Parkshore Piranhas Coaching Staff
Head Coach Erik Kreutner
Coach Erik will be coaching the Piranhas for the fifteenth season in 2008. He succeeded Patti Dukes as Parkshore coach in 1994. He began coaching as an assistant at Snee Farm in 1985 and became Snee Farm's head coach in 1987. in 1989, Erik's last year there, Snee Farm won the first of its nineteen consecutive CCAA championships. From 1989 until 1993, he was an assistant coach for the City of Charleston Swim Team (CCST), ending up as the primary Age Group coach and helping to coach several swimmers to National Top 16 rankings. After a short stay in Columbia as the head coach of the Gamecock Aquatics year-round team, Erik returned to Charleston and began coaching the Piranhas. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Coastal Carolina Aquatic Association (CCAA) for most of the past 17 years, and is currently the vice-president of the league.
Coach Kreutner swam for many years with the Creekside swim team in Mount Pleasant, then known as the Charleston Tennis Club, and swam for coach Pete Combes on his year-round teams, the Charleston Swim Association and the Lowcountry Sea Devils. He played water polo in college until a shoulder injury ended his career. After leaving Duke University after his junior year for early acceptance to the Medical University of South Carolina, he attended medical school for two years before realizing that teaching and coaching was his vocation. He finished at the College of Charleston in 1990, and has taught at Mason Prep school ever since. He is currently the director of technology and computer teacher at Mason Prep, and is working on a master's degree in educational administration.
Erik lives in the Ashley Forest neighborhood, not far from the Coburg Cow, with his wife, Katie (who also teaches at Mason Prep) and their two young children.
Assistant Coaches
Edward Ball
Michael Mulé
Jessica Simons
Abby Zisk
More information about the assistant coaches will be available soon!
Kate Kirschbaum will not be able to coach this summer, since she is preparing to move to San Diego to begin law school. We will miss Kate!
Parkshore Piranhas Coaching Philosophy
We intend to provide instruction, motivation, challenges and fun in a sport that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. We try to teach not only swimming skills, but also skills such as teamwork, self-discipline and goal setting. We strive to maintain a balance between participation and team success. We realize that winning is not the most important thing; however, personal and team success can be incredible motivators. We try to help swimmers set individual goals, and to set new ones when those goals are reached. We encourage each swimmer to view every practice or meet as a chance to become a better swimmer than the day before.