Chad Onken is the CEO and Co-Owner of the Quest Swimming program in his hometown of Midlothian, Virginia. He started with Quest on January 1st, 2019. Primarily known for the discovery and development of world record holder, NCAA Champion, and 2008/2012 US Olympic Gold Medalist Cullen Jones, Chad has over 20 years of elite championship coaching experience throughout age group, high school, YMCA, and NCAA championship swimming. In addition to being a Level 5 certified coach by the American Swimming Coaches Association, Chad is also a six-time recipient of the ASCA "Award for Coaching Excellence." In addition to his duties with Quest, Onken also serves as the Director of International Clinics for the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA). He travels the globe, "coaching the coaches". He has taught clinics or been a guest speaker throughout the United States, in nearly 30 countries. His travels have taken him to 6 of the 7 continents. Additionally, Onken has been an active member of various committees and governance organizations within the YMCA of the USA, NC Swimming, VA swimming and USA Swimming. He was a charter member of the USA Swimming Coach Advisory Council. Chad currently serves as a member of the VSI Senior Committee and VSI Governance Committee. Before Quest, Chad served as the Head Coach/Senior Director of Competitive Swimming at the YMCA of the Triangle Area (YOTA) Swim Team in Raleigh, NC from 2006-2018. During his time with the YOTA Swim Team, Chad oversaw the team's most successful years; breaking several North Carolina state records, coaching a USA Swimming Junior National champion, recording numerous USA Swimming Junior and Senior National time standards, breaking 100+ YOTA team records, winning dozens of YMCA National individual and relay titles, setting a number of YMCA National records, and breaking 3 National Age Group records. Chad led a group of six YOTA athletes to Olympic Trials in 2012 and seven YOTA athletes to Omaha in 2016. YOTA also had success on the international level as well, having multiple athletes qualify to represent the United States in a variety of international competitions. The YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team had athletes qualify for the 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2014-2015 USA National Junior Teams. Additionally, the YOTA Swim Team was crowned the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Men's YMCA National Champions and 2014 Women’s YMCA National Champions under Coach Onken's leadership. Chad's success has been recognized by USA Swimming, as he was selected to be on the coaching staff for a variety of national teams and select camps. Chad has also been nominated for several Coach of the Year awards, both within NC and throughout the country - winning the 2012 NC Swimming "Coach of the Year" award. Chad graduated from Florida State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice; while helping the swimming team achieve top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championships and qualifying for Olympic Trials. Given a choice to attend law school or coach swimming, Chad decided to give back to a sport that gave him so much. Chad moved to Raleigh in 2000 as the Head Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at NC State University. In addition to his regular on-deck duties for the Wolfpack, Onken played an instrumental role in strength and conditioning, team building, mental training, nutritional education and academic development of the swimmers at N.C. State. While at N.C. State, Chad was the primary coach responsible for developing one USA Swimming National “B” Team Member, six US Olympic Trial qualifiers, six NCAA All-Americans, six ACC Champions, 10 school record holders, and five top 100 FINA World Ranked athletes. Furthermore, Onken served as the Head Coach for the N.C. State Aquatics Team during the summertime, where two of his athletes represented the United States in international competition. Chad was also very involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Athletes In Action program. After five years at N.C. State, Coach Onken became the Assistant Swimming Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at national powerhouse, Auburn University. During his stint with the Tigers, Onken helped the team capture both the men’s and women’s 2006 NCAA team championship titles. In addition to various administrative and recruiting duties, Chad helped coach seven NCAA Champions, 34 NCAA All-Americans, 13 SEC Champions and 13 Auburn school record-holders. Having coached alongside some of the best coaches in the business, Chad considers both David Marsh and Dudley Duncan to be his t wo primary mentors. Chad is very happily married to the former Lauren Romano, also of Midlothian, Virginia. They are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, Marilyn and Charlotte.

Coach John is responsible for the philosophy of development that guides Quest Swimming athletes in their pursuit of excellence in competitive swimming and in life. He has been recognized as Virginia Swimming Coach of the year and is certified at the highest level (Level 5) by The American Swim Coaches Association. Under his guidance Quest Swimming boasts a history of sustained excellence, consistently recognized by USA Swimming's Club Excellence Program for developing top-tier athletes. Quest has been the home to National Champions, American Record Holders, National and Junior National Team members, US Open Champions, and NCAA All-Americans. Quest has been Awarded Silver Medal status (top 100 clubs) in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and Bronze Medal status in 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2026, showcasing high performance in developing 18-and-under swimmers. The programs excellence is reflected in its goal to make success inevitable for all by creating a positive, high-performance culture that is focused on teaching fundamentals and perfecting the game of racing. John is Co-Owner of Quest has been with the program since its inception in 2003. He lives with his wife Tiffany and two children Parker and Chase.

