Mike has been coaching swimming since 1997, mostly individual and smaller group practices. "It's very rewarding to help someone improve in the pool, " he says. "I love working with swimmers and getting them to achieve more than what they originally thought possible."
Outside of the pool, Mike has been a competitive runner and triathlete since 1992, when he jump-started his running career by running the Boston Marathon on six weeks of training. "Not highly recommended," Mike notes. He ran several marathons over the next couple years until a friend suggested he try triathlons. So, without a wetsuit and riding a borrowed bike, he did his first two triathlons in 1994, winning his age group in the second race. "I was hooked from there," he says, and he has been racing triathlons ever since, amassing 10 overall career victories and numerous age group wins. Mike has completed eight Ironman distance triathlons, placing as high as 17th overall at the 1998 Great Floridian. He held the swim record at that event for two years and was the overall swim winner at Ironman Lanzarotte in 1998.