Meet Our Coaches
MOHAMMAD KHADEMBASHI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ HEAD COACH
EMAIL: MAK@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Mohammad began his coaching career at the Santa Monica YMCA in 2007, rising to Head Coach of the YMCA Team in 2011. He then joined TSM Aquatics as an Assistant Coach in 2015, becoming Head Coach four years later in 2019.
Since joining TSM, Mohammad has led swimmers to top rankings in Southern California, the USA, and internationally. As Head Coach, he has guided TSM swimmers to compete at Junior National, National, Olympic Trials, Junior Pan Pacific Championships, World Junior Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games levels. Mohammad’s dream of becoming an Olympic Coach became a reality in 2024, when he led Ivan Puskovitch to the 2024 USA Olympic Team.
Mohammad was named to the USA 2024 World Championship Team in Doha and has been a USA National Team Coach since 2019. He served as Team USA Head Coach for the 2019 Fina World Cup in Hungary and as Coach to the Venezuelan National Junior Team for the 2019 Fina World Junior Championships. Mohammad has also been named Head Coach of Southern California Swimming for the Western Zone Age Group Championships in 2017 and 2018, guiding team SoCal to its first Zone Championships in a decade.
Coach Mohammad strives to share his passion for swimming with athletes at every practice. He believes that with hard work and goal-setting, every athlete can reach their potential, and he challenges his swimmers to do the same in and out of the pool.
“Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”
IMAN KHADEMBASHI
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
EMAIL: IMAN@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Iman is originally from Iran and moved to the US in 2003. He began coaching at the Santa Monica YMCA in 2009, working his way up to Head Coach, and led the team to the Southern California YMCA League Championship. He also served as Aquatics Coordinator and oversaw the swim lessons program, which included over 300 swimmers. In 2014, Coach Iman joined Westside Aquatics and helped launch a new program in Santa Monica. He soon became the Head Age Group Coach at Westside and also took on the role of Head Coach for a Master’s program. With eight years of coaching experience, Coach Iman has worked with swimmers of all levels, from beginners to Sectional qualifiers. Several of his swimmers have been recognized by USA Swimming as top 20 in their age group. A fan and student of the sport, Coach Iman is passionate about coaching and helping his swimmers reach their full potential in and out of the pool. He believes in setting goals and creating plans to achieve them. In 2016 and 2017, Coach Iman was selected to coach at the Southern California All Star Festival Meet. He believes that hard work and dedication can make anything possible.
“If you really want something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.”
DAN HERALY
ASSISTANT COACH
EMAIL: DAN@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Dan grew up in Green Bay, WI where he began his coaching career at the age of 16 working with the Green Bay YMCA. After attending college in Milwaukee, Dan helped start a new swim program on the south side of Milwaukee that grew to over 100 swimmers after one year. He then moved to Virginia where he assisted in restarting the women’s swim team at Emory & Henry College and started his own club, Blue Ridge Aquatic Club. While there, Emory & Henry had their first NCAA qualifier in the teams’ history. From there, Dan moved to Southern California to coach at the University of Southern California and the Trojan Swim Club.
Throughout his 15 years of coaching experience, Dan has coached athletes ranging from beginners all the way to current world record holders. His philosophy is that, through swimming, young athletes can learn valuable skills, both in and out of the water, that they will carry with them for life.
CHRIS KANG
ASSISTANT COACH
EMAIL: CHRIS@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Chris comes from a long line of swim coaches and is passionate about the sport. He got his start in the water at just 2 years old and began competing at age 5. With over 13 years of coaching experience, Coach Chris has been guiding competitive swimmers in Southern California since 2009. He's helped develop a diverse range of swimmers, from Gold Medalists at Super JO's to top-ranked athletes in Southern California. He's also had the opportunity to work alongside Coach Mohammad at the Western Zones Age Group Championship and was selected to coach at the All-Stars Festival for three consecutive years. Coach Chris believes that technique and mental toughness can be developed in young athletes, laying the groundwork for success. His approach is to understand each athlete's strengths, weaknesses, and concerns, allowing him to create a personalized plan and help them achieve their goals.
In his free time, Coach Chris is an avid sneaker collector. Maybe we can discuss our favorite shoes together!
"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do."-- Kobe Bryant
SYDNEY LEE
ASSISTANT COACH
EMAIL: SYDNEY@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Sydney grew up on the East Coast in Boston, where she began swimming competitively at a young age. As a club swimmer, Sydney achieved Winter Junior Nationals and consistently demonstrated leadership both in and out of the pool. She continued her swimming career at Boston University as a Division 1 swimmer, where she studied neuroscience. During her time at BU, Sydney served as captain for both her junior and senior years, earning multiple team accolades, including Hardest Worker and Most Valuable Swimmer. In her senior year, Sydney was also recognized as BU Athletics’ Teammate of the Year.
Sydney joined TSM Aquatics in 2023, and in 2024, she was selected to coach at the Southern California All-Star Festival Meet. Her passion is to help her athletes find love in the sport and passion in their daily practice. As a strong mental health advocate, she believes, "a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer."
