Tony Batis
Head Coach and Seniors Coach
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Tony has been Head Coach for
the Palo Alto Swim Club since 1992 and was a founding member
of PASA in 2003. Prior to joining Palo Alto, Tony was the Head
Age Group coach for Salinas Valley Aquatics which was also the
program he grew up swimming for. As a coach in Salinas, he was
voted Age Group Coach of the Year for Pacific Swimming in 1991,
coaching a National Age Group Record Holder.
As the Head Coach for PASA at the
Rinconada Site, Tony has helped to develop the program into a
National power winning multiple Winter and Summer Jr National team
titles. With this success, Tony's athletes have made
a large impact in swimming at all levels including High School
Champions, High School All-Americans, National Junior
Team Members, National Team Members, NCAA All-Americans, NCAA
Champions and Olympians. Their accolades include LSC
Records, National Records, National High School Records, US
Open and American Records. Tony has been recognized as
Pacific Senior Coach of the Year on multiple occasions and
recognized by USA Swimming being both a National Team and Junior
National Team Coach on multiple occasions. USA Swimming
has placed Tony on multiple staffs for the National
Junior Team, including Head Women's Coach at Jr World Champs in
Lima, Peru, and National Team, including Asst Coach for
the SC World Champs in Istanbul, Turkey.
Tony 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 and his wife, Tisha completed a
successful business career managing the Palo Alto Sport Shop and
retired from those rolls in 2017. The two enjoy travelling,
recently celebrating their 25th Anniversary in
Africa.
Carlene Takaki
Junior Group
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Carlene started coaching in 2008 to help fellow Boilermaker, Marisa
Watts-Cozort found the club team Swim South Bay in Willow Glen.
Carlene coached age group up to senior swimmers there before
accepting a position assisting the National Team at SCSC in 2010.
She has coached swimmers through the Junior National Level,
including several Pacific Swimming Outstanding Swimmers and Relays,
with athletes consistently ranking top 10 in USA Swimming. Some of
Carlene's notable coaching achievements are:
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Western Zone Select Camp Coach
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Pacific Swimming representative at the USA Swimming Leadership
Summit
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ASCA Coach of the Year Nominee
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Pacific Swimming Coaches Clinic Speaker
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Women in Coaching Clinic Organizer and Speaker
Carlene grew up in the Bay Area and attended Presentation High
School (class of ’03) where she was a 3-time All-American and
helped the team to a CCS victory in 2001. She started as a walk-on
at Purdue University and ended as Big Ten champion in the 200 fly
and an NCAA All-American. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts
with a concentration in Jewelry and Metals and a minor in Art
History. After her collegiate career, she stayed at Purdue until
completing her career with the 100 and 200 fly at the 2008
Olympic Trials.
In her free time, Carlene loves to SoulCycle, swim, read, keep up
with swim stats, and make art.
Ryan Garcia
Varsity Coach
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Ryan Garcia is born and raised in San Jose. As an age group
swimmer, Ryan was a Pacific Record holder and placed high at meets,
including Far Westerns, and all the way up to Junior
Nationals. Living in the Bay Area, he competed for club
programs such as Santa Clara Swim Club, West Coast Aquatics, and
our own club, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. Ryan attended
Bellarmine College Prep high school, where he was a four year
All-American and helped to lead his team to four straight CCS team
titles. He then moved to attend UC Santa Barbara, where he
competed for the Gauchos and was All-Conference during his time
there. Ryan continues to compete at Master’s
competitions and won backstroke titles nationally in his age
group.
When Ryan is not coaching at PASA as the Varsity Coach and Senior
Group Assistant, he is the Head Coach of Mountain View Masters and
Co-Head Coach of Covington Critters, a summer league team. He is
experienced in coaching all levels, from novice to
All-Americans swimmers.
“My focus is on the development of the swimmer as a whole. I
want them to learn the fundamentals of swimming and gain the
necessary mindset to be successful in this sport. I want them to
learn and gain important characteristics, such as developing a hard
work ethic and being accountable. I want to create a challenging as
well as rewarding environment for the athletes and create a love
for the sport. Whether it be recreational or going to the next
level of competitiveness, my goal is to foster a foundation of
support for these swimmers.”
