Otto Hinks—General Manager, East Valley

Otto has been the Co-General Manager of the Phoenix location of the Hubbard Family Swim School since 2006 and is excited about managing the new East Valley location at Mesa Riverview. Otto met his wife Blaire while working at the Hubbard Family Swim School in January 2003, and they were married in November of 2004. Otto was searching for an engineering job while teaching in the water part time and Blaire was teaching and managing at the swim school while applying to law school. They both found that they really enjoyed what they were doing and have been here (and together) ever since. They have a son, Tommy, born in 2006, and a daughter, Maggie, born in May of 2008. 

Otto received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University in 2002. Having spent the majority of his college years training and swimming on the varsity swim team, the Hubbard Family Swim School was really a great fit.

Otto started swimming competitively at the age of 8 due to the fact that his mother was driving his two older brothers to swim practice. In high school some of the hard work began to pay off; Otto qualified for the 1996 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in the 400 IM, and shortly after started to final at Canadian Swimming Nationals.  In August of 1997 Otto came to ASU as a scholarship athlete in swimming. The year 2000 was Otto’s best year of competition; he finished 8th at the NCAA swimming and diving championships in the 100 meter breaststroke and in doing so attained All American status and set the ASU school record in that event. Otto also competed at the 2000 Canadian Olympic swimming trials and finished 6th in the 100 meter breaststroke. 

During the summers from 1998 to 2002, Otto was a teacher at ASU’s Sparky Swim School and a coach at Sparky Swim Camp. This experience combined with his swimming background helped when Otto joined the Hubbard team to work primarily with the upper level stroke development classes. Otto was head coach of the Hubbard Summer Rec team from 2003 to 2005, and is still involved as a Rec Team mentor at the management level. 

Professional Presentations and articles include:

US Swim School Association Spring Conference
Phoenix, 2003
Topic: upper level classes / teaching strokes

“Teaching Breaststroke to 4- to 6-year-olds” Swimming World Magazine, 2006