Daria, Andrew, Dave, Daniel, Katie

 

Dave Holland, Head Coach 

Dave returns for his 12th season at Ridgetop. He is a 1989 graduate of Indiana University, where he competed for 4 years as a butterflyer.  In 1997, Dave received his M.Ed. from the University of Virginia.  He is employed as a speech-language pathologist with Richmond City Schools.  In the past he has coached swimming at Randolph-Macon College, Saint Gertrude High School, and Southampton.  Dave and his wife Liz have two children, Abby and Hank.  Dave can be contacted here.

 

Katie Baxa, Asst. Coach 

Katie returns for her third season as a vital member of our staff.  She grew up at Ridgetop, joined the swim team in 1996 at age 5, and proved to be a dedicated and loyal Riptide for 14 consecutive years.  She won the prestigious Robin Hersey award in 2007.  In addition to Ridgetop, she also competed in USS swimming (7 years) and for Saint Gertrude High School (4 years), where she served as team captain as a senior.  Katie just completed her junior year at the University of Delaware, where she is studying Psychology, Public Health and Cognitive Science.  She also competes as a member of the Blue Hen club swim team.  Katie can be reached here. 

 

Daniel Strait, Asst. Coach 

We are happy to announce that Daniel returns to us after taking a hiatus last summer.  He previously coached at RT in 2009 and 2010.  Daniel culminated a storied RT swim career in 2009 by earning the Robin Hersey award and notching numerous listings on the “Ridge Top Ten” list. Daniel also competed as a USS year-round swimmer for many years with Poseidon, scoring at Junior Nationals.  He is finishing his junior year at Virginia Tech, where he is enrolled in their top-notch program in architecture.  Daniel can be reached here.

   

Andrew Strait, Asst. Coach 

Andrew joined our staff as a new coach in 2011 and we are delighted that he is returning.  He concluded his 11-year career as a Riptide in epic fashion last summer, setting new RT team records in four events at Champs, including a league record in the 100 IM.  In addition, he recently finished up an impressive sophomore campaign as a member of the William and Mary varsity team, finishing second in the 200 breast and 400 IM at the CAA conference championships, and setting multiple team records.  A math major, he was honored by the CAA in March as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Men's Swimming & Diving.  He also competed for many years with Poseidon, and will continue his training with them this summer in hopes of earning a chance to swim at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha.   He can be reached here.

 

Daria Mosman, Asst. Coach

We are excited to welcome Daria to our coaching ranks this summer.  Daria joined the RT swim team as a 9-year old in 2002 and swam for ten consecutive seasons, graduating last summer with multiple listings on the “Ridge Top Ten” board.  She also competed for four years on the varsity team at Collegiate, serving as team captain during her senior year.  Prior to Collegiate, Daria swam on the Tuckahoe YMCA team for two seasons, and taught lessons there in 2006.  She has won multiple awards at the RT banquet, including the “Best Attitude Award” in 2002, the “High Point” award (6 times), and the Robin Hersey award in 2008.  Daria has just completed her first year at UVA, where she is studying Pre-Commerce.   She can be reached here.