Our Staff
Bill Tygum
Owner/Senior Instructor
2005
Raised in Waunakee, Bill has been involved in local aquatics programs since he was a young boy. Swimming for the Waunakee High School team, he became State Champion and All-American in 1997, setting several long-standing school records along the way in addition to earning MVP and Captain honors. Once graduated, he swam for UW-Green Bay where he competed in Backstroke and Freestyle sprints. In 1999 Bill began coaching for the Waunakee Rural Aquatic Team, and his love for coaching was born. He was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in 2000 and his eight-year stretch gave him valuable experience. His sense of team organization and administration provides him with a unique perspective to prepare swimmers for competition. Bill lives in Waunakee with his wife and former coaching partner, Rachel, and their three daughters, Molly, Lucy, and Sally. Bill is currently an assistant swim coach with the Waunakee Wave swim team, coaching all 3 of his daughters!
Rachel Tygum
Owner/Marketing & HR
2005
Born and raised just outside of Waunakee, Rachel grew up in a swimming family. She joined the local swim team (WRAT) the year it was formed, and also swam for Waunakee High School, where she was honored to be both captain and MVP. Rachel began her coaching career in high school, along with teaching private swim lessons at a local hotel. During her time at UW-Madison, Rachel played on the water polo team and continued coaching for WRAT, taking over as head coach. While getting her Master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems & Cartography, Rachel coached the LaFollette Lancers swim teams. After working for almost 20 years as a senior manager at an engineering firm and coaching WRAT for over 13 years, Rachel is happy to now work full time at Little Strokes alongside her husband, Bill. Their 3 daughters all enjoying swimming, making them 3rd generation swim team members!
Jesse Overfield
Senior Instructor/General Manager
2013
Jesse completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration at Southwestern College in Kansas where he also played NAIA Men’s Basketball for four years. He has spent the past couple of summers as the Director of Waterfront in Pennsylvania at a large children’s summer camp, Weequahic.
Jesse is certified through the American Red Cross in Lifeguarding, Waterfront Safety and Lifeguard Instructor. He has worked as a lifeguard instructor in the past and has been lifeguarding for 16 years. During high school he swam competitively and has completed a triathlon. Jesse is an avid fisherman and is excited to make Wisconsin his home with his wife and 3 children.
Rafał Zielinski
Senior Instructor
2009
Rafał is originally from Stargard Screciuski, Poland. He earned his Master’s degree in Physical Education at the University of Lodz in Poland. After college, he was a Swim Training Specialist in Europe, and in 2004 he moved to Wisconsin with his wife and daughter. After moving to Wisconsin he and his wife welcomed their son into their lives.
He has been teaching swim instruction to toddlers for many years, and he was the Coach of the Lakeland Union High School Swim Team in Minocqua. Rafał keeps himself busy by running a car dealership in Sauk City called Wiscarsin, raising his 2 children, and playing basketball and sailing.
Jenn Crawford
Instructor
2019
Alongside her sister and cousins, Jenn swam year-round with the Berlin Barracudas club team for ten years, continuing on with the high school team. After high school, she attended UW-Madison and ended up jumping into work, climbing the ladder to become a Project Manager at a Madison manufacturer. Once her youngest daughter made it into 4K, Jenn decided to go back to school as well, recently graduating with a Bachelors in Business Management.
Currently living in Poynette with her four kids, two dogs, and four cats, Jenn keeps busy! Besides hanging out with her children, she enjoys gardening, knitting, hiking, and just generally being outdoors.
Lindsay Welles
Instructor
2021
Lindsay swam competitively for the Woodson YMCA Green Dolphins and Wausau East High School, along with teaching swim lessons and coaching swim team. She is currently a graduate student at UW Madison in the Curriculum & Instruction program, having spent the last 9 years teaching internationally. Lindsay is originally from Wausau, WI and often goes back to visit her parents and brother who still live there. Outside of swimming, Lindsay enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading
Kelsey Koch
Instructor
2021
Kelsey started her swimming career at age 5, swimming for the Sauk Prairie Pool Sharks, WRAT and BAC teams growing up. She continued swimming in High School and ended her career with the UW-Whitewater Warhawks where she was lucky enough to compete at DIII Nationals three times. Kelsey has now moved back to her home town of Prairie du Sac with her husband and spunky husky, Brutus. She is a school psychologist at Mount Horeb High School by day and lover of walks, any good TV series, ice cream, and family time by any other time! Kelsey looks forward to instilling the love of swimming in your little ones!