Outside of coaching, Sydney is an avid runner, having completed the Boston Marathon, and enjoys spending time with her cat, Dunkin’.
STEFANIE CAPIZZI
ASSISTANT COACH
EMAIL: STEFANIE@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach stefanie was raised in New Jersey, where she swam for the Somerset Valley YMCA (now Greater Somerset County YMCA) and qualified for the Summer YMCA Nationals. She then went on to become a four-year letter winner for the Hamilton College Continentals Swim Team in Clinton, NY, from 2005 to 2009. As a senior, Stefanie captained the Hamilton College women’s swim team and was named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Sportsmanship team in 2009.
After graduating from Hamilton, Stefanie continued to swim with the UCF club team, winning three events at the 2011 East Coast Championships. She has since become a YMCA Masters national champion and record holder, as well as a US Masters Swimming National Champion, Top Ten, and All-American swimmer. Currently, Stefanie competes for the Rose Bowl Masters team.
As a coach, Stefanie has spent one year with the Los Angeles Swim Club as their Streamline Program Coordinator and five years with Beach Cities Swimming, following four years at Swim Torrance. She was selected to coach the 9-10 girls and 9-10 boys representing Southern California Swimming at Age Group Western Zones for two summers. During her time with Beach Cities and Swim Torrance, Stefanie coached various levels and age groups, producing age-group and JO championship qualifiers, as well as Sectionals qualifiers. Prior to Swim Torrance, Stefanie was the Assistant Swimming and Diving coach for Occidental College for two years. While at Occidental, she helped coach numerous all-conference team members, including several conference champions, culminating with a NCAA Division 3 national champion in 2013.
In her free time, Stefanie enjoys swimming, running, spending time with her boyfriend and two dogs, and visiting Disneyland.
MISAEL GUTIERREZ
PRE-COMPETITIVE COACH
Coach Misael started his coaching career at a Culver City YMCA in 1999 and has been coaching in Santa Monica since 2002. With a background in aquatics, he has experience teaching Parent and Me classes, swim lessons, age group swim teams, water polo, springboard diving, and adult fitness classes. He has also worked with IronMan and Ultra Athletes, focusing on stroke development. Additionally, he has training in Classical Pilates, Hatha Yoga, the Psychology of Anatomy, Tai Chi, and personal training for strength, performance, and corrective exercise. Coach Misael aims to inspire a lifelong commitment to movement by creating an environment that helps athletes perform their best. He shares TSM’s mission to “instill character and foster the skills and qualities” needed to overcome life's challenges.
“Rest at the end, not in the middle.” Kobe Bryant
A’ILANA MARTINEZ
PRE-COMPETITIVE COACH
Coach A’ilana was born in Santa Monica but grew up in Florida and Colorado, where she began her swimming career. A’ilana was in the water before she could walk, and she swam competitively with USA swimming for seven years. She also swam four years with her high school, earning both Most Valuable Player and Coach’s Award twice. While swimming with her club team, she began helping younger age group swimmers with technique, where she realized her love of coaching.
A’ilana comes to TSM Aquatics with experience coaching all ages and skill levels, ranging from 3 months old to competitive swimmers in high school, and is now in her third year coaching with TSM Aquatics. She wants to cultivate a love of swimming that will last a lifetime within all her athletes.
“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” -Kevin Durant
MATTHEW FLANDERS
HEAD WATER POLO COACH
EMAIL: MATT@TEAMSANTAMONICA.ORG
Coach Flanders grew up playing water polo and swimming first at TSM Aquatics in the 80s, and then moved on to the Santa Monica High School teams where he earned all league, all CIF and All American nods in his 4 years as a Viking.He then moved on to play 4 years at UCSB, earning all conference honors as well as the team MVP his senior year. At the same time Coach Flanders was playing on the USA Junior National team.
After college Coach Flanders moved into coaching, first as a graduate assistant at UCSB, and then as the head coach for Samohi's water polo and swim teams. At Samohi he has one numerous league championships in both swim and water polo, as well as CIF championships in girls and boys water polo, earning CIF coach of the year both times. Players he has coached have grabbed all league, All CIF and All American awards.
Coach Flanders also coached at Westside Aquatics for many years, guiding that program to consecutive Junior Olympics appearances as well as two trips abroad to play in Croatia. Coach Flanders still plays water polo regularly, earning All American honors at the masters level, as well as 3 national championships.
SHANNA STEVENSON
ASSISTANT WATER POLO COACH
Shanna grew up in Santa Monica, California and started to swim at the age of 2. Her freshman year of high school is where she started her water polo career. Her junior year she helped make Santa Monica High School history by leading her team to their first ever CIF championship. She also earned CIF First Team as well as Team and League MVP.
She continued her water polo career with a D2 athletic scholarship at Azusa Pacific University. She now wants to share her passion for the water with all of her athletes.