This press release was provided by Chelsea Piers Connecticut. The Club Industry editorial staff was not involved in the creation of this content.
Chelsea Piers Connecticut is pleased to announce the management team for CP-AC Fitness, the 65,000 square-foot health & fitness facility and clubhouse opening December 2014 in a previously vacant space adjacent to the current 400,000 square-foot Chelsea Piers sports complex. Carolina Quiroga has been named the Fitness Club Director of the new facility with Suzanne Vita Ponticello hired as the new Training and Program Director and Kathy Salvo being promoted to the role of Group Fitness Director. Rounding out the management team is Suzanne Pullen as Membership Director.
Quiroga will be responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of CP-AC Fitness, including program development, personnel hiring and training, as well as equipment and facility operations. Reporting to Quiroga will be Ponticello who will be responsible for all of the personal trainers and small group training keeping CP-AC on the cutting edge of personalized training. In addition to Masters Swimming, Salvo will add Group Fitness Director and be charged with designing a robust class offering of more than 75 classes a week including a large number of yoga, hot yoga, barre and Pilates classes in the mind body area as well as traditional classes such as TRX, boot camp, CompuTrainer classes, kick boxing and heart rate based circuit training. Pullen will remain as the Membership Director overseeing all individual and family memberships and sales.
The team has a varied and impressive background in the health, fitness and club management industry. Quiroga most recently ran the Lifetime Fitness facility in Berkeley Heights, NJ where she oversaw a team of 250 employees and more than 10,000 members. Prior to Lifetime Fitness Quiroga was the General Manager for two flagship health clubs in New York City - David Barton and New York Health and Racquet Club. Quiroga also has a background as a collegiate basketball and volleyball player.
Ponticello most recently worked as the Director of Health and Fitness at the Darien YMCA. At the YMCA Ponticello oversaw all the personal training and group fitness instructors and was responsible for training protocols, program curriculum and 110 weekly group fitness classes. Prior to her time at the YMCA, Ponticello was a personal trainer, CrossFit instructor and kettlebell trainer at a number of fitness facilities. Ponticello, a Stamford native, has a degree in nutrition as well as CrossFit and Kettlebell certifications.
Salvo, who resides in New Canaan, joined Chelsea Piers Connecticut as the Masters Swim coach in July 2012 as the facility opened. In 2005 Salvo left her nearly two decade career in finance to pursue her passion for yoga full-time. She has more than 1,100 hours of yoga training from some of the best teachers in the United States including Rodney and Colleen Saidman Yee, Richard Rosen, and Dr. Judith Lasater. Salvo is the highest level yoga teacher - an E- RYT 500 representing both training and teaching credentials. Additionally, Salvo has competed in more than 100 triathlons of varying lengths including 9 Ironman races and is a US Masters Swim Level III coach.
Pullen, who was the first full-time employee at Chelsea Piers Connecticut, will continue in her role as Membership Director for the complex. Prior to joining Chelsea Piers, Pullen spent nearly a decade as Marketing Director as well as overseeing the Gymnastics program at the Darien YMCA. A former ACC gymnast and two-time D1 soccer mom, Pullen brings extensive sports and membership experience to the team. Pullen lives in Fairfield, CT.
“We are thrilled to have assembled such a varied and experienced leadership team,” commented Greta Wagner, Executive Director, Chelsea Piers Connecticut. “With this team we have extensive club management, mind body, team sports, personal training, and group fitness experience. Additionally having two members of the leadership team with us since opening, we are confident that the quality of the product and the customer experience will be consistent. We are committed to creating an environment at the Athletic Club that will support our members’ health and fitness goals; the team we have assembled is uniquely positioned to do just that.”
CP-AC Fitness will feature 25,000 square feet of strength and cardio equipment, a dedicated mind/body center for Pilates Reformer classes, multi-disciplinary and hot yoga, as well as traditional group fitness studios and dedicated space for triathlon and competitive cycling training. Group exercise will be taken to a new level with over 75+ weekly fitness classes and programs. Additionally, there will be a custom Queenax Bridge studio creating endless possibilities for suspension, boxing and functional training. Membership also includes access to the Olympic-sized pool, hardwood basketball courts, 1/5 mile indoor track, indoor turf fields, plus tennis and squash courts.
In addition to world-class athletic facilities, members will enjoy significant benefits throughout the sports complex, including babysitting services, two beautifully appointed luxury lounges and cafes (one for families and one for adults only), steam rooms and saunas in new finely appointed locker rooms, and massage therapy rooms. Early registration privileges and preferred member pricing for sports programming throughout Chelsea Piers are additional benefits designed to meet the needs of the active customer that Chelsea Piers serves.
About Chelsea Piers Connecticut
Chelsea Piers Connecticut (CPCT) is a 465,000-square-foot state-of-the-art sports and recreation facility located in Stamford, CT, just off I-95 at Exit 9. Opened in July 2012, CPCT features two indoor ice rinks, an Olympic pool and adjacent 6,000-sq.-ft. Splash Zone indoor water park, a 14,000-sq.-ft. gymnastics training center, 11 singles and one hardball doubles squash court, seven indoor hard court tennis courts, an indoor turf baseball/softball training facility and five batting cages, a 12,000-sq.-ft. Adventure Center featuring a recreational trampoline center, a 24-foot high rock wall and a Little Athletes gym for children 6 months to five years, and a Field House with a 100-yard turf field, four hardwood basketball/volleyball courts and a 1/5-mile track.
Like Chelsea Piers New York, CPCT combines world-class athletic facilities with an extensive array of professional instructors and year-round sports programming for children and adults of all ages. There are teams in nine sports competing under the Chelsea Piers Athletic Club umbrella.
CPCT is also home to a childcare facility and preschool, a Harrow pro shop, a grab-and-go café, a 150-seat restaurant and bar, Stamford Hospital’s 18,500-sq.-ft. Orthopedic and Spine Institute, CrossFit S-Town and a BlueStreak Sports athletic training center.