Coaches
Coaches
Tom Thorum accepted the head swimming coach position with Olympus High school in 2013 and has been the head coach of the Omega Aquatics (OA) club swim team since its inception that same year. In his first season at the helm, Tom led OA to a top 10 finish in the 2014 Utah Long Course State Championships. In 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024 OA finished 1st at the Utah Short Course Age Group State Championships. In 2021, OA finished 1st for Seniors at the Utah Long Course State Championships and in 2022 OA finished 1st at the Senior State Short Course Championships. In 2023 and 2024, OA finished first in both the Utah Senior and Age Group Short Course AND Long Course State Championships! Tom successfully grew the team from just a few swimmers in August 2013 to more than 250 today. Tom brings over 40 years of competitive swimming experience from multiple levels to OA. He began swimming competitively at age 5 in Salt Lake City at the Fort Douglas Country Club under his father Thomas Thorum, Sr. Tom swam for the Salt Lake Tsunami Swim Team from 1982-1988, for East High School from 1986-1990, and for the University of Utah from 1990-1994. Tom was Team Captain at East High in 1990, where he received the Eric Hoff award, and Team Captain at the University of Utah in 1994. From 1989-1997, he was also an Assistant Coach for the Fort Douglas Summer League team. During this time, the Fort's swim team went undefeated and produced several collegiate swimmers including two Olympic Trial qualifiers and one World Championship qualifier. In 1995, he was an Assistant Coach at the University of Utah and in 1998 he coached at the Salt Lake Tennis Club. This was the first season in over 16 years that the Club’s swim team went undefeated and won the Conference Championship. Tom continued swimming competitively at the Masters level and attended multiple Masters National Championship meets including the US Masters Swimming Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2000, where he set the Utah State Masters record in the 100-yard backstroke, Santa Clara, California in 2001, and Honolulu, Hawaii in 2002. As a triathlete, Tom completed five Ironman events in New Zealand, Canada, Hawaii, Brazil, and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in 2004 and 2006. In 2006, he recorded the third fastest Ironman swim in history. In 2009, he was recruited back to the Salt Lake Tennis Club as Director of Aquatics and led the swim team to Conference Championships in 2009 and 2011. In 2015, he was selected as the Utah Age Group Zone Team head coach, which competed in Hawaii at the Western Zone Age Group Championships in August. In 2017, Tom was awarded Utah Swimming Age Group Coach of the year and in 2021 and 2022 he was awarded Utah Swimming Senior Coach of the year. Tom is currently an ASCA Level 4 coach responsible for the OA Senior Teams and the Olympus High School swim team. Tom is a 1995 graduate of the University of Utah, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree and a 1998 graduate of the University of Utah Graduate School of Architecture, where he earned his Master of Architecture degree.
TBD
Assistant Coach
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Liz Stapley is a native Utahn. She grew up in Murray and swam for Murray High. She finished her degree in Food Science/Dietetics at Utah State University in 2006 and is a practicing Registered Dietitian with experience in disordered eating, renal, and clinical nutrition. Liz loves all things water: triathlon, white water rafting, water polo, and swimming! She is a passionate and energetic swim coach with years of experience helping swimmers of all ages grow in skill and confidence. Liz has been coaching for Omega Aquatics since 2020, specializing in technique development for young swimmers. She enjoys breaking down complex movements into fun, achievable steps. Whether she’s guiding brand-new swimmers or coaching kids to take their skills to the next level, Liz brings positivity, patience, and expert insight to every lesson. Her goal is to build strong, confident swimmers who love the water as much as she does.
Kelli is a Las Vegas native and started swimming with the Sandpiper swim team. In 1995, she moved to Utah, and in 2014, she was recruited to run the learn to swim program for the Pirate Swim Club. In 2019, she joined West Valley Aquatics, where she ran the Pre-comp team and coached the level 2 group. In 2022, she joined Olympus Aquatics, where she currently helps coach all groups and helps with administration.