Coaches
Misa Sugiura (MVM Head Coach) joined a swim team in fifth grade, continued all the way through college, and then joined a masters team. Her favorite stroke is backstroke and her favorite distances are short. A Chicagoland native, Misa is now a California weather wimp and must bundle up to coach in the winter. In her non-swimming life, she is a mom and an author, and she loves reading, cooking, and playing water polo. Misa has been swimming and coaching with MVM since 2002. Email Misa.
Liz Kooy swam throughout childhood in Nebraska. With great regret, she quit before college but came back to Masters swimming at the age of 30. Liz has been coaching Masters for almost two decades for the Chicago Smelts, the Dallas Aquatic Masters, and now for Mountain View Masters. She jokes that this is her chance to yell at adults. Liz is a big fan of long distance and Open Water racing although she prefers training for shorter events. She has won a few Masters National Championships including the USMS inaugural 25K Relay in Noblesville, Indiana. Some of her favorite Open Water swims are Big Shoulders in Chicago, Point to Point in Lake Okoboji, Iowa, and the Swim Around Charleston in South Carolina. Liz is also a big fan of the Pacific Masters Open Water Series. Her motto is “you are only one swim away from a good mood.” She is available for private lessons. Email Liz.
Tina Whiteside swam in college at the Univeristy of North Dakota while earning her BS in Mechanical Engineering. Being involved with Masters swimming for a number of years, and wanting to take a break from working as an engineer, she became interested in coaching and earned her ASCA Level 2 and USMS Level 3 coaching certifications. Tina reguarly competes in local and national meets, favoring the IM and backstroke events. Away from the pool she teaches yoga, works on her craft projects, and spends time with her husband. She is available mornings for one-on-one lessons on request. Send email to Tina.
Kevin Hayes had swim lessons at the local YWCA in Indiana where he grew up. He failed them twice, mostly because he loved going underwater at important times, like when the instructor was explaining something. Kevin recovered well from the trauma and later went on to swim on his high school team, specializing in the 500.
Having started swimming open water events in 2012, Kevin’s done several dozen crossings from Alcatraz to San Francisco and a few round trips from SF to Alcatraz and back. Other local events include the Alcatraz to Angel Island crossing, the Golden Gate bridge swim, the Golden Gate bridge to Bay Bridge swim, circumnavigation around Angel Island and the Donner Lake swim. Relay swims include the Catalina Channel swim, and the Trans Tahoe Relay. Besides these he’s done international open water swims such as a Messina Strait crossing and the Capri-Napoli relay. His longest swim so far is the 10.6 mile Vikingsholm marathon swim in Lake Tahoe.
Kevin became a certified US Masters coach and a certified open water coach in 2022. He joined the coaching staff of MVM in 2023.
Florent Haïk‘s origins are still unclear. He swam in middle school and high school but stayed dry in college. Florent (aka Flo) has been an MVM member for the past 20+ years and started coaching in 2021.
Al Moser has been swimming since he was 8 years old. He competed through high school in south Florida and college in Rhode Island. He joined masters swimming in graduate school in the Los Angeles area, and started coaching on a part-time basis. He’s swum with MVM since 1996.