Coach Westley Mejías is widely recognized as one of the premier swimming coaches to emerge from Puerto Rico. With extensive experience in age group coaching, his career began with Nadadores Ponce Leones, Pioneros de Ponce, and the Equipo de Natación del Albergue Olímpico. His success at the grassroots level opened the door for him to coach at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, where his team clinched the championship just five years after the program's inception. His outstanding achievements earned him the prestigious Coach of the Year title twice during his tenure at the university.  

In 2014, Coach Mejías was named the Puerto Rico Head Coach for the World Short Course Championships held in Doha, Qatar, further solidifying his reputation as a leader in swimming on an international stage.  

Coach Mejías then transitioned to the United States, where he continued to make an impact. At La Camas Headhunters, he qualified the team's first-ever Winter Junior Nationals swimmer. Following this achievement, he became the Head Coach of Portland Aquatic Club (PAC), where he elevated the program to new heights by producing swimmers ranked in the top 10 in USA Swimming, breaking multiple team and LSC records, and achieving national recognition.  

Later, Coach Mejías returned to Camas, Washington, to lead the Golds Aquatic Club. Under his guidance, many swimmers qualified for Age Group Regionals and achieved high rankings in USA Swimming. Notably, both PAC and Golds were recognized as ASCA Top 100 Age Group Teams during his tenure.  

Currently, Coach Mejías serves as the Head Coach of Velocity Swimming in Wenatchee, Washington. His swimmers have broken numerous team records, qualified for Summer Nationals, and are striving to position Velocity Swimming as one of the top teams in their LSC.  

Beyond his coaching achievements, Coach Mejías is a respected mentor and ambassador for the sport of swimming. He holds a Level 4 certification with the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA), a distinction that reflects his expertise and dedication to advancing the sport.  

On a personal level, Coach Mejías is married to Juana Santana, a former standout swimmer who set numerous age group records in her home country of the Dominican Republic and competed internationally. Together, they share a passion for swimming and have four children: Sarah, Dianne, and Manuel, who are all part of the Velocity Swimming team, and Samuel, who also loves the water.  

With a proven track record of excellence on both local and international stages, Coach Westley Mejías continues to inspire, mentor, and develop swimmers at every level of competition.  

 

My mother was a competitive swimmer, and there was never any doubt that her children would be swimmers as well. I grew up spending all my free time during summers swimming. Being in water has always truly been my “happy place.”

I first became involved in Velocity when my oldest began swimming 13 years ago. My family quickly found a “home” on the team. At one time all three of my children have swam for the team.  My husband and I also quickly learned that not only can swimming be a great way for kids to get involved, it is great for the whole family to get involved. Both my husband and myself have had leadership opportunities on the team, including  both if us serving as Board Presidents. I never would have imagined 13 years ago the friends I would make because my son wanted to swim!

Coaching has always been a passion of mine, and I have spent many seasons coaching my kids’ various sports.  I am truly excited to have the opportunity to coach swimming, and I hope I can share my love of water with all youth that I work with. Off the pool deck I work as a Intervention teacher, enjoy spending time with with my husband and kids, and love enjoying the great outdoors in the Wenatchee Valley.

I started swimming with Anne Vargas and Bob Hill when I was 5. My dad entered us into the sport after reading an article on the best sports for lifelong fitness and health. Turns out swimming topped the list, and I can only now appreciate why. Swimming has giving me opportunities to learn, grow, compete, and lead at all ages.

I loved the sport then and I love the sport now. Many of my friends today I met when I was a little age group swimmer on the Barracudas and later Velocity. I started coaching for Velocity as a Junior Coach. After sticking with it, I’ve grown into more coaching roles with Velocity and the High School programs in Wenatchee. I love mentoring athletes, as someone who has competed at all levels and served as an athlete representative for Inland Empire Swimming.

After completing my first few marathons, I’ve grown an immense interest in open water swimming and triathlons. I enjoy working with our Masters group, as they come from many backgrounds and train for many reasons, from bettering USASwimming times, improving stroke form for lap swim, improving well-being, or completing triathlons.

I started swimming as soon as my mom could get me into lessons and I never stopped. I did a lot of free swimming until my family moved to Quincy in 2010, where I joined a summer swim team when I was 10 in 2012. I did about two years of summer swimming before joining Velocity in 2014. Coach C and Coach Carolyn Magee were muy first coaches on the team. I swam with the team as an athlete for five years before deciding to help out with coaching. Over those five years, I became a certified LIfeguard, Lifeguard Instructor and Water Safety Instructor. I have been participating as both an athlete and coach up until recently when I decided to focus more of my energy on coaching instead of swimming.

 

I am the lead coach for the 13-14 group and enjoy helping and instructing all of the kids in this group along with any other group I help out with. Apart from being a Velocity coach, I also coach Masters, teach private swimming lessons for adults and children and teach adaptive swimming lessons as a part of the Swim Angelfish program. I also enjoy arts and crafts, camping and reading.

Unlike all these other amazing coaches, I never swam for a club team. I kind of stumbled into swimming by accident.  My freshman year in high school, the basketball tryouts were being held at 5 am. Not an early riser, I decided to go out for the water polo team as their tryouts were being held at a much more reasonable hour.  Little did I know, I would soon be doing daily double workouts during the water polo season and then continuing those grueling workouts during the ensuing swimming season. I played water polo and swam throughout high school, going to state my senior year.

Following high school, I swam for three years at the University of Puget Sound. I graduated from UPS with a degree in Computer Science and worked for a small mortgage software company in Gig Harbor for several years. Our family relocated to Wenatchee in 2010 and my boys joined Velocity in October of 2011.  I feel honored to be able to help out our team and enjoy working with the kids and watching them grown and develop into amazing athletes and human beings. Outside of swimming, I work as a Control Systems Engineer for the Chelan County PUD. I enjoy boating, wake-surfing, paddle boarding, and wood working.

I started out as a swimmer in this valley when I was 6 on the Wrac summer swim team. As I got older, I swam for Velocity and Wenatchee High School. My senior year I signed to swim for Utah Tech in St.George, UT. I had so many amazing examples of great coaches as an athlete which sparked my interest and drive to become a coach myself.

I coached the Wrac summer swim league during my high school years and into my college years. I then became a science teacher and spent time coaching swimming, basketball and volleyball. My husband and I then moved to Billings, MT where I was an assistant coach with the YMCA team there for almost 3 years. My family and I then decided to come back to my hometown to be closer to my family and I am so grateful to be part of this valley and program that played a vital part in my swim career. I enjoy playing a part in creating a love for this sport that has given me so many opportunities.

I began coaching in 1981 as a club and high school coach in both Shelton and Tacoma, Washington. In 1990, I began my college coaching career, spending the next 32 years (and a June 2022 retirement) as the head swimming coach at the University of Puget Sound. I found myself back on deck coaching for the Velocity family in late December of 2022. This is a great team, with amazing coaches, parents, and swimmers! I am grateful to serve this community in whatever way I am needed, and it is with great joy that I do so.