Testimonials
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I have the privilege to know Paschalis Ntatsos for over 15 years and I consider him as the most charismatic and exceptional elite coach. His successful career, as a Head coach, for one of the biggest and most successful Sports Clubs in Europe, gives him the edge to strongly develop, mentally and physically, athletes, and coaches for unmatched results. His passion for perfection, innovative coaching style, and attention to detail makes him the best candidate to support all levels of swimmers, from a beginner to elite athletes. His competitive DNA, driven by his successful athletic career, motivates him to set high expectations for his swimmers, and with his humorous character, makes it fun to learn and thrive. I would highly recommend Paschalis to everyone who would like to make a big difference in his swimming and overall athletic life.
- Olympic Silver Medalist, Athens 2004, Water Polo
- World Gold Medalist, 2011 World Championship, Water Polo
Paschalis is an exceptional coach and mentor. His knowledge, passion, and dedication to swimming are unmatched. I have had the opportunity to work alongside him and witness firsthand his ability to inspire and guide athletes to reach their highest potential. His innovative methods and commitment to excellence set him apart. He not only builds stronger athletes but also shapes them into confident, resilient individuals. Paschalis’ influence extends far beyond the pool, and his leadership has left a lasting impact on everyone fortunate enough to train under him.
- Olympian, Silver Medalist, Sydney 2000, Water Polo
- Head Coach, UC Berkeley Women’s Water Polo
Swimming requires multiple repetitive movements which can result in overuse injuries. Proper technique is the key to prevention! I had the good fortune of meeting Coach Ntatsos several years ago. He has helped many patients of mine with their swimming technique resulting in less injuries.
Sincerely,
Team Physician:
- USA Synchronized Swimming, USA Figure Skating, USA Weightlifting, San Francisco Ballet School, Diablo Ballet, Peninsula Ballet, ODC Healthy Dancers Clinic, Mills College, Northgate High School
I am a mother who had two out of three kids swimming at many competitive swimming teams from the famous Santa Clara Competitive Swimming Team all the way to Pleasanton Seahawk Competitive Swimming team in California.
For many years, I did not truly see both our kids’ improvement in either speed or techniques. I hired private coaches hoping my kids would improve but they did not. Instead, my kids used to love swimming and then they felt not improved and wanting to quit at age of 15 and 12. I told them that I would find a good swimming coach for one last attempt.
One year ago, when we met Coach Paschalis, he commented my children that they would eventually injure themselves physically because they are putting too much strain on their joints and bodies and later on they may hate swimming. I immediately knew that this is the right coach. He is very different from many other USA Swimming Level 5 Coaches I have met. Note that I am not a swimmer but I have strong mother instinct.
Coach Paschalis sees each kids’ potentials and he customized his teaching skills to encourage both of my children. Not only he is professional, patient, talented in teaching, strong believer in bringing a professional swimming team, my kids’ techniques have improved SO MUCH within 2 months! He also trained professionally. He himself used to compete himself. My kids even told me that their shoulders are no longer hurting and their swimming speeds have improved so much. They LOVE swimming now.
On top of all these, Coach Paschalis himself swims every day in the morning at least 10KM because he truly believes that the only way to teach a good swimming is that the coach himself also has his own discipline and understand everyday swimmers’ struggles every day.
My kids love to go to swimming now! Every day they asked me to go for swimming. On top of it, their swimming techniques are much improved and their speed jump up so much comparing to theirs before.
Parents, if you seriously love and care about your child’s swimming, either leisure or professionally, this is the one coach you should NOT miss. Coach Paschalis truly wants to build the best out of your children’s greatest potential.
Coach Paschalis and his coach teams also teach very young children. My 8-year-old who absolutely screamed when he touched water is now 9 and swimming 50M with good form, good speed, and still loves every single minute of it.
What Coach Paschalis and his swimming coaches taught us that swimming is not only about success in speed but also it can also build success in our kids’ life. Attitude, patience, practice, and skills are the keys of success. Because…
“Swimming is not only about winning. It is a life-long success.”
A full-time working mother of 16, 13, and 9 Years old Swimmers
We have the most awesome and extremely worthwhile learning experience with Coach Paschalis.
Witney started private weekly swimming lessons with Coach Paschalis September of 2011.
The amount of knowledge, expertise and professionalism that Coach Paschalis has made a tremendous difference in Witney’s swimming progression. We appreciate the coach's philosophy of focusing excellent techniques from the very beginning and to learn them well as early as possible. Witney is instructed with the most detailed, efficient swimming techniques. She was consistently corrected patiently. She was motivated by the sense of trust with her Coach Paschalis. She enjoyed the sense of humor and fun with him. She was cared for as a whole person, she was learning to respect, to be serious with her practice, to take responsibility for her behavior, to watch out what she eats and to cheer for her teammates.
We learn to see Witney’s swimming career as a life-long prospective and not a temporary gain. We are so happy with the swim lessons we received knowing that Witney’s interest and motivation to swim well will be well-nurtured.
