Jack Fabian, Ph.D., has been named head coach of the Keene State College swimming and diving program.  Fabian is looking forward to building on his success as an assistant coach with the team the past six seasons.

Fabian said that his familiarity with the program will be extremely helpful as he assumes his new position.  "After working with the program over the past few years, the athletes know my expectations are very high, and I am confident that they're ready to train at that level," he said.  

"We're excited about Jack taking over the program," said KSC athletic director John Ratliff.  "His knowledge of the teams should benefit him as he looks to take the program to the next level."

Fabian believes that he was fortunate to begin his career as an assistant with former Owl coach Gene Leonard. "Gene not only motivated the swimmers and divers, but also inspired people like me to pursue a career in coaching," Fabian said.

As an Owl assistant, Fabian worked primarily with distance swimmers, including junior standout Katlin Pryor, a New England (Div. II-III) champion and multiple KSC record holder.

Fabian's initial goals for the program include building up the program through recruiting and instituting an endurance-based training program.  "I want the program to reach a point where we are qualifying athletes for regional and national competition on a consistent basis," he said.
   
Fabian, a Weston, Conn., native, is also the national development coach for the Greenwood Memorial Swim Club, a USA swimming program based in Keene and Gardner, Mass.  As a USA swimming coach, Fabian has produced nationally recognized top-16, high school All-American, junior national, and sectional level qualifiers.  An ASCA level-3 certified coach, he has represented New England as an assistant coach as the Eastern Zone Championship meet in 2004 and 2005. As a coach for Greenwood, Fabian works closely with Greenwood's national coach Don Lemieux, who has trained numerous swimmers to qualify for Division I schools, USA swimming nationals, and Olympic trials.  Chris Woolridge, a KSC swimming alum who also serves as the head age group coach for the Greenwood team, will join the Owl program as the team's sprint coach next season.

Fabian, who also runs a master's swim program at KSC, graduated from Hobart College in 1985 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and earned a doctorate in molecular biology in 1992 from the State University of New York at Buffalo.  He obtained his post-doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute and worked as an assistant professor at Penn State and as an adjunct professor at Keene State.

Fabian replaces Al Rozzi, who served as head coach of the KSC swim program the past two years.  "I enjoyed working with Al, he was a class act and I wish him well in his future endeavors," Fabian said.

Fabian, along with his wife Claire and children Max and Eva, reside in Keene.

Set to start his second year with the Keene State swim program, Chris Woolridge has been elevated to associate coach.  A former standout swimmer for the Owls, Woolridge will work primarily with the squad's sprinters.

"Chris is a former captain and brings tremendous experience to the team as both a sprint and distance swimmer," said Jack Fabian,head coach of the Keene State swim teams.  "He will be a great addition to the program." 

Woolridge, a Keene native, earned a combined 20 All-New England (Div.II-III) honors during his four-year Owl career.  As a senior, he placed third in the 50-and 100-yard freestyle races and helped set a KSC record with a second place finish in the 800 freestyle relay (7:21.90).

Woolridge, who serves as a swim coach with the Greenwood Memorial Swim club, has also worked with the Hampshire Hills Seawolves of Milford and the KSC Valley Gators in Keene.

A former head coach of the KSC swim program, David Mason returns to the Spaulding Gym Pool deck as the Owls' diving coach this season.

Mason, who spent eight seasons coaching the Owls (1987-1996),helped KSC build a succesful dual meet record and qualify an increasing number of athletes for the New England championships during his tenure.

Originally from Erie, Pa., Mason attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where as a springboard diver he qualified for national competition in his final two seasons.

While working toward his master's degree at IUP, Mason began coaching the school's diving team.  Upon graduation, he served as the swim coach at several high schools in Pennsylvania and New York, as well as the diving coach at Mercyhurst College.

Mason currently works in the physical education deparment at Monadnock Regional High School, where he also served on the football coaching staff for eight seasons.

Mason resides in Swanzey, N.H. along with his wife Colleen, and daughters Kylie and Maura.

Mason is looking forward to his return to the Keene State program.

Chelsi Day has joined the Keene State swimming program as an assistant diving coach this season.

A native of Mansfield, Ohio, Day comes to Keene State from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she was a two-year member of the school's swim/dive team (2003-05) that captured a pair of Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships.

Competing at Mansfield Christian Academy, Day was an Ohio State finalist as both a junior and senior.  She placed 14th at the state meet as a senior. 

Day, who graduated last spring from Miami with a degree in psychology and health and sports studies, will be a student at Antioch College this fall.

Arriving in Keene, Day sought out KSC head coach Jack Fabian, who was excited about having her join his staff.  "I wanted to stay involved with the sport," Day said.  "I almost love coaching more than competing."
 
Day, who will work with head diving Coach Dave Mason, has high expectations for the team.  "I want the team members to feel like Division I divers," said Day, who will implement many of the training methods she used at Miami-Ohio.
 
"Divers sometimes get put in the shadows and it's really hard because they are part of the swim team," Day said.  "I want to make sure that they get included in all the team stuff."

Day recently returned from the Washington, D.C. area where she worked as an aquatic director at the Camp Shriver Special Olympics Camp. She's hoping to start a Camp Shriver in New Hampshire next summer. 

Day plans to dive right into her new position.  She will hold three diving clinics at the Spaulding Gym Pool on August 25-26, Sept. 1-2, and Sept. 8-9.  For more information about the clinics, you can contact Day at (419) 544-2692 or Chelsi_Day@antiochne.edu. 

Feldmann has returned as an assistant coach for the Keene State College swimming and diving team during the 2006-07 season.  Joel last coached at KSC under Head Coach Dave Mason for 1994-1996.  She also served as an assistant coach at the Keene YMCA with current KSC Head Coach Jack Fabian from 1996-2000.  Other college coaching experience includes Head Women's Coach at Bucknell University for three years, Head Women's Coach at Michigan State for one season, and an Assistant Women's Coach at University of Colorado, where she graduated.

Feldmann, who holds Masters Degrees from Wayne State University and Plymouth State, works full time as a lecturer in the Physical Education Department at Keene State College.  She continues to maintain her own fitness levels by swimming with the Masters group here at Keene State and competing for New England Masters.  This summer, Joel competed in the FINA World Masters Meet held at Stanford University.

Feldmann is looking forward to working with Fabian and his staff.  "I am delighted to be back on deck and hope to be an asset to the program," she said. 

Mike Reilly returns to Keene State this season as an assistant diving coach.

Reilly, a 1990 KSC grad, will help Owl divers in many facets of their sport, including strength, flexibility, body-awareness, dry land training, body mechanics and visualization.

Originally from New Haven, Conn., Reilly has coached at the American School of Gymnastics for 15 years.  In addition to his job at the pool, Reilly has also worked with the KSC cheerleaders over the years. During the winter, he is a nationally certified ski and snowboard judge.