Duluth High School Swim and Dive

Hi! I am Kailyn Dunn, the head swim and dive coach at Duluth High School! As a former Duluth swimmer, I have been part of the program since 2007 as both a middle and high school swimmer and as a coach for both Duluth programs. As a swimmer, I was primarily a backstroker, but I did a little bit of everything and have a love for all strokes! I began my coaching career with Spalding Corners Swim Club, a summer league team in Peachtree Corners, in 2008 and continued coaching with them for 15 years. Since 2009, I have been a volunteer coach, assistant coach, and now am currently the head coach of the Wildcat Swim Club which is a middle school club team for Duluth feeder schools. I graduated from Duluth High School in 2013 and attended Georgia State University, so I could earn my bachelor’s degree in Middle Level Education while continuing to coach with Duluth. My junior and senior years of college, I began community coaching for Duluth High School, until I graduated in 2016 and became an assistant coach while beginning my teaching career at Duluth Middle School as a sixth grade social studies teacher. In 2022, I was promoted to co-head coach of the high school team and will be starting in 2023 as head coach. I will also be transitioning from teaching middle to high school in the fall of 2023 to teach ninth grade world geography. As the head coach of Duluth High School Swim and Dive, I plan to teach our athletes about the importance of determination, perseverance, and unity, all while bringing the fun of the program that our athletes love! GO WILDCATS!

Hi! I am Amanda Suarez, one of the swim and dive coaches at Duluth High School! Like Coach Kailyn and Coach JP, I also am a former Duluth swimmer! I was a freestyler, swimming the 50, 100, and occasionally the 200 freestyle. I graduated from Duluth in 2016 and went on to the University of North Georgia to earn my Bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education. I currently teach 10th grade World History at Duluth and love it! This will be my third year coaching the swim and dive team here. I also am coaching the Berkeley Hills Barracudas for summer league! I love working with Coach Kailyn and Coach JP and am excited for another year coaching these amazing kids in such a wonderful program. I am excited to see all that we accomplish as a team this year! Go Wildcats💜

Hello! My name is Joseph Portillo, and I am an Assistant Swim & Dive Coach at Duluth High School. I also go by Coach JP. Along with my fellow coaches, I am a Duluth Wildcat, having graduated in 2015. I swam all four years at Duluth and was primarily a breaststroke and IM’er, but I was always happy to swim whatever I needed in order to help the team. I also swam year-round with Swim Atlanta, as well as collegiately for Georgia Tech. While at Georgia Tech, I earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering, and I now work full time in the aerospace and defense industry. However, my second calling is getting to coach the next generation of Wildcats! I’m looking forward to seeing the success that this team achieves this year! Go Wildcats!!!

Coach Sydney graduated from Parkview High in 2016 over in Lilburn, GA where she grew up. In high school, Sydney was a member of the tennis team, dive team, marching color guard, ultimate frisbee club, and swimming in the summers. She went on to earn her undergrad degree from Berry College (hook 'em vikes), majoring in Exercise Science and minoring in math. Sydney dove for Berry as well as played for their women's lacrosse team, ultimate frisbee club, and numerous intramurals teams. She has been at Norcross teaching for 3 years, currently in the Mild Intellectually Disabled setting. This is also her third year coaching for Duluth, Norcross and Meadowcreek. Sydney enjoys running and hiking and is passionate about exercise and nutrition. Coach Partlow was honored with the 2022-2023 Dive Coach of the Year.