Coaches

Head Coach

Chris Aarseth

Chris Aarseth has been coaching for over 20 years and is extremely excited to bring his love for swimming everyday to the pool. During his tenure in Minneapolis, the team has won two section championships and has been named runners-up six times. He is an eight-time Section “Coach of the Year” and was awarded MSHSL Class AA Girls' “Coach of the Year” in 2016. He has also been recognized with a meritorious service award from the swimming and diving coaches association. In September 2026, Chris was inducted into the Southwest Athletics Hall of Fame. Chris is a MPS graduate and has gleaming pride when he says he grew up in Northeast Minneapolis.

Chris says he feels incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so many great families who have fantastic kids who happen to enjoy the sport of swimming as much as he does. He and his wife Shelby have two girls, Caitlin and Olivia. Chris says he enjoys teaching kids how to become “better, faster swimmers through the influence of purpose, persistence, and passion.”

Assistant Girls Swim Coach

Peyton D'Emanuele

I’m a former laker with 15 years of competitive swimming experience. After Southwest, I swam for 4 years at Notre Dame and took my fifth year of collegiate eligibility to the University of Cincinnati where I specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly. I recently moved back to Minneapolis in May 2025. I am excited to continue growing the sport of swimming at Southwest.

Dive Coach

CATHY TAYLOR

I have been coaching Minneapolis diving since 2016. I am married and have four children (my girls swam at Southwest) and a dog. I teach swimming for my day job and in my free time like running, knitting and other types of needle work.

Assistant Girls Swim and Dive Coach

Elise Erickson Cooley

My interest in diving came after I took a trip to the St. Cloud Quarry Park in the summer of 2016, where I took my then 7 years of gymnastics experience and tried flipping off the rocks into the water, rather than just jumping. Shortly after, I joined my high school diving team for my Junior year here at Southwest, and I returned for my Senior year as well. This is also when Cathy came in as head diving coach. I am proudly Cathy's first Southwest diver.

I've been assistant to Cathy across the Minneapolis-wide diving team on-and-off from 2021-2023, and I currently going into my second season as the head coach for the Southwest gymnastics team. This is my first season assisting with the entire Southwest swim team, and I'm very grateful to be back in such a welcoming community, in the pool, and the deck, and in the stands.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse