While meets are largely on hold worldwide right now due to the effects of COVID-19, and many teams are just getting back to practices, we still want to highlight and celebrate swim teams from around the country. This week’s BSN Sports Swim Team of the Week hails from the talent-rich Southern California area. Team Santa Monica is a year-round USA team whose mission is to “instill character and foster the skills and qualities necessary to achieve success at the highest level in the pool and in life.”
Team Santa Monica has been around since 1955, and in the last decade alone, the team has produced multiple National Team members from several countries, seen open water swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky make two US Olympic Teams, and has put several coaches onto the Team USA staff.
We spoke to head coach Mohammad Khadembashi to get a sense of what makes Team Santa Monica special, as well as some of his thoughts on coaching in general. Khadembashi says his coaching philosophy is simply, “Developing athletes for Long Term Success.”
Khadembashi attributes the team’s success to a unique team chemistry provided by having…
A team of strong, knowledgable, and passionate coaches who want to help every athlete be the best they can be. And a functioning supportive Parent Board. (during Covid we were able to jump from a Level 2 Club to a Level 4 club).
Most teams have a certain training set that the coaches and swimmers might deem iconic, and Team Santa Monica is no exception.
We have a few but these 3 seemed to be labeled as “most iconic” 10×500 Fr Dec 1-5, 2x(30×50 p200), 30×100 Fr LCM Fast.
Khadembashi’s biggest struggle is one that many teams and coaches can relate to.
Our biggest struggle is pool space. We have to be creative and selective with who can join the club so we offer a quality program to our members.
In his second decade with Team Santa Monica, Khadembashi has plenty of great memories to choose from, but we asked him to try to narrow it down to one.
When you are invested in what you do it’s very difficult to pick one memory because each of them is unique in their own way, however, if I had to pick one it would be being appointed Head Coach of Team USA for the 2019 Open Water World Cup.
Team Santa Monica is one of 3,000 swim clubs in the United States. How can we grow that number and promote the sport?
ABOUT BSN SPORTS
Founded in 1972 as a factory-direct equipment company, today BSN SPORTS is the largest distributor of team sports apparel and equipment in the United States, with over 3,000 employees across 80 regional offices. At BSN SPORTS we believe that sports have the power to change lives. At the heart of what makes sports happen are the coaches, teachers and mentors who work with young and old alike to build meaningful lifelong experiences. That’s why our mission is simple. The more time we save coaches with everything they do off the deck, the more time they can spend changing lives. And that’s the real final score.
Get your swimmers in custom team gear with your team’s logo. My Team shop provides a one-stop-shop solution to custom apparel, suits, footwear, equipment and accessories. It’s simple to setup and the My Team Shop platform can even serve as a fundraising solution to earn dollars for your program. To set one up today email us at [email protected]or call 1-877-217-9027.
To learn more about BSN sports visit us at www.bsnsports.com/ib/swimming.
BSN SPORTS SWIMMING ON Instagram – @bsn_swimming
What happened to Dave K?
He’s their National Team Coach. Still there.
Excited to highlight this historic team!! That 500 set though! This sprinter says I’m out lol