Coach Matt has been an avid swimmer since the age of 8.  His coaching career started during his club years in Tempe,  AZ.  After attending and competing for Arizona State and the University of Rhode Island, he realized coaching and mentoring swimmers was his passion and with that started his two-decade coaching career.

In that time, he has had numerous successes across club and collegiate swimming.  These successes include USA Swimming National Team Members, more than 66 National & Junior National Qualifiers, multiple NCAA qualifiers, National and Zone Select Camp participants along with High School All Americans and state champions across three different states.  

In recent years he has coached several student-athletes from overseas national teams including a member of the Philippines, Norway, Iceland, Singapore, Croatia and Slovakian National Teams.  In addition, he has coached international athletes who have attend both World and European Championships.      

During his time coaching for two decades, Matt Benedict has worked with Olympian producing coaches and Olympians. He has had 6 different swimmers qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.  Including 2015 Pan AM Silver Medalist Darian Townsend, who in 2004 won a Gold medal in the 400 free relay in the Athens Olympics.

Matt has two children who compete in swimming, baseball & basketball.  Matt enjoys skiing, Crossfit, music and “talking shop” about all things swimming in his spare time.  

Coach Mike has been swimming since he was 6 years old, starting at the summer league level and eventually high school. He Joined Roadrunners of Albuquerque Aquatic Club (formerly VAST) as a swimmer when he was 17 competing for the club for 2 years before becoming one of their coaches.  

Mike has been teaching kids to swim for last decade and began coaching as an assistant for a summer league while he was still swimming for Roadrunners. After head coaching a summer league team for one season, Mike became fully involved with Roadrunners and in 2019 took the head age group coach Position. He has coached hundreds of swimmers in the last 6 years with a focus on developing their stroke and aerobic abilities.  

He also has been coaching Cibola High School in Albuquerque since 2018 and is currently the head coach for the team.  

Coach Mike also has background in teaching gymnastics, lifeguarding, and even smoothie making. He has a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and a Master’s degree in Public Administration.  

In his spare time Mike enjoys playing Smash Bros., watching nerdy movies and tv shows, studying biblical history, and spending time with his wife and new born son.  

Maya Hammond is a UNM college student from Clovis, New Mexico. She started her swim career when she was 8 years old and continued on to swim for UNM her freshman and sophomore year. She has been coaching and teaching swim lessons since she was 14 and loves to watch kids grow to be strong swimmers!

Coach Justin has been swimming since he was 7 years old, experiencing the sport from summer league level up to college swimming. Justin is currently pursuing a sport psychology degree working to make himself the best coach he can be for each of his athletes.