Keiichiro Yoshida
Age Group & Advanced Age Group Coach
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Keiichiro, "Coach K," begins his second professional start in
coaching at PASA Rinconada beginning in the Fall 2019, primarily
working with swimmers ages 10-12 years. He has been coaching
for more than 20 years, receiving his first professional start in
USA Masters Swimming, coaching over 100 swimmers in a single
practice, ages 18-87 years. After a few years working in his
field, he began Age Group coaching in 1996, and received his first
full-time position in 1997. He has coached all levels
throughout his career including Senior student-athletes. Coach K
has also held coaching and administration positions at the NCAA
Division 2 and NCAA Division 1 levels, in both Men's and Women's
Swimming and Diving Programs.
Coach K swam competitively as a walk-on student-athlete at the
University of Maryland, and has been mentored by some of the
greatest coaches in the sport today. Prior to his arrival at
PASA Rinconada, he spent time volunteering for USA Swimming while
transitioning his coaching from youth student-athletes to working
with executive leadership and entrepreneurs. He maintains two
mantras while working with individuals of all backgrounds - the
first he received from his coach mentor: "No one cares how
much you know until they know how much you care." The
second is a quote that he discovered while attending the USA
Swimming Coaches College at the US Olympic Training Center, and is
a quote that he tries to consistently model and instill into all of
his student-athletes on a daily basis: "Success is a Journey,
Not a Destination."
"Coach K" is an active
member of several local boards, and enjoys supporting fellow
coaches in a variety of sports as a trainer for the Positive
Coaching Alliance. He is the proud father of two children,
and a dog named Kekoa.
Tisha Steimle
Head AG Coach - Killer Whales & Sharks
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Tisha was born and
raised in San Jose and swam for San Jose Aquatics, one of two teams
her Dad started. 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. 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
Nationally ranked swimmers in 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14 age
groups. She has coached 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 has been nominated 3 times for Age group Coach of
the year for Pacific Swimming.
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 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 began her career
as a USA Swimming coach following a successful run as a multi-sport
athlete swimming and playing water polo. Her experience from all
over the Bay Area includes Ladera Oaks, BAC, Alameda Islanders,
Golden State Water Polo/Swim, Aquatics Director at the Palo Alto
JCC, & Skip Kenney's Nike Swim Camps before joining PASA 10
years ago. Hilary has coached dozens
of swimmers to Pacific Swimming Zone Championships, Zone
All-Stars, Junior Olympics, Far Westerns, CCS, and US Olympic
Trials. Siince taking on the 8U Coaching position at Rinconada, she
has had 100% success improving swimmer's times in every
race.
When not on the pool
deck, Hilary stays busy with
her other profession—Emergency Medical Response. As a
Paramedic, she is heavily involved in developing &
teaching Aquatic Safety & Rescue protocol, teaching Search
& Rescue techniques, and instructing CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life
Support, Basic Life Support, First Aid, & Wilderness Medicine.
To date, she has had thirteen personal saves in the
field.
Hilary is also a three-time
alumnus of Outward Bound & NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership
School) courses in Death Valley, 30-day Rock Climbing course in
Joshua Tree, 30-day backcountry expedition in the Eastern High
Sierras, and Baja Sea Kayaking. She has also instructed
numerous courses and programs in outdoor sports: climbing,
rappelling, waterskiing, & wakeboarding. She teaches boating
safety courses through the US Coast Guard Power Squadrons &
currently ranks in the Top 10 Female shooters
worldwide.
Coach Hilary believes her
success with PASA’s 8U program can be directly attributed to
the Coaches with whom she’s fortunate to work; “to
be able to shape these young kids from novice level to national
competitors as they matriculate through our
program…wouldn’t be possible without the wealth of
experience, the vested interest & vision that the Rinconada
Coaches have—it’s truly
invaluable.”
Ralph Navarro
Dryland and Conditioning Coach
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Ralph has been the dry land and conditioning
coach at PASA's Rinconada site for the past 8 years. He has
worked with age group and advanced age group swimmers,
incrementally developing their strength and conditioning and
flexibility to enhance their physical function and athletic
performance in the pool.
Ralph has been training athletes and non-athletes in the San
Francisco bay area for over twenty years. He is also the
father of two sons who grew up swimming and training with PASA for
more than 10 years. In addition to his coaching
responsibilities at PASA, he continues to provide customized
one-on-one and group fitness training programs for individuals
and corporate clients.
Ralph previously spent his spare time training and competing in
road and mountain bike triathlons, from sprint to ironman
distances. He now enjoys watching sports (9ers,Spurs,Giants
fan), road cycling, swimming, and spending time with his dog and
family.