Sandy Kuecker
Instructor
2021
Sandy has been around swimming in multiple capacities for the past couple decades, starting at age 6. At age 15 she began coaching for the Sun Prairie summer swim team, while still competing as a team member. She went on to be an assistant coach for 7 years. A natural in the water, Sandy swam competitively at various Madison club teams for 11 years, qualifying for the state meet every year from age 7 and setting records that still stand today. She was co-captain of the Sun Prairie High School team both junior and senior years, was a 4 time letter winner, and yearly state qualifier. Sandy was recruited to swim at UW-Whitewater and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and a Minor in Coaching.
Sandy currently is the Head Age Group coach of the local Waunakee Wave swim team, and has been chosen as a member of the Team WI Central Zone Coaching staff for the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 Zone Meets.
Sara Sperle
Instructor
2021
Sara is originally from Elkhorn WI, but now calls Madison her home. She is studying Elementary Education and Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sara started swimming while in elementary school, and has been a swim instructor for the past 3 years through the Elkhorn Recreation Department. During the summers, she has worked as a camp counselor and is currently the manager of Sunset Pool.
Jessi Soholt
Instructor
2021
Jessi started swimming competitively at 6 years old for the Sun Prairie Piranhas and continued her swimming career with multiple teams through high school. She has taught swimming lessons for the last 20 years and has been an assistant coach for the Waunakee Wave swim team for the last 4 years.
She is currently attending Herzing University to earn her Bachelors of Nursing Degree, and when she isn't at the pool or in class, she loves spending time with her husband and two young sons.
Emma Lasecki
Instructor
2022
Emma grew up in Green Bay and started competitively swimming at 7 years old on the Green Bay Swim Club. She continued her swimming career in high school for the Bay Port Pirates and broke countless school, conference, sectional and state records. She finished out her senior year as a two-time state champion in the 100 butterfly and 200 Individual Medley earning All-American honors.
Emma was recruited to swim for the UW Madison Swim and Dive team in 2021 and qualified to compete at the United States Olympic Trials in the 200 butterfly. She has taught private swim lessons since 2016 and is lifeguard, CPR and Water safety instructor certified. Currently, Emma is still swimming on the UW Madison Swim and Dive Team and is pursuing a neurobiology degree at the university. She enjoys exercising, cooking, and reading in her free time.
Grace Florence
Instructor
2023
Grace began swimming at only two years old using a snorkel to explore her pool in Texas. At the age of eight, she moved to Eagle River Wisconsin with her family where she learned how to sail and paddle board on their lake. In 5th grade her affinity for water sports led her to join Lakeland Swim Club. Years later, Grace joined her high school swim team, where she still holds a freestyle relay record with her teammates.
After only two years of high school the pandemic put an end to her swim season, so she decided to graduate as a junior and move onto college. Grace is currently attending the University of Wisconsin - Madison studying political science and public policy. In her free time, Grace loves fishing, downhill skiing, water skiing, kayaking and being outdoors.
Rebecca DeCabooter
Instructor
2023
Rebecca has been swimming all her life. Throughout her childhood, she swam on a nearly year-round competitive team called the Hornets. She continued on to swim on her high school team, also called the Hornets, so basically her entire childhood was spent wearing black and yellow sweatshirts with huge wasps on the front. She mostly swam 100 butterfly and 200 IM. As a teen, she worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor at her high school and the local YMCA.
Rebecca earned a B.A. in Journalism from UW-Madison (where she swam laps at the SERF) and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. She continued to swim recreationally and has been on a couple of Masters Swim Teams. Years ago she found she enjoyed long distance, open water swimming. In between having and raising kids, she completed the Chicago Big Shoulders 5k swim held in Lake Michigan in September three times and the 2.4 mile Madison Open Water Swim in Lake Monona. One of her best days was when she and her teenaged son swam together in the Swim to the Moon 1.2 mile open water swim in Michigan. Rebecca still swims laps as often as she can which goes to show that teaching your kids to swim is a gift that keeps on giving.
Rebecca and her husband Steve have three amazing kids: Patrick, Maddy and Katie, all great swimmers who attend Middleton High School. Rebecca enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading and cuddling with her Golden Retriever, Zinnia.
Anna Scott Baur
Instructor
2023
Anna Scott grew up in Saint Louis, where she started competitively swimming at 7 years old for Clayton Shaw Park and later for Rockwood Swim Club. She also competed for her High School team where she was captain her Junior and Senior year, as well as a state qualifier in the 100 Breaststroke and 200 Individual Medley.
