Jack Young

Jack has been working at Barron Swim School since the very beginning in 2015, even before we had our first location. He started out as the Aquatics Director for our South County location and is now the Director of Operations across both our South County and our O’Fallon locations. Jack has coaching experience from coaching novice level swimmers all the way to the Olympic Trial Qualifiers. He was a USA swimming club coach for over 25 years and has coached in St. Louis, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas. Jack also used to be a competitive swimmer, himself. He began swimming at the age of 4 on the local swim team and swam all the way through high school. His favorite stroke was breaststroke and the IM. In Jack’s free time, he loves to read about history (Western European is his favorite), enjoys running, and is a HUGE football fan. Jack’s favorite candy is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (they’re the best when they’re frozen)!

Alex Hale

Alex joined the Barron Swim team in 2019 as a swim instructor at our South County location, and he is now the General Manager at our location in O’Fallon, MO. In both roles, Alex coordinates safety procedures and mentors and trains staff on Barron Swim School’s curriculum. He also oversees the progress, development, and evaluations of the students. Alex is committed to providing the highest level of safety, leadership, and instruction to all staff and swimmers. Born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri area, Alex’s passion for swimming started from a young age and continued to grow once he joined the water polo team at Mehlville High School. Upon graduation from Mehlville High School in 2008, he joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and served for ten years. In Alex’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Natalie and four children: Sophia, Maverick, Charlie, and Millie.  He also enjoys fishing, landscaping, and time at the gym.

Josephine Rohrbacker

Josephine has been working at Barron Swim School since early 2018. She began as a part-time swim instructor at our South County location and is now the Aquatics Director at our O’Fallon location. Josephine’s roles both in and of the pool involve implementing safety procedures in Barron Swim School’s curriculum, as well as mentoring and orchestrating the development and performance of staff. Josephine’s main goal in the pool for each lesson is to find the perfect and most effective balance between safety and enjoyment for each child. Before joining the Barron team, she worked as a lifeguard all throughout high school and swam competitively on her high school swim team, followed by becoming one of the assistant swim coaches for her team her senior year. Josephine currently obtains a lifeguard certification, a CPR and first-aid certification, and her CPO certification. In Josephine’s free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, kayaking and paddle boarding out on the lake, taking/editing photographs, and reading.

Anna Marxkors

Anna joined the Barron Swim School team in August of 2018 as a swim instructor at our South County location, and she is our Office Director at Barron Swim School in O’Fallon, MO. Anna is in charge of scheduling classes, the gift shop, and all the “nitty-gritty” of office life. Anna has always loved the water. She learned how to swim at age 4 and joined a local competitive swim team when she was 8! After high school, Anna went to Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, earning her Bachelors of Science in Speech Language Pathology. She then began work for an Asbestos law firm for five years. While working in a cubicle has been thrilling, Anna is super excited to see all the friendly faces ready to swim every day! In Anna’s free time, she loves to be outside, read, craft and hang out with her dogs, Hazel and Huck.

Bridgette Furniss

Bridgette started working at Barron Swim School in the fall of 2022. She has worked in customer service the past two years, and before joining the Barron team, she used to work at another swim school in Australia. What she enjoys most about working up at the front desk is being able to meet the needs of each person and providing a positive experience for everyone she interacts with. Bridgette loves working at Barron Swim School because of the optimistic and driven work environment it provides its employees, as well as the exceptional safety procedures it has in place. She also loves Barron’s mission and how we strive to teach survival skills to children starting at such a young age in both a fun and informative way. When Bridgette isn’t behind the front desk, she can be found drawing and painting. She has a dog named Macy, and her favorite candy is sour gummy worms, especially the blue and red ones!

