Pacific Swimming

Coaches

Coaching Staff
David Tambuwun Head Coach - Senior 1+2
Coach David started coaching in 1994 at the Redlands YMCA, where he managed to produce top Masters Swimming champions in California and a National Top-10 Masters Swimming swimmer.
 
In 1996, coach David worked as a Water Safety Instructor Supervisor for City of Rialto where he trained Water Safety Instructors, and helped develop the structure of their Learn-to-Swim program.  During that time he also coached part-time at Streamline Aquatics of Rialto (STAR) as one of their age group coaches. This position eventually led to a Head Age Group Coaching position in 1998 where he produced Southern California top-16 age group athletes and a national record holder for swimmers with disability who went on to attain multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio, and 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games collectively.
 
After leaving the City of Rialto Parks and Recreation in 1999, and while still the Head Age Group Coach for STAR, coach David took over a Head Coaching position for Inland Masters Swimming Club (Rialto Branch), where he had the privilege to train several national and world ranked Masters Swimming swimmers.
 
Hillside Aquatic Team became his new swim family in January 2000 where he became their Satellite Facility Head Coach and had the opportunity to train world-ranked international swimmers, and personally developed numerous Southern California Top-16 athletes, Junior Olympic champions, California Interscholastic Federation (Southern Section) individual finalists and gold medalists, Q-meet finalists, U.S. Open/Junior National qualifiers, and National Top-16 Age Group swimmers.
 
In 2004, coach David moved to BREA Aquatics and was their Select Group / Head Age Group Coach, where he personally developed numerous National Top-16 Age Group qualifiers and finalists, and one swimmer was nationally ranked 1st in the 200 Meters Individual Medley during the 2006 – 2007 LCM Top-16 Rankings as well as 1st in the IMX rankings for his age.
 
While coaching for BREA, he was also the Head Coach for the TROY High School Swimming Team from 2005 through 2007 where he led the TROY Warriors Varsity Boys and Girls teams to win—a school record—2005, 2006, and 2007 Freeway League Championship.
 
In January 2008, coach David moved to the Bay Area, became the Head Coach for LifeStyleRx Tiger Sharks, where he systematically grew the program from a small recreational / seasonal club to a team of over 80 athletes in a little more than one year.  Within the second year running the Tiger Sharks, coach David managed to produce league record holders and transitioned about 20 athletes to year-round competitive swimming with a few of these swimmers having Pacific Swimming’s Junior Olympics and Far Westerns qualifying times.
 
Beginning in 2011, coach David started to sub-coach for the Pleasanton Seahawks that eventually led to a full-time coach-member of the team since January 2013. Since he started coaching with the Seahawks, coach David has consistently produced top Junior Olympic, Far Western, Western Zone, Sectional, Futures, and Junior National swimmers with quite a few of them continue to swim and achieve Senior Nationals as well as Olympic Trials time cuts. Up to date, coach David's swimmers currently holds 24 Pacific Swimming and 9 National Age Group records. 
 
As of August 1st, 2024, coach David became the Head Coach of the San Ramon Valley Aquatics program and is looking forward to create more memorable accomplishments with the team.
 
In September 2022, coach David was honored with the Top-10 Age Group Coach Award in the United States by the American Swimming Coaches Association, and he was also awarded Top-50 Age Group Coach Award in the United States in 2017, 2019, and 2024 for consistently producing nationally ranked age group swimmers throughout the years. Currently, coach David holds an ASCA Level-3 certification and is in the process to obtain his Level-4 and Level-5 by the end of 2024.
 
Other than coaching and swimming, coach David loves to play the piano, guitar, and an occasional round of golf when he's got time. Coach David is married with two children and has a BSBA in Accounting and Finance with a side career in Tax Compliance and Audit.
 