Anna Scott is continuing her education at UW-Madison where she studies Real Estate and Finance. Besides swimming, she enjoys running, trying new restaurants, and spending time with friends. Anna Scott can’t wait to share her love of the water with the next generation of swimmers!
Lexi Dudzek
Instructor
2023
Lexi started swimming at the age of 9 years old for the Fort Atkinson Swim Team (FAST). She continued swimming for the Fort Atkinson High School swim team, where she was on varsity all 4 years. She is currently at senior at UW-Madison, studying neurobiology. After graduation, Lexi will be attending an accelerated nursing program, the end goal to be a nurse anesthetist! For the past 5 summers, she has worked at the Fort Atkinson Aquatic Center as a lifeguard manager and swim instructor. Her favorite part of being a swim instructor is seeing the progress kids make throughout the years, especially when they hit a big milestone in their swimming. In her free time, Lexi loves being with friend and family, enjoying summer days on the lake, and spending time with her dog.
Susanna McIntyre
Instructor
2024
Susanna grew up in Bellevue, Washington where she started competitively swimming at 8 years old for Edgebrook Swim Team and later, Issaquah Swim Team. She also competed for the Issaquah High School Swim Team where she was captain her Senior year. In addition, she lifeguarded at her local YMCA throughout high school.
Susanna graduated in 2023 from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science and a minor in Business Administration. She now attends UW – Madison where she is pursuing her Doctorate of Occupational Therapy with hopes of becoming a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. In her free time, Susanna enjoys exercising, painting, cooking, being outside, and spending time with family and friends!
Alena Hanson
Instructor
2024
Alena grew up in Bristol, WI where she started swimming competitively at 10 years old. Over the years, she swam for a few different club teams in the area. In high school, Alena swam varsity all four years and was voted Team Captain her senior year. Alena continued swimming through college at Lawrence University. During her four years at Lawrence, Alena contributed to the team’s two 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place finishes at the Midwest Conference Championship meet. She was voted Team Captain her senior year by her teammates. Alena specialized in butterfly (100/200) and IM (200/400).
She graduated from Lawrence University in 2020 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and minors in Biology and Anthropology. Now, Alena attends UW-Madison where she is pursuing a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology, specifically regarding the nervous system.
In her free time, Alena enjoys traveling (she’s visited all 50 states!), spending time with her friends and family, and any activity related to water.
Abby Mielnicki
Instructor
2024
Abby swam with the Shorewood Swim Club in Shorewood, WI for seven years. During that time, she competed in several state relays and spent most of her free time at the pool. Out of all four competitive strokes, breaststroke and freestyle are her favorites. Despite leaving competitive swimming before high school, Abby continued to swim recreationally throughout high school and into university at the UW-Madison. Currently in her third year at UW-Madison, Abby is pursuing both English and History majors and hopes to someday write a novel! In her spare time, Abby enjoys drawing, creative writing, and spending time with her dogs and younger brothers in Milwaukee.
Vivi Andersen
Instructor
2024
Vivi grew up just outside of Milwaukee in the city of Wauwatosa. She grew up swimming on her local swim team and continued on into high school, where she was captain during her senior year. Vivi is now studying French, Linguistics and Teaching to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) as an undergraduate at UW Madison. Outside of school and swim-instructing, she enjoys hiking, travelling and spending time with friends and family. She loves all things swimming and is excited to share this love with students at Little Strokes!
Maija Salienko
Instructor
2024
Maija is originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where she began competitively swimming at 7 years old for her local swim team, SPDY. She continued swimming competitively through the Stevens Point School District until early High School. Maija now lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where she attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is double majoring in Human Development and Family Studies and Zoology. Outside of swimming and school, Maija enjoys baking, watching movies, spending time with friends and family, and participating in musical theater.
Cecelia Cox
Instructor
2024
Cecelia is originally from Rockford, Illinois where she swam competitively in High School and taught children to swim during the summer. She has also coached Middle School basketball and volleyball, and enjoys working with kids and teaching them new skills. Cecelia has a bachelors in Hospitality and Tourism and an MBA in Project Management. She currently works at Edgewood College helping adults go back to school. When she's not working she enjoys playing with her 5 year old black lab named Bailey, hiking, golfing, spending time with family and friends and watching sports. She is a die hard Bears fan!
