Rachel Ellis.
Head Coach
Biography:
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Coach Rachel Ellis is new to EDS. She was Permanently Medically Retired from the US Army in September 2012 after eight years of service and three deployments to Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq with an injured hip and nerve damage in her left leg. After being on bedrest for three years her doctor told her about the Wounded Warrior Swim Team at Fort Gordon. She started working out with Coach Fred Lamback and started competing in Disability Swim Meets and became the team’s “Ringer”. She has competed in the Fred Lamback Disability Swim Meet, The Wounded Warrior Games, The Roosevelt Games and the Dixie Games. She usually swims around 2.5 - 3 miles at practice and is currently doing Lap Swimming, Open Water Long Distance Swimming, Yoga, and Boxing.
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Currently she is the Head Coach for the Petersburg Racquet Club Summer League Swim Team, the Head Coach for the US Masters Swim Team and currently travels to all three ASL's pools coaching all the different groups. She has worked with Fred Lamback who runs swim programs for the mentally and/or physically disabled as well as for Wounded Warriors. In addition, Coach Ellis and Coach Lamback have helped train athletes in the Tri-Augusta Triathlon Club for the swim portion. She loves kids and has a passion for helping others. She is very excited and honored to be a part of the EDS Panther Nation and looking forward to coaching our young swimmers and watching their progression and passion grow for a sport she loves so dearly. |
Fred Lamback.
Co-Head Coach
Biography:
Coach Lamback is new to EDS but not the Augusta area. He is an alumnus of the Academy of Richmond County. Coach Fred’s love of swimming began at the original YMCA in downtown Augusta in 1948. As a mostly self-taught swimmer, he trained and competed in triathlons, training with the Augusta Triathlon Club at Fort Gordon. As a parent volunteer, he helped at ASL home meets as a stroke and turn official as his 3 children swam for ASL. He started to coach at the national level when his son began competing in disability swimming in 2001. He was named to the 2004 Paralympic staff in Greece as a support person. Coach Fred continued to coach and support Paralympic swimming and was named USA Swimming Jimmy Flowers Disability Coach of the year in 2010. For the London 2012 Paralympics, Coach Fred had 3 swimmers named to the team, including his son Lantz. He is currently Head Swim Coach for BlazeSports America and travels across Georgia coaching athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities. He coaches veterans with disabilities, increasing their overall fitness through swimming. He has been named to the Georgia Zone team for the past 5 years as an Assistant Coach. Coach Fred began coaching with ASL in 2009 as an Age-Group Assistant Coach and enjoys working with swimmers of all ages. Fred is currently coaching the High School and White Groups at the Aquatic Center. Coach Fred was also recognized in 2014 as an Augusta American Red Cross Community Partner Hero for his amazing work with Disability Sports, Wounded Warrior, the now nationally acclaimed ASL Fred Lamback Disability Meet. This will be Coach Fred's 1st year with EDS.