Owner and Head Coach, Coach Karr has 30 years of coaching experience. She is the founder of Buckeye Swim Club and has led the team to a 3rd place overall finish & a 1st Place Small Team at the Ohio Age Group Championships and a 2nd place finish at the Ohio Senior Meet. She brings a passion for the sport of swimming and swimmers that is unparalleled by any in Central Ohio. She brings tremendous knowledge of swimming and the ability to communicate with swimmers and parents.

Coach Laurie earned her B.S. in Mathematical Sciences at Ohio State where she swam the distance and IM events. Growing up in Columbus, Laurie swam for 14 years in summer league, college, AAU, USS, and at Worthington High School where she was team captain. Her coaching career began in 1986 at local summer league and USS teams. In 1990, with a mere dozen swimmers, Laurie started Metro Five Swim Team. Laurie and her husband Rick are enjoying their time with their daughter Makenzie and son Jeremy and look forward to many years of continued success at Buckeye.

Coach Karr’s coaching accomplishments include the following:

• 2019 ASCA Age Group Coach of the Year Finalist •

3 US Open Qualifiers • 3 Junior National Qualifiers • 7 YMCA National Qualifiers • 1 Ohio High School District Record Breaker • Numerous Ohio High School State Qualifiers • Ohio High School State Champion & Record Holder • Numerous High School All Americans • Numerous state qualifiers and a district runner-up under her direction as Head Coach at for Dublin Coffman High School for 5 years and Olentangy Liberty High School for 8 years • OSI Coach Chair 4 Years • OSI High School Representative

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This coach is awesome!

Heath Patterson is excited to become the Lead AG3 Scarlet Coach at Columbus North. Heath started coaching with the United Swim Association (USA) in 2018. He was a swim lesson instructor at Aquatic Adventures 7 years prior to joining the USA coaching staff.  Heath has over 15 years of experience teaching swimming. He grew up in a small town in Vermont. Heath is very committed to share his swimming experience to progress the future stars for Buckeye!

Katie Donovan is the lead coach of AG1 Silver and has been coaching with Buckeye Swim Team since November of 2021. Katie grew up swimming in northeast Ohio for Hudson HEAT and the Hudson High School swim team. She became a ‘buckeye’ swimmer in college by joining the club swim team at Ohio State! 

Outside of the pool, Katie is a Digital Communications Specialist at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She loves yoga, running, traveling, and trying new recipes. Katie is passionate about empowering young athletes to succeed in the pool!

Kaylyn Froebel is extremely excited to join Buckeye as the lead coach for the AG2 Scarlet group. Kaylyn swam competitively for USA and later became a 4-year varsity letter winner at Grove City College. She has previously coached with Upper Arlington Swim Club and volunteered with the Muirfield Marlins summer league team. What Kaylyn loves most about coaching is seeing swimmers grow in and out of the water and seeing swimmers meet their goals at all levels. When off deck, you’ll find Kaylyn working out, enjoying time with friends, or watching OSU football games. 

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

Chris Hadden is extremely excited to become the new Head Coach of the Buckeye Swim Team. Chris founded the United Swim Association (USA) in 2009 and the Central Ohio Premier Swim Club (COPS) in 2003. He has coached successful programs in Florida, Louisiana, the Washington, DC area, and Columbus, Ohio. Chris was a featured speaker at the 2013 World Coach’s Clinic in New Orleans. He was also featured on the United States Swimming’s Website under “Coaches You Should Know” for the September 2013 issue. Chris was voted the 2012 Ohio Swimming Age Group Coach of the Year by his peers. He spent over two years with the National Champion Curl-Burke Swim Club (now Nation's Capital Swim Club) in Washington, DC where he helped train 20 swimmers with 2000 Olympics Trial Cuts. Five swimmers from this group competed in the 2000 Olympics! In his career, Chris has produced 24 USA Top 16 Athletes, 77 Ohio State Champions, 10 Florida State Champions, 4 Louisiana State Champions, 14 USA Swimming Academic/Scholastic All Americans and helped produce 5 Olympic athletes. Chris is very proud of his athlete's accomplishments in High School swimming boasting 14 Ohio State High School Champions to date. Chris Hadden is a professionally certified Level IV swim coach with the American Swimming Coaches Association and United States Swimming.  Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Ohio State University. Chris served on the Executive Board of Directors for Ohio Swimming for over 9 years.

Matt Celik had been the Head Age Group Coach for the United Swim Association (USA) since 2010. What Matt loves about coaching is the opportunity to foster the progression of swimmers at every level of our program, from first-time competitor to national team member.  Matt's competitive background includes being named an All-American swimmer at Akron Firestone High School, as well as being a 4-year letter winner and a Big Ten Championship swimmer at The Ohio State University. Matt is a two-time graduate from The Ohio State University and is a Clinical Dietitian with Ohio Health.  Matt just welcomed his second Child in August and is excited to remain on deck to coach Buckeye.

Lauryn is our lead AG3 Silver coach at our Powell location. Lauryn is an aspiring teacher and is currently working in classrooms at Columbus Schools. Lauryn swam and played volleyball at Wilmington College.

"Karli grew up outside of Cleveland where she swam for LRST and the Rocky River High School swim team. She continued her swimming career at Ohio Northern University where she was a varsity swimmer all four years. One of her favorite things about coaching is being able to share her love of swimming with young swimmers. When not coaching, Karli is a student at the Ohio State University where she is working towards a PhD in Aerospace Engineering. In her free time, Karli enjoys trying new coffee shops, running, and hanging out with her two cats.

Thomas Clark is excited to join Buckeye as an assistant coach for Senior Group. He grew up swimming competitively for USA for 12 years and went on to swim 4 years at The University of Tampa. Thomas has been coaching swimming since 2014 and has coached for The Country Club at Muirfield and Palma Ceia Country Club. He also currently works as a manager at the Buckeye Swim School in Powell. Thomas enjoys working with kids and helping them improve in the water while also having fun doing so. Outside of the water he enjoys watching many different sports, traveling, and hanging out with friends. Thomas is committed to growing with Buckeye Swimming and is looking forward to seeing what the future holds. 

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!

This coach is awesome!