Kier C. McGuire

Owner and Head Coach Kier McGuire is a level 3 certified USS coach with over 10 years of experience coaching in the competitive sphere. Coach Kier has served as Southern Coaching Staff for National Zones meets on multiple occasions and has represented Louisiana Swimming at the National Diversity Summit in Colorado Springs. Coach Kier has coached on the high school, summer league and middle school level, and currently serves as the Head Coach for Riverside Academy’s Men’s and Women’s Varsity swimming in Laplace. Prior to coaching, she was a competitive swimmer and All-State swimmer in high school.

Ms. Kier McGuire attended Tulane University on academic scholarship, prior to the re-development of the women’s swimming program. Upon receiving her Bachelors of Arts from Tulane University, she attended the University of New Orleans where she received her Masters of Public Administration.  As her Master’s Thesis Project,  Ms. McGuire proposed a city-wide elementary school swimming initiative, a program she intends to implement within the next five years. Ms. McGuire is well loved for her quirky personality, innovative teaching styles, and dedication to developing age-group swimmers into champions. 

Kaci R. McGuire

Public Relations Liaison and 8&u Program Developer Kaci McGuire is a Level 1 certified USS coach with 5 years of experience coaching competitively. Coach Kaci has coached with summer league teams Green Acres Country Club and Sun Villa Country Club and has served as the Head Coach for Kehoe-France’s School swim team for 3 years. Coach Kaci has served as a National Coach for the Central Zone Diversity Select Camp and serves as the Louisiana Diversity Co-Chair.  

Ms. Kaci McGuire is pursuing degrees in Latin American Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Tulane University. She will be studying at La Universidad de la Habana in Cuba this Fall and will return to the SLST in January.  Ms. Kaci McGuire is passionate about incorporating healthy dietary practices and respectful interpersonal skills into the curriculum for 8 and younger swimmers. Ms. Kaci is also devoted to promoting multi-faceted diversity within Louisiana Swimming and the SLST. She serves as the Spanish speaking liaison to members and the community at large. Se habla español. 

Nicole Matherne

Head Age Group Coach Nicole Matherne is a Level 1 certified USS coach with 6 years of coaching experience. After swimming competitively throughout her childhood, Coach Nicole was was recruited to swim at a Division 1 NCAA school on full scholarship, but declined and instead chose to attend University of Louisiana-Monroe. Coach Nicole competed and lettered two years before the program was dropped at the school.

Ms. Nicole earned a Bachelor's degree in General Studies from South Eastern Louisiana. She intends to pursue a career in education and competitive coaching. Nicole enjoys watching swimmers grow and learn to be contributing members of society through the sport of swimming while also developing a healthy sense of goal-setting and competition.

Ashley Otting

Ashley Otting has extensive experience teaching swim lessons and coaching swim team.  She is a Level I certified USS coach and has been involved with swimming since the age of 4.  She loves being in the water.  Ashley began teaching swim lessons at the St. Joseph, Missouri YMCA as a volunteer when she was 13 years old and became a lead instructor when she was 15.  She started assistant coaching for the Pony Express Swim Team summer league in 2003 and stayed with the team until 2006.  In July 2011, Ashley began working as a swim lesson instructor and assistant swim team coach for South Louisiana Swim Team.

Ms. Ashley received her Bachelor's degree in history from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.  She is currently working on her Master's of Arts in Teaching at the University of New Orleans with a concentration in special education.  She is a special education teacher at R.K. Smith Middle School in Luling, LA.  Ashley loves working with children of all ages to engage them in swimming.  She loves to share her joy of the sport and believes that it is a life skill everyone should know.  Ashley truly believes in the mission of SLST and hopes to continue to work with swimmers to help them improve their skills and their self-confidence.

Alexis Allen

Seababies Assistant and Swim Lesson provider Alexis Allen joined the South Louisiana Swim Team staff in January of 2012. For ten years of her childhood and adolescence, Coach Alexis swam competitively, leading her to compete with St. Mary’s Dominican School. She has been life guarding at Elmwood Fitness Center for four years and has been promoted to lifeguard supervisor at the facility.

Ms. Alexis graduated from St. Mary’s Dominican High School in May of 2012 and will be attending Louisiana Sate University in the Fall to study pre-veterinary medicine on the highly competitive Chancellor’s Alumni Full Scholarship. Coach Alexis will continue working with the South Louisiana Swim Team while on break from schooling. Ms. Alexis finds that swimming is a crucial skill for all children to learn, and she deems it a great privilege to be able to work with children every week and pass on the skills that she herself was taught many years ago to better their abilities.

Teri Begin

Seababies Assistant and Swim Lesson Provider Teri Begin is from Orlando, Florida. In addition to coaching with the SLST, Coach Teri was the Assistant Coach for Riverside Academy’s Middle School. Coach Teri is a proud member of US Master’s Swimming and enjoys competing.

Miss Begin graduated with a degree in Theater and Education from Flagler College in Florida. As an actress, Miss Begin enjoys traveling and performing. She is a strong believer in following one's dreams, and loves helping children and young people develop their passions and goals - "There is nothing better than that 'Aha!' moment." Her son, Ethan, also swims for SLST, and is her proudest achievement.