O*H*I*O Masters Coaches
Bob Babiak
Bob has coached the Ohio Masters for over 30 years and is a Level I and II USMS Certified Coach. He has over 45 years of Age Group, High School and Masters coaching. Most of his career has been spent in the Age Group programs.
Bob has been involved with the following clubs: Lakewood Swim Club, Lake Erie Swim Club, Lake Erie Silver Dolphins-West—Assistant Coach and Head Coach for 24 years. Westshore YMCA—Head Coach 4 Years, O*H*I*O Masters—29 years. Bob has been Head Coach at Westlake, Berea, and Fairview High Schools.
Chuck Beatty
Chuck started swimming in Midland, Texas in 1969 (yes, before goggles). He swam age group, high school and one year of college, then swam on and off for the next 35 years.
Chuck joined U.S. Masters Swimming and O*H*I*O Masters in 2013. His personal focus is on distance freestyle events and open water swimming. To apply his craft, Chuck took on swimming across Lake Erie; once as a relay team member and once as a solo. He’s been coaching the Akron General Lifestyles workout group since late 2018 and earned his USMS Level 1 and Level 2 coaching certifications in May 2019.
Chuck is the event director of the Brogan Open Water Classic, serves on Board for O*H*I*O Masters and serves as the Open Water Chair of the Lake Erie LMSC.
Jay DeFinis
Pete Finefrock
Pete started competitive swimming in 1957 at the Sportsman’s Club in Oklahoma City. He joined the Berea Swim Club (AAU) in 1961 and swam for Berea High (Class of ’66) and The College of Wooster (Class of ’70) as primarily a backstroker and IMer.
Pete started coaching in 1967 for the Wooster YMCA and Wooster Swim Club for several years.
He returned to coaching in 1997 as head middle school coach for Hathaway Brown School for many years and Assistant Head Coach for University Swim Club for 20 years. He also assisted Laurel School MS swimming team. He spent 13 years coaching the Shaker Heights Country Club team.
Currently, Pete is the head middle school coach for University School for 20 years and works with their Varsity program, the Aquatics Director and Swim Coach for Canterbury Golf Club, the lead swim instructor pre-K through 5th grade at University School and long time O*H*I*O Masters coach at Orange High School.
Judi Norton
Judi is a lifelong swimmer, having started as a “Minnow” at age 6 in the Lakewood YWCA. She switched to competitive swimming at age 11 with Lakewood Swim Club (currently LRST) and continued at Rutgers University where she was a two-time DI All American (200 IM and 200 Back).
After graduation, she coached Fairview High School Boys’ Team for 13 years and added the girls’ program for the last 3 years. She started swimming with O*H*I*O Masters in 1981 and has continued with the club in various roles including board member, coach, and President.
Her favorite role with the club is “teammate.” She also serves on the LELMSC Board. In 2018, Judi received the USMS Dorothy Donnelly Service Award, which recognizes USMS members whose volunteer service has contribued to the growth of U.S. Masters Swimming on local, regional, and national levels. She is also a USMS Certified Level 1 and 2 Coach and an Adult Learn to Swim (ALTS) Instructor.
Molly Tolford
Molly has always loved being in the water, spending any warm day at Huntington Beach and neighborhood pools growing up. She joined North Olmsted Rec Center Summer Swim Team at age 7 and fell in love with racing, meet days, and the team. Molly swam for North Olmsted High School, and was team captain her senior year. She stepped away from competitive swimming after high school, but missed the water and began lap swimming on her own.
Molly came back to competitive swimming and the team environment 15 years later, joining O*H*I*O Masters. She enjoys swimming distance events, summer morning social kicks in the lake, serving on the O*H*I*O Masters Board, and running the team Instagram account (@ohiomastersswim)!
