Meet Our Team
It’s Our Mission…
…to provide safe, effective, and fun aquatic instruction for children and adults of all ages and skill levels. Our instructional techniques foster positive results through appropriate developmental skill progression. Our systematic desensitization techniques aid in the reduction of fear and inspire personal liberation.
It’s Our Vision…
…to continue to expand our services and programs to best serve the communities in which we operate our schools. We are focused on increasing our knowledge and certifications as well as becoming a full service aquatic organization, offering programs and services that are unparalleled within our industry.
It’s Our Team…
…that makes us who we are. We hire and train the most kind, caring and energetic individuals to deliver our program to our families. We strive to provide the most innovative training techniques and continuing education platform in our field. Our team is always our most valuable asset.
Joe Oehme
President and Founder
At age 15 Joe was certified by the American Red Cross as a lifeguard and worked on an ocean rescue squad for 3 seasons. This gave him a true appreciation and respect for water. At 18 he was certified as a Water Safety Instructor and began teaching swimming lessons at one of the East Coast’s premier centers for health education and recreation.
Joe got involved in coaching age-group swimming and was one of four coaches for children ages 6-18 yrs. The following season Joe was given the position of Head Swim Team Coordinator where he enjoyed three successful swim seasons and introduced “Stroke Technique” courses for swimmers to enhance their skills and build endurance.
During this time, Joe was introduced to Pierre Gruneberg of France, whose innovative swim breathe training and fear-reducing techniques provided a new approach for adult swim instruction. Joe incorporated “Le Methode Gruneberg” into his own teaching style and developed a systematic desensitization technique to reduce fear and anxiety as it related to swimming. This soon became his passion, and his studies continued formally at the Richard Stockton College New Jersey, where Joe received his BA in Psychology.
Upon graduating college, Joe’s new “learn to float” philosophy took him to Encinitas in Southern California where he taught and coached swimming. Here he introduced his innovative instructional techniques and fear-reducing methods. Joe was able to share these methods with adults while consistently assisting his students to overcome their fear of water and attain personal liberation.
In 2001 Joe developed New Jersey Swim Schools, Inc. and opened his first private swim school for children and adults in West Orange, NJ. He soon moved the program to Brooklake Country Club in 2002 where it is still operational today. In 2010, Joe opened Njswim Sparta. In 2014 Joe and his team built Njswim Lakeside in the Landing section of Roxbury Township. And in September 2015, Njswim added its Manasquan, NJ location.
Joe is an active member of the United States Swim School Association, Stop Drowning Now and the Safer3, and the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Joe and his beautiful wife Katie have 3 children Emma, Eli Joe, and Luke and reside in Brielle, NJ. Joe enjoys sharing his methods with others while enjoying his time in and around the water with his family.
Joe is on the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization STOP DROWNING NOW, a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to save lives through water safety education. Through a range of programs and events, this group works with water safety advocates by providing them with the educational tools needed to combat the epidemic of drowning and providing a drowning prevention curriculum for school age children.
Christine Howe
Regional Director
Christine has been working both in the water and with children through coaching swim team and teaching swim lessons for the past 15 years and with Njswim since 2009. She swam competitively for over 13 years and graduated from Fairfield University in May 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Marketing.
Christine lives in Morristown with her husband and two children who are active Njswimmers. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, working out, and spending time at the beach.
Stephanie Lilly
Director of Operations
Njswim Brick
Njswim Manasquan
Njswim Turnersville
Stephanie is Infant/Toddler Instructor/Education Certified, Pool Operation Management Certified, and a Certified Pool Operator.
She resides in Voorhees, NJ, although she grew up on Lake Hopatcong. She attended County College of Morris for two years and studied Criminal Justice.
Her passion for leading and helping others is one of the many reasons she loves her job here at Njswim.
Stephanie is the mother of one son who is also one of our swimmers at Njswim! In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, and spending time with her son.
Jacquelyn Rodriguez
Director of Operations
Njswim Florham Park
Njswim Lakeside
Njswim Sparta
Jacquelyn has been with Njswim since 2016, starting her journey as a camp counselor and working her way up to become a Location Manager. After obtaining a college degree in Anthropology, she found her life-long passion in teaching swim lessons and managing daily operations for Njswim.
Jacquelyn has been involved in swimming almost her entire life starting lessons at the age of 2. In addition to swimming, Jacquelyn is also a retired classically trained ballerina. Currently residing in the historic Mid-Hudson Valley New York with her dog, Hudson and her future husband, John – the three enjoy spending their free time on/in the water, hiking/biking wherever they can, and traveling around the world.
