Coach Mat was a professional swim coach from 1978 through 2022, working with swimmers and triathletes of all ages and skill levels. His past coaching duties include stints with Marine Corps Community Services' Okinawa Dolphins Swim Team, Appleton YMCA Marlins Swim Team, Lake Forest Swim Club, Lake Forest College Swimming and Diving, and Libertyville Wildcat Swim Club. Besides swimming, Coach Mat also enjoys cycling, running, and triathlons.

Coach Mat’s first triathlon was with some fellow college students in 1980 while attending Ripon College; he had no real idea what was going on (the race was the Menominee Wisconsin Tin Man Triathlon - after finishing he learned it was a ½-ironman-distance race – a few years later he learned what that meant). He had to borrow a bike and did the run wearing volleyball shoes.

Coach Mat earned a master's degree in sports science from the United States Sports Academy. He holds certifications from:

• American Swimming Coaches Association
• American Council on Exercise
• Athletics and Fitness Association of America
• International Sports Sciences Association
• American Red Cross
• USA Triathlon
• Cooper Institute
• Coach Mat’s training philosophy is essentially:
• It takes work, and it takes rest, to improve.
• To go fast in a race, you must go fast in training, but you also must rest to get the benefits of that training.
• Good training may be boring - good racing is empowering.