We are here to support
your needs. If your questions are related to workouts, meets,
events, goal setting, and other swimming related needs, please
contact one of the coaches. For all questions related to
administrative, such as dues, safety, or policy issues, please
contact Coach Marisa.
Coach Marisa has been
around swimming since she was in a stroller (when her dad would
tether it to the starting blocks when he’d swim with his
masters swim group!) Her competitive career
started at San Jose Aquatics where she was a Far Western High Point
winner and Junior National Champion. She continued to excel
through her high school career at Presentation High School
earning four individual CCS Championship titles. Her
times landed her a scholarship to swim for the Boilermakers at
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Her two school
records still stand in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle. She
graduated with her degree in Computer Graphics, tried to work in a
cubicle, but soon found her way back to the pool
deck.
After coaching at the
Los Altos Golf and Country Club (1998-2000), San Jose Aquatics
(2000-2004) and the Courtside Swim Club (2004-2008), Marisa
founded Swim South Bay in the Fall of 2008. She is also
in her twelth season at the helm of the Presentation High
School team and her sixth year teaching Physical Education.
Her programs are lead with passion, enthusiasm and a LOVE for
the sport of swimming.
Marisa is a vegetarian
Sagittarius who loves to knit, cook and watch soap operas.
She has competed in numerous Open Water swims (her first at age 12
in San Mateo, Alcatraz the day after the Junior Prom, Golden Gate,
Maui Channel, Trans Tahoe and the Waikiki Roughwater
Challenge.) She is married to her college sweetie, Chris,
former Purdue Track star and current Presentation Cross Country
coach. Together, they are raising two rambunctiously busy boys
(Miles, age 6 and Donovan, age 3.)
Coach Myna’s
parents noticed she had an affinity for the water when they
witnessed her perfecting her freestyle in the bath tub at age
4. Enrolling her in swimming seems like a natural next step
and they were astonished as she quickly advanced through all levels
by age 6. From then on, she never stopped. She swam
competitively specializing in 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly,
and 50m freestyle. Her hard work paid off and she made
Canadian Nationals in her early teens. She participated
in meets all over Canada and the US, such as Far Westerns and Santa
Clara International where she and Coach Marisa met as
teenagers. Next, she attended Simon Fraser University (SFU)
where she swam Varsity and achieved All American in the NAIA http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-swim/naia-w-swim-body.html.
In 1995, she began coaching in seasonal swim
leagues.
After leaving
competition, Myna got a bit of a traveling bug. She visited
18 different countries in 5 years. She took up Yoga and has
been hooked ever since, being very active in the discipline for 8
years. When returning from travel she took a job at eBay in
Vancouver where she eventually met her husband Ed. They
married in Mexico and just celebrated their 3 year
anniversary. She is a Yoga instructor within the PHS Physical
Education department and also teaches at the new studio, Breathe,
in Los Gatos. Myna loves chips.
Coach Colleen was born at the Naval Hospital in
Bethesda, MD, but both parents got stationed from the Pentagon
to California (Treasure Island and Moffett Field
respectively) when she was 5 years old. Her family moved
to San Jose and she stayed there until she left for the Air Force
Academy at age 18. While in San Jose, she started swim
lessons and piano lessons at the age of 6. She attended Holy
Family Educational Center and Presentation High School. She
graduated at the top of her class at Presentation, and swam on the
varsity swim team with Coach Marisa. Colleen was also on the
2001 CCS Championship team.
At the Air Force Academy (USAFA), she majored in
Legal Studies and minored in Spanish (she is bilingual), as
well as earned the MVP and was team captain for the
Division I women's swim team her senior year. Her best events
were the 400 IM, 200 IM, 100 free, 200 free and relays. She
graduated from USAFA in the top third academically and top 10%
athletically. After graduation in 2006, she served as a
Missile Maintenance Officer and also volunteer coached swimming, as
she continued to swim.
She returned to San Jose to see her brother,
Thomas, off as he enlisted in the Air Force in July 2010 after she
served her time in the Air Force. She decided to stay in San
Jose to teach piano lessons and coach swimming as she has 20 years
experience in both. She'staught children with special needs how to play the
piano, and between 2006-2009 volunteered with the Special Olympics
of Southern California as the military liason volunteer
coordinator.She also plays
piano/keyboard for all types of events, as well as finishing her
masters degree in Aeuronautical Science specializing in space (just
for fun!)
Paul has been swimming for more years than
he’d like to admit. He was an Olympic Trials qualifier,
Collegiate All-American, Open Water swimmer and Triathlete.
He has been the father of the Presentation pool since 2006, making
it his mission to have the best looking and functioning pool in the
entire South Bay. He coaches the Masters and Fitness
Swimming programs and is looking forward to sharing his
love for swimming with all of our participants!
Coach Spencer has spent
quite some time in the Bay Area, as he is a Bellarmine graduate and
currentWestValleystudent. Spencer
has spent nearly his entire life at the pool and on swim
teams. He has enjoyed coaching the Almaden Dolphins cabana
team for the past two years, working with swimmers aged 4-18.
Spencer’s talents do not solely lie within the pool however,
he also has an extensive football background! The Race Team
groups are ready to learn with you Coach Spencer.
Born and raised in the
Bay Area, Coach Lauren has been swimming since she was five years
old and loved every minute of it. She has a special love for
the water and tries to get in whenever possible to swim, play water
polo or just splash around. A graduate of Presentation High
School and a current Santa Clara University student, Lauren is busy
studying business and Italian. She is the current PHS Junior
Varsity Assistant Water Polo Coach. She loves traveling and
hopes to return to Italy soon to practice Italian and enjoy the
culture. Lauren also enjoys hiking and interior decorating,
which are just a few of her many talents.
Coach Ramina was
introduced to the world of swimming at a very early age, always
loving the water and never wanting to get out of the pool. Once she
began her freshman year at Presentation High School, it had been
quite some time since she had stepped foot in the water.
However, she was eager to learn everything Coach Marisa and the
rest of the swim team coaches had to offer. In the summer of 2008,
Ramina began to share the knowledge that she had gathered from the
years with her swimmers in the swim lesson program at The Pool at
Presentation. Since then, Ramina's passion for swim
lessons branched off into coaching in the race team program for
Swim South Bay. Coach Ramina loves to share all of the knowledge
that she has gained and wants to pass it on to all of her swimmers.
She hopes that her swimmers learn to love the sport as much as she
does!
