Peter brings a northern perspective to the team. He started swimming at age seven in northern BC, and started in masters swimming while in his first degree. In the time since then, he has competed at the local, provincial, national, and international levels. He also spent 4 years working with a development group of the local kids’ swim team.

Peter has found masters to be not only great exercise, but also a good way to meet people in new cities. Having swum masters in a few larger Canadian cities, most recently with Montreal’s GLBT master team, he has used masters as a way to make friends fast in a new and strange place.

Peter joined Smelts upon moving here in the summer of 2000 and started substitute coaching later that year. According to his partner, also a Smelt, Peter is a “hard-ass coach”.

Adam has been swimming with the Smelts since 2002 after taking an eight year break out of the water. He enjoys the wide range of abilities and personalities on the team and appreciates the positive physical and mental aspects of the sport. Adam believes this team has something to offer anyone interested in improving any aspect of the way they move through the water; may it be fast and furious or smooth and steady

Patrick started swimming at the tender age of 20 weeks in the amniotic fluid of his mother's uterus and hasn't stopped since. After a nice backstroke through the birth canal into a swimming pool (he experienced a water birth supervised by a midwife), it was evident that he would be a fantastic swimmer. He used every chance after that to swim including in bathtubs, public pools, the Chicago River and Mrs. Young's often flooded backyard. He swam all through four years of high school and was then hospitalized for six months for exhaustion. After all 2,102,400 hours of non-stop swimming will do that to a person. Patrick then took a hiatus from swimming due to a small shoulder injury and a 6 year long alien abduction. He joined the Smelts in January of 2001 to prepare for Mrs. T's Triathlon before it was taken over by an evil corporate conglomerate. According to his "supportive" teammates at the time, his swim was the worst of all three competitions even though he swam fast at practice. Since then he has given up open-water swimming due to gas fumes, e-coli, Chicago's constant opening of the locks to drain sewage into the Lake and the fact that alligators are now found in the Chicago area. He serves as a fill-in coach when other coaches have prior commitments including but not limited to: long-distance races, working overtime, vacations, gonorrhea/diarrhea combinations, D&C's, lancing of anal boils, jury duty, flat tires, uncontrollable flatulence, Olympic competitions or locked in a room at Steamworks.

Matt began swimming competitively when he was just 5 years old on the Arrowhead Warriors in the western suburbs. One year later, he won the Trident Conference in the 25 backstroke after downing an entire Fun-Dip multi-pack chased with a pixi stick or two, and hasn't placed as high at an invitational meet since.

Despite peaking early, Matt continued to center his life around the pool; swimming year round, lifeguarding, coaching, and teaching lessons. He even managed to place relatively well in the 200 IM and 100 Breast at the Illinois State High School Championships.

After taking a break while at the University of Illinois to focus on his studies (cough yeah right cough), he slowly eased back into competitive athletics and joined the Smelts in the fall of 2010. He enjoys competing in triathlons and running races in addition to swimming, and will do any event with you if you offer to buy him brunch afterwards.

Chris grew up swimming and has always spent time in and on the water. He competed when he was seven and continued through college. In the summers he worked as a lifeguard and assistant swim coach at one of the clubs in a nearby town. Between swimming and coaching, he's been to more swim meets than he'd like to think about.

After taking a break for a year or so after college, he started swimming again for relaxation and exercise. He first started coaching masters swimming many years ago, helping people who were training for triathlons. He's been at it ever since. 

Chris joined the Smelts in the summer of 1990, making him one of the few Smelts who've celebrated their twentieth anniversary with the team.