Kevin has been the head coach of the Birmingham Blue Dolphins for over thirty years. He graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in English Education, a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching, and has completed the required courses for a Master’s degree in Administration. Kevin has worked as a teacher/administrator in Detroit Public Schools, at Cranbrook, and at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. During his teaching and coaching career Kevin has received local and national recognition for his teaching, coaching and leadership. Under his leadership, BBD has won numerous local, state, zone and national individual and team championships. Kevin is particularly proud of the fact that six of the members of the coaching staff are BBD alumna. Kevin also coaches the Orchard Lake Blue Carp.

Mike is beginning his 25th season as a coach for BBD and primarily works with our Senior swimmers. Mike swam at
Birmingham Groves High School from 1990-94, and at the Beverly Hills Athletic Club from 1987-94. In 2002, Mike was recognized by Swimming World Magazine for having multiple top four finishers at the YMCA National Swim Meet. Mike led the 2008 BBD National Team to a fifth place finish, it’s highest in team history. He has coached five different individual YMCA National Champions and 33 different Michigan High School State Champions. When not on the pool deck, Mike works at the C.R. Hill Co. in Berkley. Mike is married to former BBD Coach Anne Wind and resides in Troy with their son Dylan.

Pat is a BBD alum and is beginning his 21th season as a BBD coach. He is now the Video Technique coach too! He is a graduate of Michigan State University and the owner of Deighan Painters Inc. He is married to Katie and they make their home in Birmingham. Pat and Katie have twin girls, Alexis and Haley and a son, Luke, all of which are BBD swimmers. In addition to his years with us, Pat has coached locally at Village Athletic Club. While he lived in Georgia, he worked at Dynamo and the Country Club of the South. Pat is also a distinguished marathon runner – he has finished fourth in his age group in the Free Press marathon and he has been a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Pat’s brothers, Chris, Matt, and James have also been BBD coaches and swimmers. His brother, Joe, and his sister, Carolyn, were BBDers as well.

This is Chris’s 10th season at BBD and he will be the head 11-12 age group coach. Chris grew up swimming in Michigan at Pine Lake Country Club and Brother Rice High School. Chris has maintained his own swimming career into college and competed in the World Transplant Games in 2019. He currently coaches Forest Lake Country Club in the summers. He has additional YMCA coaching experience at the Licking County YMCA in Newark, OH, in the Columbus area. Chris spent eight years coaching Cranbrook-Kingswood Girls and Boys teams. He helped guide them to a combined six team state titles. Outside of the pool, Chris teaches Pre-Kindergarten at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. When he’s not at the pool he is either playing golf or playing with his new puppy!

Elliott Fernandes swam for BBD for 11 years and this will be his 8th year coaching. He is a Bloomfield Hills native and went to UDJ for high school. He went to University of Detroit Mercy for both his Mechanical Engineering undergrad and his MBA in finance. When not coaching he works for General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights as an engineer.

Jeannie came back to coaching at BBD in 2016, (after a brief eleven years and 4 states break). She is the lead 8 and under coach and is also a kindergarten teacher. Jeannie loves coaching the 8 and under swimmers! She and her husband Jamie have 3 children Michaela(21, a senior at Hope College) who is a BBD alum and was a member of the National Team for her 2 seasons on BBD. James(20, a junior at University of Michigan) and Bridget(18, a freshman at University of Michigan).

Greg Palmer will be coaching with the 11-12 year old groups this year. He took over the helm of the Detroit Golf Club in 2013 as Head Coach and Pool Manager. Greg and his coaching staff have brought a wealth of knowledge and over 22years of experience to our program. Greg is currently the Head Swimming and Diving Coach for Waterford Schools, where he teaches AP World History, AP Psychology and Science. Greg was the head coach at Kendallwood the last three years and co-founded the Great Lakes Athletic Club swim team where he coached kids ages 4-18. He has coached with numerous teams over the years including Notre Dame Prep, Troy Athens, Oakland Live Y’ers, Lake Orion Schools and Lake Orion Lightning. Greg has coached 13 Individual & five relay All-Americans, as well as two Division 1 Swimmer of the Year Award Recipients. Greg is a USA registered swim coach, ASCA member (American Swim Coaches Association), MISCA member (Michigan Swim Coaches Association) and NISCA member (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association). Greg has many hobbies that include racing in local triathlons and Ironman, scuba diving (PADI Instructor), spear fishing, free diving, rock climbing, boating, water skiing and wake boarding. Greg loves helping our swimmers to further develop and improve their swimming fitness as well as their technique, within the framework of summer fun that accompanies a summer swim program.

This is Michael’s 6th season coaching with BBD and will be the lead 9-10 age group coach this season. Michael swam locally for 13 years at Woodside Athletic Club and swam at Groves High School, where he was the varsity captain and an all-state swimmer. He coached with BBD throughout college while attending Lawrence Tech University in Southfield where he recently graduated with his degree in Civil Engineering. When not coaching Michael works as an Engineer in Troy for G2 consulting group. Michael is excited for yet another fun and successful season with the Blue Dolphins!

This is Charlotte’s 5th year coaching BBD.Charlotte was also a coach at Woodside Athletic Club for 5 seasons. Charlotte began swimming at BBD when she was 7 and swam on the National team for four years. She was also a captain of the Seaholm swim team and a four-year letter winner at the University of South Dakota. Charlotte teaches 4th grade at Royal Oak Public Schools.

Peter is beginning his first full season as an assistant coach with BBD. Peter brings with him many years of coaching experience from all over the country that also includes 2 years with BBD in the 1980’s. Peter grew up in Pleasant Ridge and attended Wayne State University in Detroit where he became an 8 time All American. Peter went on to become a teacher and coach in Walnut Creek Ca, Cedar Rapids IA, Seattle WA, and most recently the Chicago area. Peter has had the privilege to coach numerous HS All Americans, Senior National Qualifiers, and a number of Nationally ranked Age-Group swimmers. Peter has recently moved back to the area and returned to BBD to work with the Senior level swimmers.

Dennis is joining BBD for his first year coaching with the team! He previously swam for BBD, Brother Rice High School and Woodside Athletic Club and has coached summer clubs; Oakland Hills CC and Forest Lake CC. Dennis graduated from Hillsdale College in May of 2021 with a B.A. in Marketing/Management, and currently works for Direct Donor TV, A Moore Company, managing linear TV advertising campaigns for nonprofits.

Alex is joining BBD for his first year coaching with the team! He swam on BBD for 11 years and was on the national team for 4 years. He swam for Orchard Lake Country Club in the summer and was on the swim team at Brother Rice High School where he was an 11 time All-American. He swam at the University of Texas for 1 year. He is currently taking classes at Wayne State University to get a degree in communications.