NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED
MEET OUR COACHES
The Lakes Mermaids are excited to welcome new coaches to our growing team! With their expertise and passion, we’re ready to take our athletes to the next level and continue building a tradition of excellence in artistic swimming.
HEAD COACH & Choreographer
Annemarie Lichter
Annemarie’s journey in artistic swimming began at age 11 with the world-renowned Santa Clara Aquamaids, where she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Carol Reynolds-Mellows—a National Champion and coach. Under the guidance of legendary coaches like Chris Carver, Annemarie rose through the ranks to become a multi-time National Age Group and Junior/Senior National Champion, earning recognition for her exceptional artistry and expressive style while representing Team USA on the international stage.
Her passion for the sport extended naturally into coaching, a path she began at just 14 years old. Over the past three decades, Annemarie has made a lasting impact at every level of the sport:
Santa Clara Aquamaids – Launched her coaching career while still a competitive swimmer, helping shape young talent.
Columbus Coralinas (1997) – Led the team to a National Age Group Championship in only her second year of coaching.
The Ohio State University (6 years) – Choreographed routines that earned National Championships and were selected for US National Team use; served as Interim Head Coach.
US National Team – Served as Duet Coach, Choreographer, and Assistant Team Coach, contributing to the development of the country’s top athletes.
Ohio Synchro – Founded and rapidly built a powerhouse program producing National Champions across all events, with multiple routines selected for National Team competition; developed three 12U National Team members in just two seasons.
The Lakes Mermaids (2018–present) – Founded the program after introducing artistic swimming at a local country club. Under her leadership, the team has produced Pan American Silver and Bronze Medalists, US National and Junior Olympic medalists, Youth National Team members, and a growing roster of accomplished athletes at every level.
Today, Annemarie continues to share her love of the sport and her signature choreographic excellence through The Lakes Mermaids, where she remains dedicated to nurturing the next generation of champions and preserving the rich legacy of American artistic swimming.
ASSociate HEAD COACH
LINDA WITTER
She served as the head coach of the Buckeyes from 1996-2012. During that time, she led the program to 11 U.S. Collegiate titles and 32 event titles. She coached 125 All-American student-athletes and was named Coach of the Year eight times in her 17 years at the helm. In the two decades she served as Ohio State's coach, the program earned 153 Academic All-Big Ten selections. Thirteen went on to be Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor finalists.
She has spent over 50 years coaching and developing athletes at all levels of the sport, including Olympic and national teams. In 2004, she served as the assistant coach of the USA Olympic Team that earned two bronze medals at the summer Olympic Games in Athens. She was the head coach of the 2009 U.S. National Team that competed at the world championships in Rome and also served as the head coach of the 1996 U.S. National Team I squad.
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
ERIC Lichter
With over 26 years of experience in the field of speed and performance training, Eric has worked with elite athletes across both professional and collegiate sports. His expertise has been instrumental in the development of more than 30 NFL and NBA first-round draft picks, including standout names such as Nene, Leandro Barbosa, Donte Whitner, Ted Ginn Jr., Cameron Heyward, and Nate Clements.
Early in his career, Eric played a pivotal role in the development of a young LeBron James during his high school years. He has also trained numerous Olympic and professional athletes, including sprinters Eric Harrison, Anavia Battle, and Troy Lane—Ohio’s all-time 100m dash record holder.
From 2006 to 2012, Eric served as the Director of Football Performance at The Ohio State University under legendary Head Coach Jim Tressel.
Throughout his career, he has also worked with NFL standouts Maurice Clarett, London Fletcher, Bobby Carpenter, Beanie Wells, Anthony Gonzalez, and LeCharles Bentley, helping them maximize their athletic potential both during the draft process and in their professional careers.
ASSISTANT COACH
RUBY REMATI
Currently a student-athlete at The Ohio State University, competing as a member of the varsity synchronized swimming team. Career highlights include:
2025 All-American and All-Collegiate recipient
2024 Olympics, Team USA, earning silver medal
Pan American Games Santiago 2023, earning silver medal
Pan American Games Lima 2019, earning bronze medal
World Junior Championships Budapest 2018, bronze medal
ASSISTANT COACH
Marian Catahan
2025 graduate of The Ohio State University, competing as a member of the varsity synchronized swimming team. Marian has been coaching since age 14. Career highlights include:
2025 Carmen Ohio Award Winner
OSU Scholar Athlete
Academic All-Big Ten (2023)
Member of the Buckeyes’ 2023 National Championship team
Member of the Buckeyes’ 2022 National Championship team
Finished third in B Figures at the 2022 U.S. Collegiate Nationals (as a Freshman)
Trained with Carolina Synchro from 2011-2021 for Anne Schulte, Erika Guilbault and Rebecca Hinson
Earned the 2019 South Zone Synchronized Swimming Athlete Spirit Award
ASSISTANT COACH
RACHEL BELS
Currently a student at The Ohio State University with over 15 years of experience in artistic swimming as both an athlete and coach. She began her journey in the sport at the age of six with the Charlottesville Swans, and by 15, made the bold decision to move across the country to train with the world-renowned Walnut Creek Aquanuts—an elite club recognized for producing Olympic-level talent.
