My name is Mary Miller Goldberg, and I am honored to be your head swim coach. I am from Memphis, TN. I started swimming on my summer league team at age 5 and joined my competitive team the following year. I grew up teaching swim lessons and sharing my love of swimming with younger kids. I ended my 17-year-long swimming career at Birmingham Southern College in 2023, where I graduated with a dual degree in General Education and Exceptional Education K-6. During my career at BSC, I was named Newcomer of the Year for the SAA Conference and BSC athletics. I was a 7x individual conference champion, 1x national qualifier, 3x conference team champion, and I also hold the team record in the 200 fly. I was named BSC Women of the Year and inducted into the Birmingham Southern Hall of Fame. When I am not in the pool, I am a Homewood Elementary School teacher and the Homewood High School swim coach, and I absolutely LOVE it! I also enjoy playing tennis, playing Mahjong, going to coffee shops, and exploring restaurants in Birmingham. I am looking forward to sharing my love of teaching and swimming with each one of your amazing swimmers! Go Barracudas, swim fast, and have fun!
William Lazenby
I am 19 years old and just finished freshman year at Auburn. I’ve grown up swimming and began swimming competitively in 4th grade. I swam for Vestavia High school and was able to qualify for the state championship every year. Outside of high school I swam club year round at lifetime swim team and qualified for the southeastern championships nearly every year. After deciding not to swim in college I ended up at Auburn and I’m studying accounting. I also served throughout high school as a lifeguard and taught swim lessons for kids at lots of different ages and levels of swimming. It was a wonderful experience and enjoyed getting to pour into kids and see them improve and grow. I am so excited for the opportunity to coach at Birmingham country club, go Barracudas!
Emilie MacDonald
I was born just south of Seattle and grew up in Charlottesville before moving to Birmingham four years ago. I started swimming when I was 8 years old and participated in summer swim every year growing up, later joining a winter club team during my senior year of high school. After high school, I continued swimming with a competitive masters team and trained regularly for several years. Over the past year and a half, I’ve expanded from just swimming into training and racing in the sport of triathlon, which I’ve really come to love. For work, I am part of a real estate development corporation, and outside of work I spend most of my free time training and traveling for races. I began coaching summer swim teams at 14 years old and have since coached winter league swimmers, middle school teams, and private lessons. I’ve also had the opportunity to briefly coach a swim team in Nicaragua and have experience teaching children with special needs how to swim. I love helping swimmers grow in both confidence and skill while creating a fun, encouraging, and positive environment for every athlete!
Joel Hagler
My name is Joel Hagler and I will be an assistant coach. I started my swimming career in Birmingham at the age of 5 and continued to swim at The University of Alabama. During my swimming career I won several Southeastern individual championships and a member of several age group national relay records during career. During my college career I was a backstroke and butterfly specialist. I have been the Head Coach at Mountain Brook Club and Hoover Country Club as well as a Student Assistant at Alabama. During my coaching career, I have coached multiple southeastern individual champions Since leaving coaching, I started an IT company, Digital Core Technologies. I am excited to be able to get back into coaching and I firmly believe the sport of swimming has given me more than I could ever give back.
Michael Talerico
Michael Talerico, current CEO of the Legacy YMCA, brings more than two decades of leadership, coaching expertise, and athletecentered program development to the aquatics community. Before transitioning into executive leadership, Michael built a distinguished coaching career across multiple competitive swimming programs, earning a reputation for developing strong swimmers, cohesive teams, and positive youthdevelopment environments. Throughout his career, Michael served as Head Coach of the Hartsville Hammerhead Swim Team, Crimson Tide Aquatics Swim Team, Abilene Tidal Wave Swim Team, and the Wylie High School Swim Team. Across these roles, he led athletes to personalbest achievements, championship qualifications, and longterm engagement in the sport. His coaching philosophy emphasized technical excellence, mental resilience, and fostering a love for swimming that extended beyond competition. In addition to his ondeck leadership, Michael contributed to the broader swimming community through governance and volunteer service. He served on the Board of Directors for West Texas Swimming, helping shape regional policies, support club development, and strengthen opportunities for youth athletes across the LSC. Today, Michael applies the same values that guided his coaching career—discipline, teamwork, and continuous improvement to his leadership at the Legacy YMCA. His background in aquatics continues to inform his commitment to expanding access to swimming lessons, water safety, and competitive opportunities for youth and families throughout western Jefferson County.
