Paul Ikeda

l’ve always been happy in a pool. I jumped into one as a small child and my dad jumped in clothes and all to pull me out. I spent summers as a kid at the pool my parents joined. I started swimming laps at the YMCA in the suburbs of Chicago once out of college. After I moved to Seattle in my mid 20s, I started swimming laps with engineering friends from work at lunch time at the pool in Tukwila. The first swim team I joined was ORCA and my first swim meet was an ORCA meet at age 30 in 1990. I’ve been coaching at ORCA since the mid 1990s and I am currently a certified Red Cross Lifeguard and a certified ASCA and USMS swim coach. In addition to swimming, I ride my bike in the AIDS/LifeCycle charity, and I enjoy cooking and gardening. I make a living by working on retirement benefits.

Eric Ryden

I am originally from West Bloomfield, MI and moved out to Seattle in 2005. One of my earliest memories is being in the pool with my dad. Like most kids, I tried many different sports growing up, but swimming was by far my favorite. I swam competitively in high school and afterwards, would swim to stay in shape whenever I could find pool time. A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to get back into competing within Masters and luckily, found the ORCAs. I continue to enjoy swimming with a great group of people as well as being a substitute coach when needed. I specialize in putting together sprint workouts.

Mason Chuang

I grew up swimming in high school and joined the USMS shortly thereafter.  Starting with Santa Clara, UCLA, DCAC, Stanford, SF Tsunami, and finally ORCA in 2014. Judo and fencing were fun but the swim community is where I really found at home. I hope to be able to share this wonderful community with you whether you are swimming for health, competition, or for fun.  Go ORCA!

NOHEA KAMAUU

I am a second year Psychology student at Seattle University. I am also on the SU Women’s swim team and have been competitively swimming since I was 7 years old. Swimming has always been a place where I feel safe and can be myself. I started swimming because my older brother did but continued with the sport because I fell in love with it. Other hobbies I have are reading and crafting (such as sewing, embroidery, and painting). I coach Saturday mornings and can’t wait to get to know everyone! 

ANDRES BANUELOS

Born and raised in Denver, CO, my swimming journey began at age 5 in summer club leagues, eventually leading me to compete at the Division 1 level for Seattle University. Though I've recently hung up my cap and goggles, my enthusiasm for the sport remains. Alongside my passion for swimming, I'm a 3rd-year student at Seattle University, majoring in Business Analytics and Finance with a minor in Economics. I enjoy listening to audiobooks, weightlifting, and watching the occasional sunset. I will be coaching Mondays and look forward to seeing everyone!

jim lasersohn

I have been part of Orca since 1995 and have swum in meets and local open water races, as well as, many IGLA Champs and Gay Games over the years. In addition to serving on the board in the past, I have served as meet director for over 10 swim meets hosted by ORCAS, including the IGLA 2013 Championships. I have also served as the race director for the local Fat Salmon Open Water Swim.

I am a firm believer in having workouts where technique focus items are built into the workouts with a good mix of kick and strokes other than freestyle mixed in to balance out the muscles we are using.  I am more than happy to provide you tips on any stroke or item you want to work on and may volunteer feedback to you at workout.  Having had experience dealing with shoulder over-use injuries, I may have ideas on exercises for you to balance out your swimming muscles.

Orca Swim Team has been a great social, fitness, and team competition opportunity for me for many years and I am happy to “give back” to the team. 

AJ Burt

My relationship with swimming is mature & intimate, and I love learning about yours. My favorite thing about the ORCAs is that we’re IGLA-affiliated, and I’m very excited to grow ORCA’s inclusivity for our deaf teammates.

I grew up in gorgeous & anomalous Wyoming, Ohio and learned to swim during a hot summer by jumping into my family’s backyard pool with no water wings on. I confidently stayed above water before Dad had time to jump in, fully clothed; those water wings have stayed off ever since.

I’ve been coaching since 2005, mostly in Ohio, and I’ve helped develop swimmers & coaches across most ages. While I’ve spent the most time (7 years) coaching (chasing) ages 4-8, my favorite age range is ours. Helping you connect with your body, meeting your goals, and having a gay old time along the way are what motivates and inspires me.

Ask me about my three favorite indoor pools.

As a coach, I invite collaboration, playfulness, intentional consistency and as always, feedback.

SARAH PUTULIN

I love the US Women's National Team, martial arts, ultimate frisbee, Avatar the Last Airbender (original version - duh) and of course swimming. I’ve been coaching the ORCAs Team since October 2023 after joining in June 2023. 

My experience with swimming started when I was 3 or 4 and my parents took me to the local YMCA. After stubbornly refusing to participate and expressing a vehemence against the floating class, my parents decided to try a different approach at the local swim club (Palo Alto Swimming Aquatics) where I thrived; I haven’t looked back since. In high school, I swam junior varsity and varsity for Palo Alto High School, becoming team captain my senior year, and ironically, I ended up coaching the little ones at my local YMCA, an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I try to mix up the practices to give everyone a bit of something they like or perhaps something they need. Seeing what an individual can accomplish always makes me super happy. I always welcome feedback. So, please let me know if it’s ever too challenging or if you’d like to see a specific drill or set in the next practice! 

I love that the Orcas Team is open and inviting to the queer community!

KATIE FRITCHER

I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and joined my childhood swim team, Northern Lights Swim Club, at the age of 5. I swam on my team all through my youth and continued swimming for the University of Nevada, Reno during my freshman year of college.

After a few detours that involved living in Germany and Iceland, Masters Rowing on a mixed masters team, biding my time during the pandemic, and the personal journey of coming out to myself, I am ecstatic to be back in the pool and to be a part of the LGBTQA+ community through a sport that has been one of my greatest passions in life.

I work as a Business Process Analyst for Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and currently live in Capitol Hill with my two cats Meriadoc (Merry) Proudtale Fritcher and Peregrin (Pippin) Bombadil Fritcher. They are as mischievous, food-obsessed, and adorable as their hobbit namesakes.