Pacific Sands Swim Team (PSST)

Cory Tague is the returning head coach of the Pacific Sands Penguins. He is a career teacher with over 25 years of coaching experience. He has taught mathematics and science classes at the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) since 2002. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology and a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership. In 2017 he took the reigns of the program and has grown the team from less than 140 swimmers to just under 300. 

Cory was a senior coach for the Green Valley Dolphins prior to coaching the Penguins. During his 7 years with the Dolphins he was a part of a number of SCSC championships. He was the Head Varsity Swimming Coach at Edison High School for 5 years and Huntington Beach High School for 3 years. He was named the Orange County Register Swimming Coach of the Year in 2002 and his teams earned multiple Sunset League Championships. He also spent 13 seasons as a Lifeguard with California State Parks. 

Cory fell in love with swimming through his summer league experiences and his passion grew into club participation where he competed at both Junior and Senior National competitions. He was a 4 year varsity swimmer at Edison High School and held school records in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke that have since been broken. After high school, Cory was a 17 time collegiate All-American, an individual NCAA II champion in the 200 Backstroke, and the captain of a team NCAA II championship. 

Cory married his college sweetheart and fellow swimmer, Corene. They still swim together whenever they can find the time and coach together for the Penguins. They are the proud parents of Cole, Chloe, and Cai, who have all swam on the Pacific Sands team.  

Coach Debra joined the Penguins staff in 2022 and has been teaching swimming since 1982 when she started teaching her own son in Hawaii at 2 months. She has taught babies to adults and was a member of the National Swim School Association. She has many years of experience working with babies and a gift for getting the most out of little ones. She has coached for several USA Swimming Club teams and Masters teams, including SoCal Aquatics and Riverside Aquatics. She has worked for the Australian Swim School, Aqua Duks Swim School, Aqua Wave Swim School and run her own business in Big Bear. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science.

Miss Debra was born in Santa Ana, Ca now lives in Huntington Beach. She is a California Native American Indian from San Juan Capistrano. Her father was in the Air force for 22 years so she traveled to and lived in many different places as a child. She loves to laugh, loves the ocean, dolphins, Whale Watching, traveling, seeing family, and meeting new people. Miss Debra’s hobbies are swimming, sunsets, crystals, star gazing, teaching, going to concerts, and a great Cadillac Margarita. Her favorite colors are teal and purple.

Coach Debra loves that she can influence younger children to not be afraid, learn how to survive in the water, and have fun. Her goal is to give every child enough knowledge to be able to save themselves if they fall in a pool, even at the age of 2. She strives to give children enough confidence and understanding to be competitive and take that knowledge with them into high school and college. She believes that swimming is a lifetime skill. Coach Debra is available for private lessons at the Pacific Sands Cabana Club year-round.