Christy Matthews
General Manager
Njswim Brick
Born and raised at the Jersey Shore, Christy grew up playing soccer, basketball, and swimming in the summer. She competed on a local swim team every summer until high school, when she decided to play basketball for her school team instead. Christy missed swimming so much that she joined the swim team at college.
She graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelor’s in Psychobiology. Christy spent 12 years working at Jenkinson’s Aquarium before finding her home here at Njswim in October 2021.
Christy quickly fell in love with Njswim’s mission and the ability to give her swimmers confidence in themselves while teaching them such an important life skill. She loves seeing their faces light up each and every time they master a new skill!
She enjoys running, working out, spending time with family and friends, and most of all, spending time with her son.
Justine Hoagland
General Manager
Njswim Manasquan
Justine is the Location Manager at Njswim Manasquan located at the Atlantic Club in Manasquan New Jersey. She has worked for Njswim since the summer of 2015.
Justine graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando Florida, where she studied Elementary Education.
She grew up going to the beaches of the Jersey Shore.
Her passion for swimming and children are just a couple reasons why she loves her job here at Njswim.
In her spare time, Justine enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
Amelia Letchford
General Manager
Njswim Sparta
Amelia has been with Njswim since the young age of fifteen! She is a Roxbury High School graduate and has an associate degree from the County College of Morris, NJ.
Amelia started at our Roxbury, Lakeside location, before becoming our General Manager of our Sparta location.
Amelia’s passion has always been working with children, and she loves being able to build bonds with each and every one of her swimmers. She also loves to watch them learn and grow into strong independent swimmers.
Amelia enjoys painting, drawing, and swimming in her free time.
Paul McFadden
General Manager
Njswim Lakeside
Paul just recently relocated to Flanders, NJ though he has grown up in the Andover/Newton area for the majority of his life.
Though he hasn’t had any professional swim experience prior to Njswim, he has a love for water and swimming recreationally throughout the summer from the age of 4. Since then, he has spent his summers by the pool, making the joy of teaching swim lessons now even more meaningful!
Since joining Njswim’s team, Paul’s willingness to learn, adapt and grow, paired with his love of teaching and working with children has helped him prepare for this position!
In his free time, Paul enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending quality time with friends and family!
Mary Anne Doggett
Social Media Coordinator
Mary Anne grew up in South Florida by the ocean where she began demonstrating and assisting her mother with swim lessons at age 7. In high school she was an assistant dance teacher for her local ballet studio. She graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science in Sports, Arts, and Entertainment Management with a minor in Photography.
After teaching at another swim school, she moved to Brick, NJ, and joined Njswim as a teacher and lifeguard in 2021. Mary Anne noticed our commitment to water safety and caring for individual needs right away and fell in love with our mission. Soon after she was able to pursue her career in marketing with a promotion to Social Media Coordinator.
Mary Anne enjoys yoga, paddle boarding, surfing, cooking healthy meals, and relaxing with soon to be husband and her cat.
Brandon Adams
Operations Manager
Special Events Coordinator
Njswim Brick
Brandon was raised in Brick, New Jersey. He spent his teenage years as a competitive swimmer and discus thrower for his high school.
Through his passion for swimming, he started early in lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons at Olde Riverside School and Camp.
Brandon started teaching at Njswim Brick in Fall of 2021. During his time there he completed his associate degree in Liberal Arts at Ocean County College. Brandon continued his education at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
This change in schools lined up with the opening of Njswim Turnersville in 2022, which led Brandon to take the opportunity to join the Turnersville team and contribute and grow with that location.
In his free time Brandon enjoys playing the drums and cooking.
Maria Lira
Special Events Coordinator
Njswim Lakeside
Njswim Sparta
Despite playing basketball throughout her middle school years, Maria really found her passion and love in swimming, particularly synchronized swimming, at the age of 11. She began working at Njswim in 2021, as a lifeguard and swim teacher.
Working at Njswim helped further Maria’s passion for helping children develop confidence in the water and learn life-saving skills. Maria obtained an associate’s degree from the County College of Morris.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family, playing video games, and building puzzles! After living in Mexico for 6 years, Maria now resides in Wharton, NJ. Maria is fluent in English and Spanish. She is a proud mom of a one year old son, who is currently in his own swim journey at Njswim.
Maddy Henkel
Operations Manager
Special Events Coordinator
Njswim Turnersville
Maddy started working for Njswim in August 2022. She is the mother to an amazing little boy.
She really enjoys working with children and teaching them new things.
In her spare time, Maddy loves going to the beach in the summertime. She has three dogs that she loves and spends a lot of her free time with them.
