Athlete Committees
ATHLETE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
contact: aec@usaartisticswim.org
Emmanuella Tchakmakjian- AEC President
First elected: 2020 Current Term: 2020-2022
Emmanuella Tchakmakjian began her artistic swimming career on the New Canaan YMCA Aquianas. She made her first National Team in 2013 and swam for Team USA from 2015-2020. Emma competed at the Comen Cup, FINA Junior World Championships, FINA World Championships, Pan American Games, and many FINA World Series Competitions. She served as the captain of the National Team from 2017-2019. Emma was an East Zone Athlete Representative from 2016-2018 and served on the Athletes Executive Council as the VP of Marketing and Membership from 2017-2019 and Secretary from 2019-2020. She was the recipient of the 2020 East Zone Athlete of the Year Award and the 2020 USA Artistic Swimming Team of the Year Award. Emma is currently studying at Stanford University and swimming for their synchronized swimming team.
Morgan Fuller Kolsrud- USOPC- AAC Athlete Representative
Morgan Fuller Kolsrud grew up competing for the Santa Clara Aquamaids before going on to swim for Stanford University, where she helped capture multiple event titles and the 2013 National Championship. While at Stanford, Morgan was a 3-time Collegiate All-American and 4-time Collegiate Academic All-American. Morgan was a member of the National Team from 2010-2013 and was a member of the 2012 Olympic Training Squad. Morgan has been a coach for the San Francisco Merionettes since 2014 and has also recently become a judge. Morgan graduated from Stanford in 2014 with a Bachelor's in Psychology and Minors in Human Biology and Sociology and received her Master's Degree in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco in 2018. Morgan works in the sports industry, specializing in volunteer programs and major events. Morgan first became an athlete representative in 2016 as the USOPC AAC Alternate & Ethics Committee Representative. She currently serves as the USOPC AAC Representative, a member of the USAAS Board of Directors, and as the USAAS Athlete Representative to United States Aquatic Sports. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two cats.
Olivia Ekberg- USOPC- AAC Athlete Representative Alternate (nonvoting)
Olivia Ekberg grew up competing for the Arizona Desert Dolphins, where her love of the sport originated. She participated in the National Team program from 2010-2015, finishing her career at FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. She then went on to complete a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brigham Young University. She currently works in sports psychology and market research and is anxiously awaiting decisions from several graduate programs.
Megan Robins- Athlete at Large Representative
Megan Robins (formerly Megan Hansley) competed with the National Team from 2008-2012 and was a member of the 2012 Olympic Training Squad. She started her artistic swimming career at the New Canaan Aquianas, then swam at Stanford University where she won multiple event titles including the 2013 National Championship. She graduated from Stanford in 2015 with a degree in Computer Science, and continued as the volunteer coach for the Stanford Synchronized Swimming Team from 2015-2021. She also helped coach the 13-15 National Team in 2016 and 2017. Megan has worked at Facebook as a Software Engineering Manager since 2015, where she manages two teams on the Messenger Kids product. She lives in Palo Alto with her husband and dog.
Lauren McFall Gardner- General BOD Athlete Representative
Lauren was the team captain of the bronze medal-winning US Synchronized Swimming team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Prior to that she was a 16-year member of the Santa Clara Aquamaids where she won numerous Junior and Senior National Championships. Lauren was a featured athlete in the 2004 Documentary “Sync or Swim”. She was also featured in the 2004 Aflac commercial alongside her teammates and the famous Aflac duck. Following the Olympics Lauren had a decade+ career on Wall Street, focused on electronic trading and data solutions for financial markets in both Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange. Lauren directed and managed multiple sales teams during her tenures at Creditex, trueEX, NEX and OpenDoor Securities. She was responsible for the global promotion and adoption of their electronic trading, data and solutions platforms. Currently, Lauren is a sales executive with Lander Analytics, a NY-based consulting firm. She is helping clients enhance their analytical capabilities to drive value from data using cutting edge data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Lauren holds a B.A. in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations, from Columbia University. Lauren lives in Sacramento, California with her husband (2-time Olympian and gold medalist for Men’s Indoor Volleyball, Gabe Gardner) and their 4 children. Occasionally, Lauren meets up with her teammates and they throw on a nose clip and a swimsuit for old times’ sake and perform for their families.
