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, in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle, stood for over a decade. 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 was the Head Coach at Presentation High School for 21 years and taught PE for 15 years as well.  She is the current Head Coach of the Willow Glen High School swim team and Health & Wellness Teacher at Cristo Rey San Jose High School. In 2011, she was selected as the CCS Honor Swimming Coach of the Year.   In 2016, Marisa was honored as the first swimming coach to receive the  Double-Goal Coach National award by the Positive Coaching Alliance.  Her programs are led with passion, enthusiasm and a LOVE for the sport of swimming.

Marisa is a vegetarian Sagittarius who loves to knit, cook and binge watch shows.  She graduated from Ohio University ('11) with a Masters Degree in Recreation and Sport Science with an emphasis in Coaching Education and completed her double Masters degree in Public Health and Health Education from Purdue University in 2020. She is married to her college sweetie, Chris, former Purdue Track star and current Bellarmine teacher. Together, they are raising two boys (Miles, age 20 and Donovan, age 17.) 

Adam is a lifelong swimmer. He learned by playing Marco Polo and Colors with the big kids in his backyard pool. His first try at a swim team ended abruptly with tears, when they moved to the "big" 25-yard pool. For the next 12 summers Adam was a shark for the Oaktree Park team. In high school, he swam Bellarmine and Swim South Bay. Since then, he has been part of the team at Gonzaga, London University, and Almaden Masters. His current swimming pursuits are breaking 30 seconds in the 25-yard backwards freestyle and mastering bubble rings.

Adam has coached all levels of youth swimming. He spent five summers teaching swim lessons for Swim South Bay. He learned, by himself and from other instructors, what worked, and what did not, through hundreds of different swimmers. Adam went on to Head Coach the Oaktree Park Sharks for three seasons. Adam coached the Bellarmine Frosh-Soph team to three league titles, but is most proud of all the swimmers he introduced to competitive swimming. Adam previously coached Race Team and is excited to be coaching the Senior and Varsity groups.

Adam's coaching philosophy developed from his experience and is simple, find a way to improve every day. Improving times requires improving as a swimmer. Humans are masters of walking; we do it every day. Swimming is different. Competitive swimming is teaching a body four separate strokes to move across the water. Like an engine, strokes require engineering and tinkering to keep them performing. It's starts, turns, finishes, and transitions. It's strength, endurance, and discipline. While the perfect race is never in reach, Adam coaches to give every swimmer the preparation to try for theirs.

He believes there are three keys for swimmers to make and sustain a change. The first is to instill a growth mindset upon the swimmer and the group. Swimmers need to learn the goal is improvement. We are all at different parts in our swimming journey, but we each own our daily to be present and work to grow. The second key is for swimmers to understand the mechanics of swimming. It’s a practice cycle of explanation, drills, feedback, and good swimming. The last part, the keystone that brings it all together, is a fun environment of racing and team camaraderie. 

When Adam isn't on the pool deck he likes learning new things, woodworking, and working with Scouts. Look for him at your local park playing disc golf or at the farmers market comparing all the free samples.

Coach Spencer started swimming at the age of 6 and has never looked back .  With 16+ years of competitive coaching experience and a passion for education, he has coached many  competitive teams in the Bay area.  He has extensive knowledge of the sport and looks forward to sharing that knowledge with all his students.  Coach Spencer  swam competitively throughout his entire life, swimming for some of the best coaches in the area.

His swimming accomplishments include, but are not limited to:

• Coaching seven championship swim programs.

• Swimming and coaching experience of 16+ years.

• Setting the WCAL record for the 200 freestyle at Bellarmine College Prep

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. She began to swim competitively at a young age and closed out her swimming career when she graduated from Presentation High School. She was on the very first BAY team! Ramina has been a part of Swim South Bay staff since 2009, starting out as a swim instructor and then transitioned to coaching race team swimmers later that year. She loves working with race team swimmers as she is passionate about giving them the foundation that they need in order to thrive in our sport. In 2018, Ramina took on the position of Head Race Team Coach since she had grown to love supporting her fellow coaches and shaping our race team program. Ramina is also the Director of Summer Programs for BAY and coordinates all summer programs from swim camps to private lessons. Over the years, her role on deck has changed and shifted, however, her love for the sport of swimming has never stopped.

Born and raised an Army brat in Japan, he began his swimming at a very early age.  In fact, at 4 he would cry until Mom took him to the post pool where his swimming first took hold.  A swimming career is born.  At age 9, he began to swim with the local post youth team and starting competing in age group.  Swimming until he graduated from high school, he moved to the USA to begin college.

It appears the crying was the motivating factor in keeping up and eventually turning this into a athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC).  There he achieved All-American honors, won NCAA events and ultimately competed at the Olympic Trials with the possible dream of becoming an Olympian in the 100 and 200 M Breaststroke.

Having the opportunity to compete at the highest levels of swimming has enriched his life and is passing on these experiences, knowledge and passion to our youth swimmers of today.

Claire started working at the Presentation pool in 2007 lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons and coaching. She swam for Presentation, played water polo and swam for West Valley College, then graduated from SJSU with a degree in Business Management. She is enthusiastic about helping others to be healthy and fit, and bikes everywhere to stay in shape herself.

Coach Izzie is our newest addition to the coaching staff. Her swimming career started at the age of 9 with Santa Maria Swim Club, located on the Central Coast where she grew up. She swam for her local community college, Allan Hancock College, where she won State in the 200 breaststroke her freshman year and helped get a men’s swim team for the college. She was awarded 3x All-American (100, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM), two-time Female athlete of the year, named Co-Swimmer of the meet at conference. She transferred to San Jose State University where she received CSCAA Scholar All-American Honors. Recipient of Arthur Ashe Jr. award and Academic All-District. Coach Izzie graduated with a Bachelor’s in Nutrition. When she is not at the pool she enjoys cooking, painting and spending time with her friends. 

Coach Brandon has been swimming with BAY for over ten years and has been coaching Race Team for 3 years. He also teaches in water lessons for our summer program. He was on the Branham High School Varsity Team, as well as the De Anza’s College swim team. "I love the pool and swimming and it’s huge passion of mine that I would like to pass on to the next generation of swimmers!"

Coach Marissa is currently a student at West Valley College pursuing a degree in Biology. She has always loved the water and spent 7 years on the Crossgates Gators swim team, as well as BAY, along with working as a lifeguard when she wasn't in the pool. After spending her time in high school doing her two favorite sports (volleyball and swim), she decided to become a swim coach at BAY to stay connected to one of my passions. "I have always loved working with kids and wanted to help mentor them in the sport I love. l am so excited to give back to the community by teaching your kids!"

Coach Catherine loves coaching the Race Team!  She began her coaching career by coaching Cross Country and Track & Field for 20 years.  She loved the camaraderie, being outdoors and helping young athletes challenge themselves, learn what amazing things their bodies can do and reach goals.  She was thrilled to transition to the pool deck to be part of the swimming journey of new swimmers.  Her love of swimming began when her own young children joined the Swim South Bay Race Team.  They both swam all the way through all the groups and are now in college.  Her greatest joy is when she now sometimes gets to coach alongside them!

Coach Logan has been swimming for as long as he can remember. He started with Swim South Bay’s summer swim lessons before swimming with many of South Bay’s groups for over eight years. He also swam with Willow Glen High School’s Varsity team for three years and has been swimming with De Anza College’s team since 2024.