Naji Ali has been coaching and teaching swimming for more than twenty years. He is ASCA Level II certified and an accomplished open water marathon swimmer. His passion centres on teaching Black and Brown children and adults to swim regardless of ability to pay. Alongside Race Swami Belle Haven he is head coach of the Oakland Tech high school swim team and coaches in the Oakland Parks and Rec summer league; he was previously development coach for Oakland Undercurrents. Naji credits his own swimming mentor, Malachi Cunningham, one of the first African Americans to coach at the NCAA level.

Catherine Capriles started swimming as a child at the Los Altos Aquatic Club and brings an elite competitive background to the deck. A longtime teammate of Matt Finnigan, she swam at both the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials and won four national championship titles at UCSD. Away from the pool she spent twenty-five years in the fire service, retiring as Deputy Fire Chief for the City of Palo Alto in 2018. She is a member of the St. Francis High School Athletic Hall of Fame and was co-head coach of the St. Francis swim teams from 2020 to 2023. Catherine is also the club's Safe Sport representative.

Lulu Estrada competed from age five through high school and college, and coaching became her way of giving that back. Having worked alongside professional NCAA coaches, she brings a high-level mindset and real technical attention to every athlete, whether the goal is a first legal stroke or a best time. For Lulu the pool is a safe and happy place that keeps her balanced, and she wants every Swami to find the same thing in it.

Born and raised in East Palo Alto, Mele Taipaleti brings a personal connection to this work. A mother of three, she knows what a real opportunity and a supportive room can do for a young person. Mele is usually the first person a new Swami family meets, and she handles everything from tryouts to registration. Call or text her at 650-388-2934.

Co-founder and Executive Director Matt Finnigan grew up in Bay Area swimming, training fourteen years at the Los Altos Aquatic Club, seven of them under the late Kevin Perry. Before co-founding Race Swami he led Judge Memorial Catholic High School to six Utah state titles in eight years, then ran Race Swami's Salt Lake City site from 2011 to 2021. Since 2021 he has served as Executive Director, overseeing and growing the programs in both Menlo Park and Salt Lake City.

Meredith is a Belle Haven resident who cares deeply about equal access to every pool and program in Menlo Park. She has competed for more than thirty years and holds 43 U.S. Masters Swimming national Top 10 times, notably in the 200 and 100 breast, 100 and 50 free and the IM. She last coached in the early 2000s for the Almaden Swim & Racquet Club and several cabana clubs, working with swimmers aged 4 to 18. Trained in the Total Immersion method, she coaches by celebrating progress, partnering with each swimmer on their goals, and drawing out the lessons swimming teaches in and out of the water.

Coach Alix believes swimming is a genuinely lifelong sport, and she coaches it that way: skill and confidence at any age. The IM is her favourite event, though she is currently busy rebuilding her own freestyle, proof that there is always more speed and better form to find. On weekends she plays water polo.

Margaret runs the enrichment side of the program: tutoring matches, reading and writing workshops, and the campus visits and speaker days that get Swamis thinking about what comes after high school.