Chad's Story
Quest Swimming, a renowned swim team and swim school in Midlothian, Virginia, has been committed to fostering excellence in competitive swimming since its founding in the early 2000s. Chad Onken, head of business operations at Quest Swimming, has an inspiring journey in the swim coaching world, starting from his own swim career and leading to his integral role in Quest’s growth and development. Quest is now a thriving program with ambitious goals for team growth and community impact, particularly around the importance of year-round swim education.
“I was lucky,” Chad recalls. “I finished my own swim career in 2000, and my coach, a close friend of Brooks Teal, who had just been hired as head coach at NC State, encouraged me to explore coaching there. I was actually all set for law school and fully expected to become a lawyer. But at the Olympic trials that year, I met with people from NC State, and shortly after, I was offered a coaching role. I decided to defer law school for a year to see if coaching was a good fit.”
That decision quickly solidified when Chad began working with sprinter Cullen Jones. “I thought, ‘I’ll give it one more year to see how it goes and if Cullen has the potential I think he does.’ The rest is history – Cullen turned out to be an incredible swimmer, and I realized coaching was where I wanted to be.”
Over the years, Chad’s coaching journey has included stints at NC State, Auburn, and the YMCA of the Triangle before he returned to his roots in Virginia, now leading Quest Swimming.
Quest Swimming's Challenge
As Quest began expanding their swim school and other programming, it became clear they needed a more streamlined and supportive platform to manage their growing business. Quest was looking for an intuitive, customer-friendly system that could handle the complexities of both swim team and swim school management while providing exceptional customer support.
Captyn's Solution
In 2021, Chad Onken connected with Captyn, drawn to its simplicity, ease of use, and responsive customer service. After transitioning their swim school management to Captyn, Quest saw immediate improvements in registration and class management. Building on this success, Quest Swimming plans to expand Captyn’s use across their entire program, including the competitive swim team, starting January 2025.
Results
Captyn has transformed Quest Swimming’s daily operations:
- User-Friendly Design: Captyn’s clean interface allows new hires to be trained in just 10-15 minutes, which drastically simplified staff onboarding and minimized user errors.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Parents no longer struggle with complex navigation issues; Captyn’s straightforward registration process has eliminated confusion, allowing for a seamless user experience.
- Efficient Kiosk System: The iPad kiosks have become a favorite among young swimmers at Quest, making check-in fun and intuitive. This simple check-in process has streamlined attendance tracking.
- Unmatched Customer Support: Chad praised Captyn’s dedicated customer support, with access to the team’s contacts for immediate assistance. This support fosters a strong partnership, allowing Quest to resolve issues quickly and maintain consistent operations.
Looking Ahead
Today, Quest Swimming is thriving, backed by Captyn’s intuitive platform and reliable support. “Our swim school and swim team are both growing,” Chad reflects. “We truly couldn’t have achieved the success we’re seeing without Captyn’s help – they’re an essential part of our team.” With ambitious goals for expansion and a steadfast commitment to quality swim education, Quest Swimming is ready to dive into a bright future, and Captyn is proud to be by their side every step of the way.
Captyn does it all.
Built by swim coaches for swim coaches, Captyn includes all of the features you need to run your swim team, swim school and other aquatics programs.
SWIMS 3.0
Integrated with USA Swimming’s SWIMS 3.0 database.
Meet Registration
Register your team for swim meets through Hytek & Swim Cloud.
Volunteering
Manage your volunteer responsibilities through our credit system.
Custom Websites
Professionally designed websites for your team built by us.
Camps & Clinics
Manage registrations and payments for camps & clinics.
Communication
Easily text or email individual members or groups of members.
