John grew up in St. Paul. He swam as well as played hockey in his youth. He attended the University of New Hampshire for exercise physiology and biotechnology. In 2016, he joined the Armstrong Swim and Dive team as an assistant coach. He became head coach in 2018, where he led the team to become conference champions and 5th in state. He also coached for Edina Swim Club. After some time in California, where he worked with athletes from high school to professional in sport performance, John returned to the Twin Cities. He was happy to see that the head coaching position was available at Armstrong and is once again the head coach.
Diving Coach
Emily Moore
Email: [email protected]
I grew up in Iowa playing most sports, but fell in love with diving. I was able to dive at South Dakota State collegiately. After my 4 years at SDSU, I coached the women’s team at Minnesota State University, Mankato for 2 years while obtaining my Master’s in exercise physiology. Since 2022, I’ve been coaching multiple high school diving teams around the area.
Assistant Swimming Coaches
Olivia Hanzak
Email: [email protected]
I am an Armstrong alumni – I swam from 2013-2016 as a sprinter/backstroker. I went to UW Eau Claire and ended up becoming more of a mid distance swimmer in college. My favorite events to swim are the 200 and 500 free. I double majored in criminal justice and social work and now I work as a special education teacher in Minneapolis. I enjoy crocheting and crafting while watching reality tv shows, working out, and spending time with my dog and family.
Krissy VanLaarhoven
Krissy is a Falcon Alumni who swam for the Falcons from 2013-2015. She, like many of our current athletes, swam year-round spending her club season with the Aquajets. After graduating from Armstrong she swam for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for one year specializing in distance swimming. She retired and joined the club team at the U of M. Her favorite race is the 1000. She studied math in college and now works as an actuary.
Fun Fact: Krissy can ride a unicycle!
Christian Grobe
Volunteer Coach
I’m excited to be joining as a volunteer assistant coach this season. A little bit about me— I swam collegiately at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where I specialized in breaststroke but also have a soft spot for IM and distance freestyle. I am a dual citizen between the US and Germany and was fortunate to compete in the 2012 German Olympic Trials. I was not selected to move forward but it was still an incredible experience.
Outside the pool, I am a pilot for Delta Airlines. I enjoy traveling and gardening. I grew up in central Illinois and I moved to Maple Grove last year. Swimming has been such a big part of my life, and I’m looking forward to helping support and encourage each of you as you work toward your goals in the pool. I’m excited to get to know you all and to be part of the team this season.
Falcon Captains
Team captains provide leadership to the other athletes. Captains will represent the team with a high quality of sportsmanship, respect, hard work, and determination. The captains will be chosen yearly by the coaches.
Our captains will be:
- Team players and advocates for the school
- Extensions of the coaching staff
- Active listeners to athletes and coaches
- Respectful role models through sportsmanship and hard work at practice
- Maintain equality throughout the team
- Lead by example in the pool by completing all practice sets with their best effort
2026 Captains
- Maya Fadlalla
- Grace Hyland