Our Coaching Team

Chris Nesbit

Head Coach / Senior Squad

Chris is regarded as one of the world’s most astute Head Coaches, having placed 26 swimmers on Olympic Teams from 1980 to 2021 in Britain and Australia. He coached Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games; both England and Australia at multiple Commonwealth Games and coached on the Australian Teams at the 2017 & 2019 FINA World Championships.

Chris was more recently selected as coach of the Australian Swim Team for the Tokyo Olympics after coaching David Morgan, Cam McEvoy, Kiah Melverton, Maddy Gough and Kai Edwards to selection. After a successful decade at TSS Aquatic program on the Gold Coast, Chris moved into the next chapter of his coaching career as Head Coach of the Carlile Swimming Team.

Adam Mallett PhD

Senior Squad

Email - amallett@carlile.com.au

Adam grew up in the UK and moved to Australia to train under coach Nesbit while completing high school in 2007. Mallett excelled in the Butterfly events, having claimed his first British title at the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 200m Butterfly. He narrowly missed selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics for Team Great Britain.

Away from the pool, Adam has completed a Bachelor of Sports Science (1st Class Honours) and Masters of Sciences (Swimming Biomechanics). He has gone on to gain a PhD in Physiology (Muscle Fibre Typology and its relationship with Swimming Performance). Adam returned to coach alongside Nesbit in 2016, and has played a pivotal role in guiding swimmers to National and Olympic Team selection.

Michaela Pattinson

Crocs Squad

Email - mpattinson@carlile.com.au

Michaela joins the Carlile team with 19 years of experience, most recently as the Head Age Group Coach of Nudgee College in Queensland. She has a proven track record of developing young novice swimmers into elite athletes and motivating them to consistently reach their goals. Michaela coached the Nudgee team to be GPS champions over 3 years, and has developed multiple national gold medalists during her career.

In recognition of her efforts and performance, Michaela was awarded the Swimming Queensland Paulus Wildeboer Scholarship in 2018 and invited to be the Queensland Head Coach of the male squad in 2020. In 2022 she was selected as coach of the Junior Dolphins Swim Team to attend the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii.

She holds a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science/Bachelor of Business degree, and is currently studying for a Bachelor of Dietetics degree.

Daniel Marshall

Piranhas Squad

Email - dmarshall@carlile.com.au

Danny grew up in the UK and swum competitively as a junior, winning multiple medals at a National level. He previously coached in the North East of England, and relocated to work with and learn from Nesbit at his Gold Coast based program in late 2017.

Danny initially coached across the entire program at TSS Aquatics, from learn-to-swim right through to the elite training squads. This provided great insight into long term athlete growth and development in a High Performance program. Marshall’s time in Queensland has enabled him to work with a number of current Australian Dolphins, assisting in their preparation for major international meets.

Marshall has been the lead coach for the age group squad at TSS Aquatics. He coached multiple swimmers to National Age and QLD State finals, and picked up a medal in the National Age Open Water.

Jodi Armstrong

Rays Squad

Email - jarmstrong@carlile.com.au

Jodi has been involved with Carlile since 8 years of age as a student, National level athlete and now coach. She has developed resilience and determination while training for the 5km Open Water and 200m Butterfly events.

Jodi began coaching at Carlile Swimming Cherrybrook in 2016 and holds an ASCTA bronze license. She aims to provide a fun and successful environment where young athletes can grow and fall in love with the sport - a champions environment.

Dr Gina Sacilotto PhD

Performance Analyst/Sports Scientist

Email - gsacilotto@carlile.com.au

Gina completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sport Science) and a Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) from Western Sydney University in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Later, Gina completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Health in 2014 from the University of Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport. Gina's Honours and Doctorate theses were based around skill acquisition and hydrodynamic forces in competitive swimming. Gina has worked both within the NSW Institute of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport since 2007.

Gina has been teaching and coaching swimming since 2005 and currently holds a Bronze Licence.