Amy competed for the College of William and Mary as a backstroke specialist (1982- 1986) and was selected as a co-captain her senior year. She graduated with a BA in Psychology and was designated a Distinguished Military Graduate from ROTC. She was commissioned in the US Army as a Military Police officer with a sub-specialty in Public Affairs. Amy served overseas in Germany and multiple locations across the US (1986 – 2001) rising to the rank of Major. She served as a platoon leader and a company commander as well as in numerous staff positions to include Provost Marshal and public affairs intern in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While on active duty, she graduated from Troy State University in 1995 with a MS in Criminal Justice. She earned the Parachutist Badge and the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency (Gold) among other awards. In 2001, Amy transitioned to a new role as an Army wife and stay-at-home mom. She loved serving Soldiers and their families in this way until her husband retired from the Army in 2010. Amy started at Quest teaching lessons in 2011 and became a full-time coach at Quest in 2013. Amy has coached all levels of the program from Novice Green through Senior and is passionate about the “Quest Way”. She is currently the Head Age Group coach and loves helping young swimmers believe in themselves. Prior to Quest, Amy coached at the Chester YMCA as both an assistant and the headcoach. She served as an assistant coach (2009 – 2010) and then head coach (2011 – 2019) for the River’s Bend Swim Team (RBST) in the Southside Swim League (summer). Under her leadership, RBST won the league championship 6 years in a row (2013 – 2018). In 2015, Amy had the privilege of serving as an assistant coach for the Virginia Zones team which took first place. She is ASCA Level 3 certified and continues to pursue continuing education in the field of coaching. She continues to swim as a Masters swimmer and credits her parents with instilling a lifelong passion for swimming.

Coach Chrissie started her competitive swim career in Richmond, VA with VACS which later combined with other area teams to form Poseidon Swimming. During her high school years, Coach Chrissie was coached by Quest Swimming founder, Dudley Duncan and was a Junior Nationals qualifier. After high school, she went on to compete at the University of New Hampshire (1996-2000) where she specialized in IM and was a captain her senior year Chrissie graduated UNH with a double major in Political Science & Sociology. After college, Chrissie went to work professionally in marketing at a mediation and arbitration firm before joining the Virginia Lottery where she managed the sports marketing contracts with all the Virginia public colleges and universities. After spending some time at home with her kids, she worked at the Midlothian Athletic Club (MAC) where she was the Activities and Aquatics Director. She served as the Head Coach to the MAC Manta Rays, started year-round MAC, Swim Clinics and was a group and private swim lesson instructor. In addition to these coaching opportunities, Chrissie has also served as Head Coach at Smoketree Pool (2017-2018) and was the first ever head swim coach at Manchester High School (2016-2018). Coach Chrissie joined the coaching staff at Quest in 2018, where she served under the direction of Coach Amy in the Age Group level. After coaching Age Group, she took over as Head Coach for the Novice level. In this role, Chrissie has found a calling teaching the Art of Swimming to our younger swimmers. She enjoys working with the Novice swimmers and building afoundation for success as they develop and move on to the Age Group level. Chrissie resides in Midlothian with her husband, Jay and has two children Connor & Emerson.

Carrie has been involved in the swimming community since the age of 6 and is passionate about passing in a life long love for the sport. She began swimming on her local swim team in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. After high school, she was a 4 year member of the women’s swim team at Kutztown University where she was a captain her senior year. During college, she was involved in coaching summer league teams in Maryland and Pennsylvania as well at teaching swim lessons at Kutztown University. After college, Carrie began teaching which led her to Jacksonville, FL and to Fredericksburg before settling down here in the Richmond area. She’s a third grade teacher at Swift Creek Elementary. No matter where Carrie has settled, she’s been on a master’s swim team to stay involved in the sport. Carrie has also coached a few summer league teams in the area and has been an assistant coach with the novice groups here at Quest for the past 4 years. She believes in the “Quest Way” because it emphasizes basic fundamentals and executing them while learning the game of racing. When not teaching third grade or on the pool deck, she can be found hanging with her husband and dogs or exploring new places!