Tony Batis
Head Coach and Seniors Coach
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Tony has been Head Coach for
the Palo Alto Swim Club since 1992. He is only the third head coach
in the club’s history. Prior to joining Palo Alto, Tony was
the Head Age Group coach for Salinas Valley Aquatics which was also
the club program he grew up in. He was voted Age Group Coach of the
Year for Pacific Swimming in 1991 while coaching in
Salinas.
As Head Coach for Palo Alto, Tony has had
numerous athletes in the Top 16 nationally along with CCS
Champions, Junior National Champions, Pacific Record-holders,
National Finalist and Olympic Trials Finalist. He has also
placed swimmers on International teams representing USA. The
program continues to thrive and will be stronger as a member of
PASA.
He is a 1988 graduate of the University of
Southern California, with a B.S. degree in Business Administration.
He also swam at USC for four years and competed in the 1988 Olympic
Trials. Tony also manages the swim department of the Palo Alto
Sport Shop in downtown Palo Alto.
Ricky Silva
Juniors and Junior+ Coach
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Ricky began coaching in 1991
in Southern California, where he coached for four years (both high
school and age group swimming.) In 1995, he became a coach for both
a local USA swim team and a summer league team. Ricky joined the
Palo Alto Swim Club in 2001.
Ricky has been actively involved in Pacific
swimming during the last eleven years. He was been the head coach
for several Pacific swimming elite camps, head coach for the
pacific swimming quad team and western zone team and is currently
the pacific swimming coaches representative for the age group
committee.
As a coach for the Palo Alto Swim Club, he
has coached a wide range of swimmers, from novice to top 16 in the
country. During Ricky’s five years with the club, he had
several USA top 16 ranked swimmer, several USA top 16 relays and
numerous Far Western qualifiers and finalists. In 2003, he was
nominated as Pacific Age Group coach of the year.
He graduated with a BA in Communications from
California State University, Fullerton. In addition to coaching for
the Palo Alto Swim Club, Ricky is Head Masters Coach for the
California Sports Center-Sunnyvale.
Ben Chung
Age Group and Advanced Age Group Coach
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Ben is a 2003 graduate of
Vassar College where he earned his degree in sociology with minors
in French and American Literature. While at Vassar, Ben is proud to
have broken 9 school records and to have been selected as captain
of the swim team during his sophomore, junior and senior
seasons.
Ben has been a part of PASC for the last
eleven years, the first five as an athlete in Tony’s senior
group, and the last six as a coach. As a swimmer
growing up in nearby Los Altos, Ben was a multiple-time
CCS Finalist and USA Swimming Sectional
qualifier.
As a coach, Ben has guided individuals and
relays to Pacific Swimming Records, has coached multiple Far
Western and Junior Olympic Champions and Finalists, and placed
several swimmers on Pacific Swimming All-Star teams. He has coached
Junior National qualifiers, and numerous swimmers who have ranked
in the USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming top 10. Ben has also
been selected as a coach to several All-Star teams and
camps.
Ben has taught at numerous swim clinics and
sports camps and recently served as Head Coach of the Covington
Swim Team in 2009, after six summers as an assistant
coach.
Tisha Steimle
Killer Whales and Sharks Coach
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Tisha was born and
raised in San Jose and swam for San Jose Aquatics. She began
coaching in high school as an 8 and under assistant for her summer
league team. She took her first paid coaching job in 1980 and
has been active in coaching swimming ever since. After graduating
from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, she stayed in Oregon for
three years coaching Oregon City Swim Club. Desiring a return
to the Bay Area, she took the Head Age Group position at Palo Alto
Swim Club in 1988. With exception of a rewarding year spent
coaching at Bradford-on-Avon Swimming in England, she has been at
Rinconada ever since. Returning from England, she took over
the 9-10 year old age groups in 2004.
"Teaching kids to improve their strokes,
watching their confidence grow and their ability to handle new
situations that get thrown at them, is what I love most about
coaching. Watching a child "get it" is what keeps me coming
to the pool day after day."
During her PASC/PASA years she has coached
numerous (too many to count) Nationally ranked Age group swimmers
in 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14 age groups. She has had Pacific
Swimming Swimmers of the Year, Pacific Swimming Record Holders and
many athletes who have made Western Zone and Pacific Swimming All
Stars. She has served on the Pacific Swimming Board of
Directors and the Age Group Committee.
Tisha and Tony love to travel the world and
have done so with many swimming connections, and Tisha loves to
take photos of her travels to make it seem like majoring in Art in
college was worth all the money. Tisha and Tony have two
"children", their puppy Kanzi and a big fat cat, named Slash.
Tisha loves reading, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Jose Sharks and the
Olympics. She loves Presidents and Ryder Cup golf and
Professional Cycling.
Hilary Goldschlager
Dolphins, Turtles and Minnows Coach
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Hilary has been a USA Swimming
Coach since 1998, and a USA Water Polo Coach since 2000. After
sustaining a shoulder injury in 1992 playing college water polo,
she hung up her Speedo to pursue a career in Emergency Medicine as
a Paramedic.
Hilary’s coaching career began with the
8-and-under’s and the 9-10 age groups at Ladera Oaks in
Portola Valley , where they had their 1st undefeated season and
took 1st place at the league championships. She went on to coach at
locations spaning the Bay Area: BAC, Alameda Islanders, PGCC,
Golden State Aquatics & Skip Kenney’s Nike Int’l
Swim Camp. She also founded Elite Aquatics Training Corp. which
provides private coaching and academic counseling for college-bound
student athletes.
Hilary’s varied interests include:
being a two-time Outward Bound/NOLS alumnus, trained in Search
& Rescue, attended San Mateo County Sheriff’s Academy,
and being an instructor in: wakeboarding/waterskiing, rock-climbing
& boating safety through the US Coast Guard Power Squadrons.
She is currently ranked in the Top 10 Female Shooters in the world
through Safari Club International and has traveled extensively
worldwide, including 8 trips to Africa!