Rachel's athletic achievements include competing at the highest collegiate level. In 2023, she was part of the University of the Incarnate Word’s Division I Artistic Swimming team, which captured the school's first-ever U.S. Collegiate National Championship. In 2024, she transferred to Ohio State, where she walked on to the Division I Women’s Rowing Team before taking on a leadership role as Student Team Manager.
Her training background is extensive, having worked with and learned from a wide range of professionals including former collegiate athletes, U.S. National Team members, Cirque du Soleil performers, Olympic coaches, and Olympians.
Rachel began coaching while still in middle school and has since worked with several prestigious programs including the Charlottesville Swans, Walnut Creek Aquanuts, Northern Virginia Nereids, and currently, the Lakes Mermaids. She has coached athletes of all levels—from beginners to those preparing for U.S. National Team Trials—and has successfully led teams at both regional and national competitions.
Career Highlights include:
2021 & 2022: High Point Team Award, U.S. National Championships (Walnut Creek Aquanuts)
2021: 2nd Place, U.S. National Championships (Combo) & U.S. Junior Olympics (Team)
2021: U.S. Junior & Senior National Team Trials Athlete
2020–2021: Co-Team Captain, Walnut Creek Aquanuts
2018–2020: Team Captain, Charlottesville Swans
ASSISTANT COACH
IlsE Kremer
Dr. Ilse Kremer has been involved in artistic swimming and sports management for other sports, for nearly 40 years. She started her career in Artistic Swimming in her native country of Belgium, swimming for A-team (National Stream) at Club Neptunus in Aalst in intermediate, moving to Age Group 12U after just 3 months in the water and going on to compete Age Group 12U and Youth. After retiring from the sport, she stayed involved in aquatics, functioning as assistant swimming coach for the Tolleson Union High School District.
When her daughter became interested in Artistic Swimming years later, she founded and managed Arizona Synergy Artistic Swimming in Anthem, Arizona. Under her coaching, the club grew exponentially and 20 new swimmers with little to no artistic swimming background rapidly rose through the ranks to become State and Regional champions at all levels from novice to Age Group within 3 years.
Ilse coached swimmers who qualified to compete in the USA Championships and Junior Olympics, achieving silver and bronze medals, multiple regional figure and routine champions in AG 12U and Junior/Senior national qualifiers in duet and mixed duet. Her swimmers swept the podium for figures in nearly every association meet, which is a coaching passion for Ilse: she believes that a solid technical foundation is the basis of success in artistic swimming. Ilse is a level 3 CCP credentialed coach, a Level 2 judge, and a level 6 certified skills assessor. She has a doctorate degree in health education and has been a college professor for over 20 years, with a research interest in athlete skill development. This further helps her understand athlete needs and skill progression. She has been named “faculty of the year” at her workplace for her ability to break down complex concepts into manageable pieces of information, which helps her coach skills, figures and routines with precision and results.
ASSISTANT COACH
Nadia Kremer
Nadia Kremer has been involved in artistic swimming for 6 years and in sports overall from the time she was 5 years old. She began her sports career in gymnastics, achieving a state Bronze medal for Level 3 floor when she was just 10 years old. After pursuing dance and skating for a few years, she landed on Artistic Swimming at age 12, swimming Intermediate for Scottsdale Synchro. Continuing her career in Age Group with Arizona Synergy, she competed for 3 more years before moving to Ohio. During this time, she was the Arizona State Champion in various categories in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Regional Champion (West-D) in 2021 and 2024, and a Junior Olympics Silver Medalist in 2024. She completed her final season of competition in Ohio, earning a Bronze medal in Senior Team Free at the 2025 USA National Championships. Nadia has a passion for teaching and coaching and is currently a student at Ohio Wesleyan University where is majors in special education and plays girls D3 tennis. Nadia is a level 3CCP coach, a Level 1 judge and a level 3 certified skills assessor.
ASSISTANT COACH
AVA Lichter
2025 graduate of The Ohio State University, competing as a member of the varsity synchronized swimming team. Career highlights include:
Recipient of Carmen Ohio Award for outstanding team spirit and leadership - the heartbeat of the team
OSU Scholar-Athlete
Swam in the team and solo events at the U.S. Collegiate Nationals
2012 Pan America solo finalist and duet champion
2014 West Zone Team and Combo Champion
2014 U.S. National Team Champion
Finished fifth at the 2017 U.S. Open
2018 North Zone Solo Champion
Placed fifth in solo at 2018 U.S. Nationals
Swam for Ohio Synchro, Santa Clara Aquamaids and Dayton Aqua Gems throughout synchronized swimming career
SUPPORT COACHES
Amber Nanchuk – Recreation and Intermediates
Sarah Walsh
Carol Walsh
Alena Kremer
OUR BOARD
Annemarie Lichter
Eric Lichter
Ava Lichter
Amber Nanchuk
