WAVES Coaching Staff
Heather Fort is the lead coach of age group swimmers at the YMCA and coaches Skill 2 and Skill 3 squads. Previous experience: Age group coach at Gulf Coast Swim Team in Ft. Meyers, Florida, where she developed young swimmers who are now competing at the USA Olympic Trials; age group coach at PAWW in Peoria. Heather swam competitively from age 5 to 20, was a Junior Nationals finalist, a 3-time USAS Scholastic All-American, Florida Swimming athlete representative, and MCC conference champion for Cleveland State University. She is married with three kids. Husband Patrick swam on scholarship for Northern Illinois University. Heather still enjoys getting in the pool for a great workout. Scott Clegg coaches the Transition squad, and is Head Coach of Central Illinois Masters swim team. He is an expert on stroke technique. Scott swam for Streator YMCA and was manager of the University of Illinois men's swim team where he received his BS degree in AG Economics. He is married with two children. Wife Kristen runs marathons and is studying for her Masters degree in Exercise Physiology at ISU. Scott serves on various committes at St. John's Lutheran church, enjoys reading history, swimming workouts with his masters team, and has a goal to swim a 5k open water race.
Cory Thomas assists with the Perfomance 2012 squad. He swam competitively from age 5 to 18. As a WAVES athlete, he set state records for 11-12 boys in the 1650, 1000, 400 IM, and 200 BF, and at age 15 swam a best time 1650 of 16:37. He ran on his high school cross country team, and currently enjoys taking the Perfomance squad out for runs. Cory is studying mass communications & television at Illinois State University. Interests away from the pool are music and video. Michelle Bos assists with the Skill 2 and Skill 3 squads. She has taught swimming lessons, ran high school track, and swam for the Sterling Stingrays and Morrison High School swim teams. Michelle is a freshman at Illinois State University majoring in art education.
Head Coach
The WAVES swim program is directed and supervised by Head Coach Charles Yourd.
His main goal is making sure his athletes get what they need to get fast.
Certified by the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) as a Level 5 coach - highest level - ranking among the top 3% of ASCA member coaches.
ASCA Executive Director John Leonard has called Yourd "One of the best coaches in the country." Yourd has been mentored in his development as an elite coach by Hall of Fame coaches Jon Urbanchek, Forbes Carlile, Skip Kenney, Dick Jochums, and Jack Simon, and maintains a network of contacts among some of the top coaches in the country and the world, sharing information on the latest in technique, training, and recovery.
Awards
2007 ASCA Coach of Excellence
Illinois Swimming:
2007 Senior Coach of the Year
2006 Senior Coach of the Year
2005 Senior Coach of the Year
2002 Age Group Coach of the Year
Member of Illinois Swimming Senior Committee.
Coach Yourd is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a BA in Economics. In his spare time he enjoys reading history, running, and being a fan of pro cycling.
Favorite thought: "Let's swim fast!"
He has been the WAVES head coach since August 1998, and coaches the Performance 2012 squad.