Leah Dunlap

Leah joined our customer service team at Barron Swim School in the summer of 2022. She is most fond of our company culture, as well getting to be around the kids and seeing their excitement as they go in for their swim classes and move up levels. Having been in swim lessons herself, she believes what we teach at Barron is vital for every child to learn and loves that we incorporate fun into each lesson. Leah loves working with kids, and she even started her own babysitting business at the age of twelve. She also used to work at LittleBits Gym as both a coach and a member of the customer service team, where she was able to expand her skillset in the customer service department. When Leah isn’t at work, she can be found either playing the trumpet in band at her high school or playing with her dog named Cinnamon Spice. Her favorite color is purple, her favorite season is autumn, and her favorite candies are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut M&Ms, or Twix bars.

Ava Jansen

Ava taught swim lessons at Renaud in O’Fallon for about a year and a half before she made her way to Barron in early 2022. She loves teaching at Barron because she has so much fun with the kids, and she loves the curriculum at Barron. She values how important water education is and how crucial it is for families to understand how to be safe in and around the water. She finds teaching swim lessons rewarding, and she has always had a love for children. Ava also has a competitive swim background, and she started swimming when she was in 8^th grade and continued all the way through high school. When Ava isn’t in the pool, she loves spending time with her friends and getting coffee, baking, and shopping at the mall.

Zoë Carpenter

Zoë started working for Barron in early 2022, but she started teaching swim lessons at her neighborhood pool in 2019. She loves teaching swim lessons because she’s able to share her love of being in the pool with the kids she teaches. She values Barron’s curriculum and mission statement because of how important swim lessons are in keeping the community safe while also having fun in the water, and she loves working for Barron because of the cheerful, welcoming environment. Zoë is currently studying to become a forensic nurse, and in her free time, she enjoys reading, painting, traveling, hanging out with friends and family, and taking photographs. She has a dog, a hedgehog, and a fish, and her favorite candy is either Kit Kats or dark chocolate sea salt caramels.

Rhyan LaBoube

Rhyan started working for Barron in early 2022. She enjoys the welcoming culture Barron prides itself on, as well as how kind everyone is at Barron. She also knows what she does is super important because it educates children of the dangers of water when approached in an unsafe manner and what to do in emergency situations, and she enjoys being able to help kids achieve new goals and progress. Rhyan has been a club swimmer since she was a kid, and she also swims for her high school swim team. Prior to Barron, she babysat her two cousins, and when she’s not at work, she enjoys painting and hanging out with her friends. She has a dog named Benji, and her favorite candy is gummy worms.

Jessica Wagner

Jessica has been teaching at Barron Swim School since early 2022. She loves working at Barron because she has a passion for swimming and being in the water, and she wants to share that passion with the kids she teaches and wants them to understand the importance of being safe in and around the water. Jessica’s been swimming on both summer and club teams since she was little, but when she’s not in the water, she enjoys mountain biking, wake surfing, and participating in DECA. Jessica’s favorite candies are Kit Kats and the watermelon-flavored Sour Patch Kids, and she has a cat named Susie.

Abby Ekstrom

Abby has been at Barron Swim School since early 2022. She likes working at Barron because of the wonderful community, and she enjoys making a difference in every kid’s life. She really admires how Barron gives each child the opportunity to be successful in their own way and how year-round swim lessons solidify skills that will last a lifetime. Abby’s been swimming since she was about 7, and before joining the community at Barron, Abby used to work as a lifeguard and teach private swim lessons. When Abby isn’t in the pool, she loves going shopping. She has a four-year-old boxer dog named Remington, and her favorite candy is regular M&Ms.

Brooke Suftko

Brooke has been teaching at Barron Swim School since March of 2022. Brooke loves working at Barron because of the atmosphere of the employees and the families that bring their kids to swim at Barron. She believes everyone should learn and understand the skills Barron emphasizes in the curriculum because of how important they are for survival. She also has lots of experience working with kids and helping out with summer swim teams under her belt, and she swims on her high school swim team and loves to scuba dive! When Brooke isn’t in the water, she enjoys hiking, working out, and anything outdoors and involving nature. She has two dogs named Allie and Rico, and she loves Skittles!