Carrie Barton Garten- General BOD Athlete Representative
Carrie is a former artistic swimmer and Olympic athlete. As an elite athlete, Carrie earned a spot on the 2000 Olympic team and, in 2008, was inducted into United States Artistic Swimming Hall of Fame. Her world travels as an elite athlete afforded her the opportunity to embrace different cultures and people. She continues to be involved in the Southwest Olympic Athletes Alumni Chapter and has been involved in multiple Olympic Day Events. Carrie is currently Partner and Owner of Garten Executive Search, a firm focused on finding top tier diverse Executive talent in a range of areas including People Advisory Services, Immigration Law, Private Wealth Tax Services, Business Tax Services, International Tax Services, Financial Services, and IT Advisory services. Prior to starting her own Executive Search Firm, Carrie was at EY for 10 years as a Top Producer, Leading Executive Talent Acquisition Recruiting efforts for the Tax and People Advisory Services Practice. Along with her leadership and recruiting responsibilities, she also led the recruiting strategy for the Diversity and Inclusiveness efforts for the Tax practice. Carrie has two children, Taylor and Zoe, and a husband, Dan, who is a teacher.
Bill May- VP DEI
Bill May began his synchronized swimming career in Syracuse, New York. At the age of 16, Bill moved to Santa Clara to train with the world renowned Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club. As a member of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, Bill was the first male to win a National and international title in the sport. He is a trailblazer in the sport of synchronized swimming paving the way for other male synchronized swimmers to get involved in the sport and compete at major international competitions. In 2015, alongside his duet partner, Bill May won the gold medal in the first ever Mixed Duet Competition at a World Championship. Currently, Bill performs with Cirque Du Soleil's O, and has collaborated with the Nevada Ballet, One Night for One Drop and varies performance companies throughout the world. He is also the athlete representative for the UANA Federation as well as the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Athlete Representative for United States Artistic Swimming. Bill recently had the incredible opportunity to help organize multiple virtual events and competitions, including the first ever FINA Virtual World Challenge.
Ivy Davis- VP Olympic International
Ivy Davis began her artistic swimming career with Scottsdale Synchro in 2012 ,then moved to the Arizona Desert Dolphins. She made her first National Team in 2015, then again in 2016, both teams winning gold medals at UANA Championships. Ivy made the Jr. National team in 2018, and the 13-15 National team in 2019 where she competed at the first Youth World Championships in Slovakia. She was an Arizona Athlete Representative from 2018-2020 and she is also an Arizona Association judge. Ivy is currently living in California training full time with the Jr. National Team.
Leah Ryzenman- VP Member Services
Leah Ryzenman has been a part of the synchro family since she was in the fifth grade. From the Columbus Coralinas to the Ohio Coralinas, she has competed in the U.S. Junior Olympics and Synchro America Open, and loved every single second of it. Leah served as an Ohio Association Athlete Representative from 2017-2019, and she was elected to the AEC in 2019 as the VP of Marketing and Member Services - now known as the VP of Membership Development. Leah is currently a freshman at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy.
Heather Ding- VP Competitive Operations
Heather Ding currently competes as a flyer with the Walnut Creek Aquanuts. Since she’s started the sport in 2011, she’s placed at many National Championships and JOs events, including a first-place finish in 2019. In addition to her role as VP of Competitive Operations for USAAS, Heather serves as the West Zone Senior Athlete Representative. Although still a high school senior, she hopes to continue her synchro career in college by joining or starting a club at her future university.
Zoe Tomlinson- Secretary
Zoe Tomlinson is a synchronized swimmer on MAC Synchro and a Junior in High School. She was born in Portland, OR and raised in the water. She started Synchro when she was 7 years old and immediately fell in love. Zoe has competed in local, national, and international competitions, organized and coached beginner Synchro summer camps, and helps her coaches with spreadsheets, choreography, and leadership. She was elected as both the Oregon Athlete Representative and AEC Secretary for the 2020-2022 year term. She is also one of the DEI Ambassadors. Her goal as AEC Secretary is to achieve more agency in her sport, and to give smaller clubs a voice on a national level.