David Hill
David coaches the Hilltop Fighters and Sharknado training groups for the Spartans of La Canada. He is also the Head Coach for the La Canada High School boys’ swim team. David has been coaching competitive swimmers in the La Canada area for more than a decade and is a pillar of the long-standing tradition of aquatic excellence in the La Canada community. Through his many years of coaching, David has coached athletes at all levels: from Olympic Trials qualifiers and NISCA All Americans ranked nationally in the sport to youth swimmers getting into the water for the first time. David was named the San Gabriel All-Area Boys Swimming Coach of the Year (2018, 2019) and has led the La Canada High School boys’ swim team to multiple Rio Hondo League championship wins and a CIF-SS D2 championship title (2019). David has consistently promoted excellence in the La Canada swimming community’s youth and has provided a structure for athletes to thrive. A La Canada resident and La Canada High School alumni, David looks forward to continuing to foster the deep tradition of high-quality aquatic athletes in our community. In his spare time, David enjoys music, spending time with his girlfriend, Thanya, and their dog, Fletcher, bowling, playing games with friends, and spending time in the kitchen.

 
Mariya Petrova
Mariya coaches the Team Mario and Phoenix training groups for the Spartans of La Canada. She is also the Assistant Coach for both the La Canada High School boys and girls swim teams and the Rose Bowl Aquatics Masters team, and she is a Certified Lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor with the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. Mariya also provides private swimming lessons and personal training for athletes at all levels in Southern California. She has a highly motivated, results-oriented coaching approach whose optimism and ebullient nature on deck brings out the best in young swimmers by focusing on attention to detail and swim technique. Prior to her time in the United States, she began swimming at age 6; and by age 12, she swam and studied at the sports school in the School of Olympic Reserve in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where she completed the “master of sports” (the top-earned title for sportsmen). At age 17, she began swimming with the University team at Dnipro, Ukraine. In 2013, she went on to coach multiple age group swimmers at SportLife DeLux in Kiev, Ukraine. In 2016, she immigrated to the United States and began providing private lessons. In 2017, she trained with the Rose Bowl Masters team and won first place in the championship meet for her 50-meter breaststroke. When Mariya is not on deck coaching, she enjoys tennis, surfing, skiing, triathlons, traveling and spending time with her husband. “I love what I do. Coaching is my calling.”    -- Mariya      
 

Mario Marshall

Coach Mario Marshall is a 16x U.S. Masters Swimming All American and 7x U.S. Masters Swimming National Record Holder. He is a 3x Matt Biondi Classic Champion and the 2020 Cal Tech Pentathlon Champion. Coach Mario is a 2019 U.S. Masters All Star and 2019 CCCAA State Champion. He also competed in the 2016 American Ninja Warrior Competition! Mario has twenty four years of experience coaching athletes at all levels, including professional and Olympic athletes. Mario studied kinesiology at California State University, Northridge with an emphasis on physical education. Mario has been a member of the following swim teams throughout his impressive swimming career: CSUN, Pierce College, Canyons Aquatics, Trojan Swim Club, Swim Up Hill and, currently, Golden Road Aquatics. Mario and his family reside in Palmdale, CA. He lives by the quotes “Figure It Out” (Larry Marshall) and “What’s next?” (Maria Marshall).
 
 
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Sheridan (Burge-Lopez) Sanders

Coach Sheridan (Burge-Lopez) Sanders is a former Australian Olympic swimmer competing in the 200m and 400m freestyle at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. She also represented her country at the 1987 Pan Pacific Games and the 1990 Commonwealth Games where she placed 3rd in the 800m Freestyle. After retiring from competitive swimming, Coach Sheridan took up Triathlons for fun and fitness, competing in several half Ironman Triathlons and a full Ironman triathlon. After her athletic career, Coach Sheridan worked for Speedo Australia in sales and marketing for six years. She also managed Sea Eagles Swim School in Australia, for several years. Coach Sheridan has taught young swimmers, ages 2-16, as well as adults, how to swim and be water safe for more than twenty years. Coach Sheridan will be working with a few training groups including Speedwagon and Sharknado.

 

 
Alex Valente
 
Coach Alex Valente has an extensive background in the sport of swimming. He is a 2019 graduate of the University of Southern California where he competed on the men’s swim team all four years. Alex was a 4x NCAA All-American and Pac-12 finalist with USC. In high school in Santa Barbara, Alex was a 2x CIF-SS 100 Fly champion and is the current CIF-SS 100 Fly record holder (46.00). He is a 2014 Junior National champion, 3x Junior Pan-Pacific champion, and was a member of the 2014-17 USA National Team. Alex has qualified for multiple U.S. Olympic Trials. Throughout his swimming career, Alex has trained with and competed against world renowned elite swimmers like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Katie Ledecky. While Alex’s specialty is butterfly, he is an accomplished swimmer in all competitive strokes and their fine details of technique. His years of swimming have taught him approaches to successful management of high-level training and intense competition. Alex resides in Redondo and works in computer science doing control systems for aircraft and satellites. When he is not on deck or behind a desk, Alex enjoys the outdoors via rock-climbing, surfing and skiing.
 
   
 
Mason Morris
 
Coach Mason is a junior who swam for the University of Southern California’s NCAA team studying International Relations. He is from north county San Diego, where he swam for Rancho San Dieguito, attended The Bishop’s School, and was team captain his sophomore, junior, and senior years. During this time, he was a scholastic all-American all four years and broke multiple team, high school, and LSC records in butterfly. He and five other teammates also hold the junior world record in the uneven relay category for Catalina channel swim. Moreover, Mason was a junior national finaler at both the winter and summer championships. At the college level, he was a CSCAA-scholar All-American, Second Team, and named to the Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Role, while also a consistent finalist in the 200 butterfly at PAC-12’s. He also currently sits on the executive board of USC’s athletic senate. Furthermore, Mason has been coaching swimmers for the past seven years and is very passionate about helping swimmers achieve their next qualifying time through high-level technique. Coach Mason enjoys surfing before class, rock climbing, 20th-century history, language learning, and raising rare plants. If you have any gardening questions or need help studying for your AP history tests, Coach Mason would be delighted to help!  
 
 
   
 
John O'Grady
John coaches the Condors and Speedwagon training groups for the Spartans of La Canada. He is also the Head Coach for the La Canada High School girls’ swim team. John has an eye for stroke technique and is known for helping countless swimmers make small improvements to their strokes that often bring big results at race time. In addition to helping swimmers get faster, John ensures his swimmers are practicing proper stroke technique in order to lower the potential for athletic injuries. John is also the inventor of the popular Aqua Knuckles training device. Aqua Knuckles help swimmers develop open finger muscle memory in order to pull more water and swim faster. Aqua Knuckles are used by swimmers at all levels, worldwide. From his early days as an “8 & under” age-group swimmer, through high school and college swimming…to his recent masters team swimming, John has a love for the sport of swimming that has carried him through decades. When he is not in the water or on a pool deck, John runs a boutique media services company focused on creative projects of all kinds for both large and small entities. He enjoys cooking, surfing, travel, photography and spending time with his wife and children.