The MTHEA MAKOS are a high school and middle school swim team made up of homeschool students in the Middle Tennessee area.  Swimmers practice with their local training programs and come together to compete as a team.  Swimmers of every level enjoy the fellowship of a team atmosphere and competition. 

Head Coach-Dawn Van Ryckeghem

Coach Dawn has been passionately involved in the sports & fitness industry for the past 2 decades. She began by teaching group fitness classes in 1988, shortly after receiving her bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice from Culver Stockton College in her home state of Missouri.

Dawn began her swimming career in 2000 when her eldest 3 children started lessons and joined a summer swim league. Dawn soon jumped in with both feet and took master’s swim classes herself. By the summer of 2001, she had joined the Maryland Farms YMCA Thoroughbreds summer swim team as an assistant coach. In 2004, as head coach,she helped lead that team to win their division and county championship. In 2005, she spear-headed the formation of the Brentwood Barracudas summer swim team, which she has managed and help coach to 4 consecutive championship titles for both dual and county meets.  In that same year, she established the Middle School-High School Home School Swim Team and appealed to TISCA for their right to compete against other schools as a legitimate team, score points and win relays. For the 2008 High School Swim season TISCA changed their bylaws to recognize regionally organized homeschool swim teams.  The Middle Tennessee regional organization recognized by TISCA is MTHEA.  Thus the MTHEA MAKOS was formed.

Dawn joined Excel in 2006 as lead coach of the Bronze age-group and became head of Excel’s home school training group, K-12, which she has helped grow from 20 to close to 100 swimmers. She earned her certification as a Coach Member of USA Swimming and helped lead her Bronze 8 & under girls to the district championship that year. As she begins her third season with Excel, Dawn continues to be excited about coaching swimming and says that one of the most fulfilling aspects of the job is to see the excitement in the kids who have been working and struggling at a stroke, when they finally succeed and “get it”. Dawn continues to be passionate about fitness and now believes swimming to be the best form of exercise for the body, mind and spirit for all age groups and individuals. 

 Assistant Coach - Lezlae Grubb

Lezlae has been a part of  the Makos for the last two years.  She has been involved with swimming as a sport for the last eight years.  She has worked with many aspect of managing and coaching a swim team.  She enjoys the challenge of working with all levels of swimming, and seeing the swimmers progress.