharmaceutical industry after a long tenure in the telecom industry. Lorna enjoys stroke (especially butterfly!) and individual medley events/workouts, and is happy to share that love with all!
Rob Curry
Location: Somerset Hills YMCA
Rob began age group swimming at 5 years old, swimming for the Easton Area YMCA and the Lopatcong swim teams. At Phillipsburg High School, he lettered in swimming, cross country, and track. Rob then swam for Rider University, earning his BS in Computer Science, and was part of the team that was inducted into the 2019 Rider Athletics Hall of Fame. For 30 years, Rob competed in triathlons, earning overall and age group victories, USA Triathlon All-American Honors (1995-2004), and was a member of Team USA at the ITU World Triathlon Championships in 1999 and 2004.
Rob is also a certified USA swimming official as Meet Referee, and competes with the Somerset County YMCA Masters club where he holds a USMS National top-5 time in the 1500m Freestyle in the 55-59 age group. Rob began coaching in high school and has been coaching cross country, swimming, and track for more than 25-years.
David DeSimone
USMS Certified Coach: Level 1 (achieved April 19, 2023)
Location: Somerset Hills YMCA and Bridgewater YMCA
As a Level 1 USMS-certified coach, Dave has substituted for Ed for the past several years. Dave is one of several members of the Somerset County YMCA Masters club who are primarily triathletes, and he is typically out of the water first or second in his age group. Dave placed 18th in his age group at the 2024 National Triathlon competition and finished 5th in a separate 750-meter swim at the 2024 Nationals.
Dave coaches the YMCA sponsored Special Olympic Swim team that runs from December to June each year. He also coaches track, cross county, and wrestling at the Bernardsville middle school.
Gene Sharp
USMS Certified Coach: Level 3 (achieved March 29, 2023)
Location: Somerset Hills YMCA
Gene Sharp has been an active Somerset County YMCA Masters swimmer and competitive swimmer since 2017. He grew up swimming age group in Long Island, NY and competed in swimming and water polo at Columbia University and the New York Athletic Club. Gene is currently the varsity swim team coach at the Morristown Beard School in Morristown, NJ. As a Level 3 USMS certified coach, Gene is also a swim coach and stroke instructor at the Somerset Hills YMCA.