In a nutshell, coach David believes top performance in swimming can only be accomplished when four important areas are addressed successively and systematically; these are: mechanics (understanding “impulse,” but racing more in “space”), physiology (training athletes based on their anthropometric development and proper application of energy systems percentage in swimming workouts and dry-land strength training periodization), sports psychology (controlling the controllables), and nutrition.
Jake Mefford Assistant Coach - Pre-Sen 2, Senior 1+2

Coach Jake started coaching in 2014 with Oakwood Athletic Club, working with the Mako Sharks for four years.  Starting as an assistant coach, eventually becoming head coach, the team grew from 30 swimmers to 150 within that timeframe.  He managed the athletic club’s learn to swim lessons, group lesson programs, and coached all groups in the swim team program.  Jake ran lessons at the club year round and used the lesson base as a means to build up the swim program.  While with the Mako Sharks, he produced multiple team record holders, county records, and high point winners.

Jake joined SRVA in 2019, working with the Competitive 1 and Pre Senior groups.  Jake has consistently been able to develop numerous Age Group Championships, Far Western, Sectionals, and Futures, level athletes.  Jake was able to put SRVA swimmers back on the map, taking a group without any Age Group Championships qualifiers to one that had at most 40% of the Pre Senior group attending the meet.  SRVA swimmers in the Pre Senior group have made eleven new team records since he started coaching the group.  Jake was selected to be a coach for the Pacific swimming All Star Team 2023, and sent five swimmers to the meet in 2024.

In 2021 Jake joined a summer recreational program, the Sun Valley Stringrays as head coach.  Since joining SVST, nine records have been set by athletes he has worked with, seven of his athletes have won high point at league championship meets, and SVST was the top finishing team at Devil Mountain Pentathlon Invite in both 2021 and 2023.  Additionally in 2024, SVST brought its largest group to the Contra Costa County meet and placed first within the small teams division.

For a brief time 2023 and the full 2024 season, Jake additionally managed the Senior Groups at SRVA.  In 2023, senior swimmers broke five team records under his guidance.  In 2024, he took the largest group the team has had since he joined SRVA to both NCS and Sectionals, with all athletes making finals at Sectionals.  During the time Jake spent with the Senior Groups, SRVA saw multiple new Sectionals, Futures, and Junior Nationals, and a Canadian Olympic Trials time cut.

Jake’s training philosophy is centered around variety in training and long term athletic development.  Swimming is a lifelong sport, and he believes that all athletes need a well rounded and flexible base of training to take the sport to greater heights in the long run.  Jake is a firm believer in taking the anxiety out of training and making the sport fun and engaging for his athletes.  He stresses the importance of having a positive coach and athlete relationship, as well as teaching swimmers how to better manage the psychological aspects of training and racing.

Before coaching, Jake swam with the Terrapins Swim team.  He qualified for Futures in the 100/200 Back, as well as sectionals in the 100/200 Fly and 200/400 IM.  He set high school records in 2012 for the 100 Back his Senior year.  He began swimming again in 2018 for Walnut Creek Masters and has set a few masters records since joining the program.  His favorite events are the 100/200 Back and the 400 IM.  Outside of the pool, Jake enjoys cooking, outdoor activities, and has two cats.  He sometimes shares his enjoyment for food with the swimmers after practices and manages several dinners for the Age Group Championships athletes each year. Jake majored in Business Management in college.

Christopher Guidi Assistant Coach - Pre-Sen 1, Comp 1

Christopher started swimming on a summer team back in New Jersey when he was 4 years old. Ever since he moved to California in 2010, he has been a part of SRVA. Starting in the Novice groups, he made his way to the Senior group having been coached by Audra and Jake at times.

During his time in the Senior group under Coach Rich, he became a Sectionals and Futures qualifier, FW, EBAL, and NCS finalist, and developed an unmatched passion for the sport of swimming.

In 2020, Christopher started coaching for SRVA as a Junior Coach, then later a Masters Coach throughout 2021. He has been an Assistant Coach with the Competitive 2 and Varsity 1 groups since July 2021 and has since developed several high-performing athletes in the 10-12 age range, along with helping multiple new swimmers make their way to the Pre-Senior and Senior groups.

Audra Grundy Assistant Coach - Nov 1+2, Var 2, Intro
  • AA Degree, Cuesta College
  • Southern California Junior College Swimming Champion
  • Coaching experience at High School and Recreation League levels

 

Patrick Novak Assistant Coach - Comp 2 and Var 1