Special Coach's Connection
Click on the promotional fliers to read or watch unique articles and videos about our coaches. We have amazing coaches, but they are special people too. Through these articles and videos we hope to help the team and cummunity learn more about the people that lead our chilren.
Our Staff
Click on photo to send an email to coach
Chad Englehart
Executive Director & Head Coach
(National)
I strive to help kids discover the joy of achievement and finding their inner strength, helping them to achieve success in and out of the pool.
Since joining Splash Club in 2014, Coach Chad has brought renewed vision and revitalization to Splash Club. Throughout his career, he has coached at all levels from novice to the highest levels of competitive excellence at the national championships, US Olympic Trials (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020), and World Championship Trials. He has led the Bartlesville High School Girls team to 5 consecutive state titles and the Boys team to 3 state runner up titles. He has been honored as the Tulsa World’s swim coach of the year and was nominated as a national high school coach of the year. In 2015, he was inducted into the Indiana High School Swimming Hall of Fame for his coaching achievements. Prior to joining Splash Club, he was the head coach of a nationally ranked club in Indiana, where he developed his high school team into a perennial state and national powerhouse.
While earning his BSE in Chemistry and Physics at the University of Kansas, Chad won 2 consecutive conference titles in the 100 Breaststroke and was a 5-time Jayhawk Scholar. He currently serves as the Senior Chair of Oklahoma Swimming. He and his wife Ann live in Bartlesville and his son Will attends the University of Kentucky.
Mike Lewellyn
Head Age Group Coach
(Octane and Developmental 2 & 3)
Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and swimming expertise developed throughout his extensive coaching career. He is known as one of the best stroke technicians and developer of 10-14 year old swimmers in the country and was the lead age group coach for an Olympic gold medalist. He has held several head age group and head coaching positions throughout his career, including two stints with the legendary Kansas City Blazers and helped build it into a national powerhouse. Mike also has significant dry-side experience, including serving as a club development specialist with USA Swimming in Colorado Springs. Mike has two grown children who live in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Kara Howze
Developmental 4 Coach
I love passing along the skills and experience I learned as a swimmer to my own athletes and helping them to develop their full swimming potential.
Coach Kara is a Splash Club alum who rejoined the team as a coach in 2014. As a swimmer, she represented Splash Club at the junior national championships and was a longtime high school record holder where she led the Bartlesville Lady Bruins to 2 state team titles. She has a Bachelors degree in Individual, Family, and Community Services and a Masters in Child Development from Oklahoma State University. Kara and her husband Mike have four children—Aidan, Emma, Addie and Evan, all of whom swim for Splash Club.
Gary Downey
Developmental 1 Coach
I love coaching....especially when kids experience that a-ha lightbulb moment!
Coach Gary began his coaching career in high school and was an assistant coach for the Iowa State University Women’s Swim Team. He has coached swimmers at the Big 8 and NCAA Championships and is ASCA Level 2-certified. He also served as an assistant coach in Olathe, Kansas and the Bartlesville Bruins High School swim team. He is currently an ergonomist with The Ergonomics Center of North Carolina at NC State University. Gary holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Tennessee. He is also a licensed professional engineer and a Board Certified Professional Ergonomist. He and his wife, Jenny—a Splash Club alum and co-coach—have three children, Thomas, Haley, and Erin, all of whom are Splash Club alums and Division I collegiate swimmers.
Jenny Downey
Splashers Program Coordinator & Instructor
I love helping kids gain confidence in the water, which helps foster a love of the sport! As kids learn correct technique, it's great to see their strokes and skills evolve.
Coach Jenny grew up in Bartlesville and is a first generation alum of the Splash Club program. She swam for Bartlesville High School and later went on to swim for the Iowa State University Cyclones for all four years. While earning her Physical Therapy degree at Wichita State University, she coached 10-Under swimmers at Wichita Swim Club. She later went on to found COOL Swim School in Olathe, KS, where she taught for five years.