Testimony update December 2014:
It has been over three years since Witney has weekly swimming lessons with Coach Paschalis. The past year marked the most precious swimming year for Witney. From an A time 10-year-old swimmer to becoming the Champion of JO and Far Western Championships. It was an unbelievable experience watching how her coach calmed her down from a frightened, crying girl to making the top-3 champions with a 2-seconds drop at her 100y fly JO final. Witney is currently ranked number 2 in the State of California at her age group in 50 fly and top 14 Nationally.
Mom of Witney Lam
"I’m writing to let you know how grateful and happy we are with Coach DJ, you and ElitSwim.
Over the past few weeks Meena and Maya have showed tremendous improvements and it is directly related to your program and Coach DJ. Their times have decreased and their techniques have become more fluid and precise.
When I asked the girls what they liked most about Coach DJ both of them stated that “she is a great teacher and she explains things in a way that is easy to understand”. Maya and Meena have taken their new developed skills and implemented them at their own swim team practices.
Danielle's guidance and knowledge is used in such a way that is focused and fun. Maya and Meena truly enjoy swimming and learning from her.
As their mother I know when the girls like someone because they are quick to let me know otherwise!
We look forward to our continued relationship with Coach DJ, you and ElitSwim!"
Elitswim Parent
I'm going to get right to the point: Being a proud parent of a child who swims competitive all year round - We wanted to make sure our son received the Best of the Best stroke training there was. After researching and talking with some of the other parents of elite swimmers in the San Ramon, Dublin, and Pleasanton area, they all pointed in only one direction = Coach Paschalis! We now have been taking our son to Coach Paschalis for the last 3 years and still going strong.
We can't praise Coach Paschalis enough for what he's done for our child's swimming. He's taken a then 10-year-old child who could move his tiny little arms like little windmills, only to not move and run out of gas halfway through the pool, into now a 13-year-old who's gone from a C/B swimmer to a JO, Far Western, and even PRT swimmer. Coach Paschalis showed our son different techniques, to have more fluid movement and has helped him become a more efficient swimmer. He provided challenging workouts to help improve his stroke and overall performance.
If you’re looking for a coach who unequivocally loves what he does and can see how much fun and passion he has teaching the art of swimming to kids, then go see him. Immediately! And we don't just say this because our son is taking lessons, but because we're seeing the AMAZING RESULTS!!!
Proud Parents of Alex Suehiro
Coach Paschalis is an expert in stroke technique and knows more about swimming, and the way it affects the body, than most coaches I have met in the eight years my children have been swimming! His approach is sane and healthy - always conscientious of the growing, changing bodies and minds of adolescents. He teaches the "whole swimmer" and uses many different tools to help the swimmer be all that he/she can be at any one point in time. He has taught my boys about race strategy, pre-race warm ups, dry-land exercise, the importance of stretching and patience. They have worked on stroke technique, dives, turns and finishes, and talked about the mental aspect of racing. Although my children often take lessons together, Coach Paschalis treats each of them individually, tailoring each drill to meet the needs and learning style of each child. His instruction has been invaluable and the success my boys are having in the pool is a direct result of Coach Paschalis' guidance and teaching.
Parent of (ELITSWIM) swimmers
Coach Paschalis's passion for, and knowledge of, competitive swimming is virtually unmatched. With 4 year-round competitive swimmers in our family, we have known Coach Paschalis for 8 years and we feel confident in saying he is one of the finest swim specialists we have ever met. His personal experience as an elite international swimmer is an invaluable asset. His hands-on personalized instruction has made our kids race ready and successful. Coach Paschalis has a unique ability to spot flaws in a stroke on the individual level and correct them in an instant. His approach allows any athlete to focus on what it takes to get faster. His knowledge and expertise shows through his coaching. People comment on his enthusiasm for swimming, and it is for sure infectious…
Dublin, CA
New to the area and with a goal to support our son's passion, we enrolled our son in Coach Paschalis's group. In the initial months, we found it difficult to cope with the rules laid by Coach Paschalis. For instance, 2 minute tardy was inexcusable. Coach Paschalis expected a strong commitment from both the swimmer and parents. Very strict about missing practice.
Few months went by and we noticed an immense change in our son. Day after day nagging our son to be ready on time was actually happening in all areas before time! As our son started to swim more hours, we noticed that he didn't let his school/social life suffer, only to be able to swim.
Coach Paschalis has been nothing but A Mark of Inspiration to us! He's a leader, and definitely the kind of leader you would want for your child. He's disciplined, takes the sport very seriously or should I say, takes it to heart. Firm yet kind. From shouting out commands to his swimmers to recommending warm boots and tips to taking care of muscle spasm to parents.
My son graduated from Coach Paschalis's group. With a change in environment, we noticed our son was losing his passion to swim. One of our finest decisions was to put our son in private lessons with Coach Paschalis. Our son is back swimming like a fish and we see his goal chart filling in again!
Proud parents of Chidu