Holly Koessel

Holly started teaching at Barron Swim School in the summer of 2022, but she has many years of experience in teaching and working with children. She’s been coaching soccer off and on for the past 12 years, she’s helped out with Sunday school, and she has five children of her own, ranging from ages 23 to 7, as well as two grandchildren. She loves working at Barron because of the upbeat, positive environment, and she loves how everyone is here to work together as a team and uplift one another. She finds teaching to be rewarding experience because she gets to see the smiles on the kids’ faces when they conquer a new goal and overcome their fears, and she values our mission statement, “Building Skills for Life,” and the importance of teaching children of all ages the importance of safety in and around the water. Holly loves being in the water, but in her free time, she likes to spend time with her family and going hiking, fishing, camping, and taking new road trip adventures. She has three cats, two dogs, a couple lizards, and fish, and her favorite snacks are Sour Patch Kids, bubble gum-flavored Trident gum, and Level-1 protein bars.

Chloyee Jones

Chloyee started at Barron in the summer of 2022, but she’s been babysitting and working with kids since 2018. She enjoys working with kids and working at Barron because she loves making a difference in each child’s life, and she knows and understands the importance of teaching swimming as a survival skill. Seeing the look of accomplishment on a child’s face after working so hard on a particular skill is one of the many things she finds fulfilling about being an instructor. In addition to her experience working with kids, she also used to work at Stef’s Pizza and Chick-fil-A. Chloyee likes spending time with friends and family outside of work, as well as making pottery on her pottery wheel. She has a cat named Luna, and her favorite candy is Sour Patch Kids.

Dalton Rice

Dalton started working at Barron Swim School in the summer of 2022, but he has been in the water as a competitive swimmer since he was seven years old. He has worked as a swim coach for a summer league and has taught swim lessons as a private contractor, as well. He loves teaching at Barron Swim School because he gets to meet lots of fun, energetic kids, and every day is new and exciting because each student progresses and learns new skills every day. He believes that what we do at Barron isn’t just about teaching kids life-saving skills and that it’s also about making kids smile and being proud of what they can accomplish when they find the motivation and the confidence to learn new things. Swimming is a huge part of Dalton’s life, but when he’s not in the water, he can be found playing with his dog, Cora, and his favorite candy is Lemonheads.

Liv Murray

Liv has been working at Barron Swim School since fall of 2022. She has been dreaming of working with kids ever since she was young, and now she loves being a role model in each of her students’ lives as they learn to become safer in and around the water! As a swim instructor, she is dedicated to make each lesson both fun and education, and she strives to have a positive influence on those around her in everything she does. Before working at Barron, Liv swam on two different competitive swim teams, one for four years and the other for two years, and she loves having the opportunity to use her competitive swim background in her teaching. When Liv isn’t in the water, she enjoys playing with her four dogs, playing video games, and making creative videos, and her favorite candy is Gushers.

Zach Armstrong

Zach has experience working with kids from the time he was a kid all the way up until about freshman or sophomore year of high school. Zach worked at a summer camp called camp sunshine (later changed to camp rainbow) which was out in Potosi, Missouri. This camp was designed for kids with chronic illnesses that never got to enjoy being a kid much. As a volunteer he would directly interact with the kids while they participate in various activities. Zach’s strengths for teaching are leadership and extroversion. He’s very devoted and an outgoing individual who maintains a high level of energy. Zach holds a certification in shallow life guarding, and has taken courses per the Boy Scouts of America in order to become a better swimmer. These courses included life-saving, as well as techniques for swimming. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and being outdoors as much as possible. He also loves visiting Seattle, Washington with his girlfriend to visit his dad as well as going to the mountains and pier to sight see and explore. His favorite candy is Reese’s Pieces.

Emma Hilsabeck

Emma has been working with Barron Swim School since the winter of 2022, but she has lots of prior experience teaching swim lessons under her belt! She used to work at the Four Rivers YMCA for about a year, where she taught swim lessons with kids ranging anywhere from two to 13 years old in both group lessons and private lessons, and she even worked with special needs children in her private lessons, as well. In Emma’s free time, she can be found riding her bike on trails and going swimming. She also has a 13 year old Shihtzu named Trixie that she loves very much, and her favorite candy is Smarties.

Jordan Schwent