Sven Jaeger
Instructor
2024
Being a native from the Netherlands, Sven first moved to Wisconsin in 2002 as an international exchange student. After graduating from UW Oshkosh in 2006, he lived in Europe until he recently got married to his wife Katie and moved back to Madison, WI. Sven has been in and around the water for over 30 years. After competing both in Holland and the US, he progressed towards coaching swimming, and he has done so in a variety of different countries and programs including with the Dutch national team. The highlight of his coaching career was claiming the world title with one of his swimmers in 2016. Sven is a certified level 5 ASCA swim coach and as a (former) WSI instructor has valuable experience in teaching elementary swim courses. He is glad to be back in Wisconsin and excited to be part of the Little Strokes Swim Academy team
Courtney McWilliams
Office Manager
2019
Courtney grew up in Waunakee and graduated from Waunakee High School in 2015. She received an Associate Degree in Medical Administration in December 2019 and has a few certificates and technical diplomas as well. She is a dog lover and has a Shih Tzu named Mason. In her free time, Courtney enjoys spending time with her family, especially her sister Mikaela. She also enjoys the outdoors, shopping, and playing with her niece and nephew.
Mikaela McWilliams
Office Staff
2019
Mikaela grew up in Waunakee and graduated from Waunakee High School in 2019. She attended the Aveda Institute of Madison for Esthiology and got her Aesthetician License in March 2021. When Mikaela is not working at Little Strokes, she also works at Reveal Beauty Spa in Waunakee as an Aesthetician. In her free time, Mikaela enjoys making art, playing with her dog Mason, and spending time with her family, especially her sister Courtney.
Maddelynne (Maddy) Tabaska
Office Staff
2023
Maddelynne grew up in Milwaukee, WI and graduated from Brookfield East High School in 2020. She currently attends the University of Wisconsin, working towards a degree in Kinesiology with minors in Sports Communication and Environmental Studies. Maddelynne has been surrounded by a variety of sports throughout her entire life, which has been part of what has driven her passion to pursue a future career in the world of sports.
Maddelynne’s all time favorite sport to play is basketball and her favorite team to watch is the Milwaukee Bucks. Her favorite athlete to watch is her younger brother, Nollenn, who will be playing football for the Army West Point Military Academy this upcoming fall. In her free time, Maddelynne enjoys listening to music, being outside, traveling, and hanging out with friends. She also works in the athletic training office at Camp Randall in Madison, WI, mostly serving as a water girl for the Wisconsin Badgers Football team — keep an eye out for her on the sideline if you attend a game!
Amber Tyler
Office Staff
2024
Originally from the small rural town of Oxford, WI, Amber now calls DeForest her home. Her love for swimming began when her daughter, Danika, started her swim journey here at Little Strokes at the age of 4. After mastering all her strokes, she went on to swim competitively for local swim clubs such as DFAC and the Sun Prairie Piranhas, as well competing on the DeForest Area High School girls swim team. Amber credits the skilled instructors at Little Strokes for her daughter’s swim success over the years and for nurturing her love of swimming.
Amber is a surgical coordinator by day and recently become an ‘empty nester’. In her free time, you’ll find her crafting, baking and gardening as well as enjoying time outdoors with her husband, Eric. Amber is looking forward to meeting all the Little Strokes families and providing them with a warm welcome as someone once did for her family!
Natalie Scheer
Lifeguard
2023
Born and raised in Madison, Wi, Natalie has been swimming since the age of 2. As the daughter of a swim coach she has grown up on a pool deck. Natalie started lifeguarding at 15 and has since worked as both a pool and triathlon lifeguard. Currently, she works as a Firefighter/EMT and is working on her associates degree in Fire Protection.
Hartley Erickson
Maintenance
2021
Born and raised in Madison WI, Hartley graduated from West High School. Hartley loves the outdoors, swimming in the WI river, working on his cars, grilling out with friends, and overall being active and having fun! He likes to think of himself as a jack of all trades, having worked in retail, childcare development, fitness, and custodial maintenance work.
Sisy Thao
Custodian
2024
Born and raised in Madison WI, Sisy graduated from La Follette High school. Sisy is currently enrolled in Dental Hygiene School to become a hygienist. During the day she is a dental assistant helping her patients feel great about their smiles. In her free time she loves spending time with her two boys and fiancé playing games and sports outdoors. Sisy enjoys camping, hiking, swimming, arts and crafts, reading thriller books and she is a foodie!