Naji Ali has been coaching and teaching swimming for over 20 years. He is ASCA (American Swimming Coaches Association) Level II certified and an accomplished open water marathon swimmer. His passion for swimming centers around his desire to teach Black and Brown children and adults how to swim regardless of ability to pay. Aside from his role as Head Coach for Race Swami Belle Haven, Naji is the proud head coach of the Oakland Tech high school swim team and actively teaches and coaches in the Oakland Parks and Rec summer league. Previously, Naji served as the development coach for Oakland Undercurrents. Naji's inspiration for swimming is a result of his long-term relationship with his swimming mentor - Malachi Cunningham - one of the first African Americans to coach at the NCAA level.​

Swimming has been a big part of Coach Catherine’s life since she was a little tyke. Most of her age group experiences came under the direction of Kevin Perry at the Los Altos Aquatic Club (now known as Los Altos Mountain View A.C) where she was a teammate of Race Swami Executive Director Matt Finnigan for many years. Catherine made her first appearance at the USA Olympic Trials in 1984 and after graduating from St. Francis High School in ’86 she became a 4-time national champion at UCSD. Coach Catherine participated in the 1988 Olympic Trials, finishing 7th in the 200-meter backstroke and 11th in the 200-meter IM. A member of the Saint Francis High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Coach Catherine spent 25 years in the fire service before retiring as a Deputy Fire Chief for City of Palo Alto in 2018. She also co-headed the St Francis high school swim teams from 2020-23 leading many student-athletes to new heights in the sport and in reaching for new opportunities in life. She is excited to be part of the Race Swami Belle Haven staff and getting to work with some awesome kids.

Co-Founder Matt Finnigan grew up in the swimming hotbed of Northern California's Bay Area, swimming for over 18 years at the Los Altos Aquatic Club. Matt's most notable tutelage in the sport came under the direction of the late Kevin Perry, whom he trained under for seven years at LAAC. Before coaching Race Swami's Salt Lake City site for ten years (2011-2021), Matt coached the Judge Memorial Catholic High School Boys and Girls swim teams to six Utah state titles in 8 years. Matt retired from the pool deck in 2021 to focus his efforts on serving as Executive Director for the Race Swami programs in Menlo Park and Salt Lake City.

Margaret S. Race is an ecologist currently working with NASA through the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. on planetary protection, science policy, astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life. In addition to her ongoing research, she has co-organized numerous NASA workshops on planetary protection for both robotic and human missions and published extensively on these topics. Dr. Race received her undergraduate and masters degrees from Univ. of Pennsylvania (BA, Biology, & M.S., Energy Management & Policy). She received her Ph.D. from Univ. of California at Berkeley (Zoology), after which she held a postdoctoral fellowship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Margaret is a former swimmer (Cal) and excited to direct an enrichment program that will engage our SWAMIs in array of subjects — but especially the sciences.

Meredith Rohr is a Belle Haven resident who is passionate about equal access to all pools and programs for every Menlo Park resident. Meredith has been a competitive swimmer for 30+ years and has achieved 43 US Masters Swimming “Top 10” times on a national basis, notably in the 200 Breast, 100 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Free, and IM events. She last coached in the early 2000’s for the Almaden Swim & Racquet Club (today known as “Quicksilver”) and a few cabana clubs in which she coached kids ages 4-18. Like Head Coach Naji Ali, Meredith is trained on the Total Immersion Program and her coaching philosophy is focused on celebrating achievements, self-improvement, partnering up with a swimmer to achieve their goals, and to take note of the many lessons that swimming imparts on us in the pool and in life. 

Coach Alix has loved swimming her whole life. She especially appreciates that it can be a lifelong sport for anyone with a little skill. Her favorite event is the IM. These days, Alix is working on her freestyle technique and seeing if better form can help her get faster as she gets older. Alix also enjoys playing water polo on the weekends.

Born and raised in East Palo Alto, Mele Taipaleti is the mother of three beautiful kids. Although Mele no longer lives in East Palo Alto, she is happy to have the opportunity to support the community by working with the Race Swami Belle Haven program and making a difference for local youth.