MARS Coaching Staff

MARS Head Coach and Program Director with over 30 years of experience.  Former professor of biomechanics at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and adjunct professor of exercise physiology at The University of North Texas, with more than 45 professional publications and presentations, and more than 150 citations of his research.  Author or co-author of three books covering topics of biomechanics and physiology of sport.  Coach of 2002 and 2004 High School National Champion and several Top 16 National Reportable swimmers.  Brian is also a licensed Expert Coach with USA Cycling for more than two decades.  Long time member of the Board of Trustees of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (TACSM), Age Group Chairman of North Texas Swimming, and member of the Age Group Development Committee at USA Swimming. Brian was elected to the position of USA Swimming Southern Zone Age Group Chairman in 2008, and has served in many administrative roles within North Texas Swimmng.  Brian earned his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science at UTA, his Masters of Science degree from the University of North Texas, and is a doctoral candidate in biomechanics at Texas Woman’s University.  Brian retired in 2022 after 23 years as an Arlington ISD swim coach and teacher at Lamar High School.  

Suzanne is the MARS Director of Operations with more than 20 years of coaching experience and more than 12 years experience in many other areas of aquatics.  Suzanne is a American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor, Water Safety Instructor and Certified Pool Operator.  She also has served as the Diversity and Inclusion Chair for the USAS Southern Zone and North Texas ' Swimming for 12 years, is the Executive Director of the MARS Foundation, and currently serves as the General Chair of North Texas Swimming, overseeing a 7400 member LSC including officals, coaches and athletes.  Suzanne earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Exercise Science from UTA and her Master’s Degree in Education, also at UTA. Suzanne also holds a PhD in Leadership and Administration with an emphasis in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Coach Shannon has coached for over 30 years (5 with Team Orlando and 22 with Lakeside Aquatic Club and 8 with MARS).  Shannon is the Aquatics Director for Lewisville Independent School District. She has been the High School District and Region Coach of the Year numerous times, has coached TAGS and High School State Champions, and Olympic Trial Qualifiers.  Swimming competitively since age 8, she lettered at SMU and SW Texas State, where she received a BS in Education and MA in Recreational Business. She has served on the USA Swimming Board of Directors, has been TISCA president, and on the USA National team swimming staff (most recently at the 2012 London Olympics, 2013 Barcelona World Championships and 2015 World Championships in Austrailia).  Coach Shannon is ASCA 3 certified and served as General Chair for North Texas Swimming for several years.

Coach DJ was born in Little Elm, Texas and raised in Arlington, Texas. DJ started swimming club with Mars almost 10 years ago. He swam for Juan Seguin High School where he set countless records and made finals his senior year in the 500FR and 200 Medley Relay. While in high school he also remained with Mars swimming at the National level. In college, he swam for the swam for the swimming legend, Sam Freas, at Oklahoma Baptist University. Since college, Coach DJ began with swim instruction and has moved up to our Pool Site Director of UTA, Age Group Coach, Masters Coach, and the Coach for The Oakridge School.

    Rayann Jaryszak

                  Age Group Coach

Coach Rayann has over 20 years of experience in the sport of swimming. During her time as a competitive swimmer, she competed at the junior national and national levels. She also swam Division I at Villanova University, where she was a six-time Big East Champion and helped lead her team to four consecutive Big East Championship titles. Following her graduation from Villanova in 2021, Rayann temporarily stepped back onto the pool deck as a coach and swim lesson instructor for MARS. In fall 2021, she moved to Florida to pursue a master's in Sport Psychology at Florida State University, where she has had the opportunity to work as a mental performance coach and help youth and collegiate athletes optimize their performance and well-being through the use of mental skills. Rayann will graduate with her Master's of Science degree in Sport Psychology in May 2023. Upon graduation, she will return to MARS and continue working as a mental performance coach in the DFW area. In the future, Rayann hopes to continue her education, earn a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, and work as a Sport Psychologist in a college athletic department. Until then, she is excited to continue coaching with MARS and working with athletes to address the mental side of performance. 

Coach Colton started as a swim lessons and age group coach with MARS in the summers between college semesters where he studied at Oklahoma Baptist University and received his Bachelors of Science in Health and Human Performance. He also swam at OBU all 4 years as a sprinter in freestyle and butterfly. In 2020 he won the 200 & 400 freestyle relays with his teammates at the RMAC conference championship. In total, he has 10 years of competitive swimming experience. He came back to MARS after graduating in 2021 and has been an age group coach since while also working at Nolan Catholic High School as an Aquatic Supervisor and Assistant Swim Coach. He loves joking around with the swimmers and developing them both in and out of the water. Outside of the pool he likes to play video games and hangout with friends and family.

Coach Diana has been involved in swimming for over 20 years. Diana is ASCA Level 3 certified, U.S.Para Swimming Coach  Cerification Level 2  and swam competitively at a junior national level in Texas. She joined MARS in the fall of 2021 as an age group coach at Grapevine. Previously, Diana was Head Coach at Coppell YMCA, and coached Learn-To-Swim and Age Group programs at Carroll ISD Dragon Swim Academy in Southlake. Diana is also an ASCA certified Disability Swimming Coach. Her specialty is para swimming, and she has extensive experience in all aspects of special needs aquatics and adaptive swimming. Diana has coached individuals of all ages with physical, developmental, cognitive, and neurological challenges. In particular, Diana has helped visually impaired swimmers, as well as those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As a para swim coach, Diana has also trained disabled military personnel and veterans from over 16 countries and 6 branches of the armed forces. Since 2016, she has served as a swim coach staff member at Tedworth House, England's leading military recovery and rehabilitation center run by the charity Help For Heroes. In this capacity, Diana has coached and mentored injured service personnel to successfully compete and medal at the Warrior Games, Invictus Games, and the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. She has also helped swimmers from the Texas Special Olympics organization. Coach Diana loves coaching swimming because of the positive impact it makes on people lives.

Coach Alaynah Johnson is the Bronze coach at UTA. She grew up in the military where both her parents served in the U.S Air Force for 20 years each. Graduated from Wylie High School in 2019, she then went on to swim for Kean University located in Union, NJ. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she left New Jersey and transferred to UTA where she now majors in Exercise Science. Graduating in May of 2023, she plans to step into the field of strength and conditioning, where she aspires to help collegiate and professional athletes reach their athletic goals and unlock their potential. With hopes of owning her very own training facility, where athletes of all backgrounds can come to learn and improve their game.

Coach Anja is a life-long swimmer and has been coaching and teaching swim lessons from a very young age. She was a high school region finalist every year of her high school career.  Anja begins her collegiate career in the fall of ’23 at the University of Missouri, majoring in Animal Science with the ultimate goal of becoming a veterinarian.  Anja continues to train and compete for the Mizzou club team.

Pre-Competitive and Race Ready Coach at GCISD.