I started swimming as a freshman in high school in 1970 at age 16, and worked that summer at the Ann Curtis School of Swimming. Those first years I was a lifeguard and I taught children how to swim from age two to six, over a few years I moved up to being an assistant coach in 1974 and head coach in 1975 for the Ann Curtis summer league team and we took first place that year for the first time. In 1975 I was the head coach for the Lucas Valley team, at that time they were called the Lucas Valley Waterlogs, pretty sure they changed their team name after a few years, we took second place that year, losing to my old team by one point in a dual meet! After that I went on to other things, but came back to swimming when I was 48 years old and joined a masters team in Santa Rosa and then joined the Mighty Rolling Hills Mud Sharks seven years ago, I’ve been a masters swimmer for 20 years now. I love open water swimming, swam Alcatraz four times and the Golden Gate Bridge once, not sure I want to do that one again. I’ve kept up on all the new swimming techniques through swimming masters and look forward to applying them to my position as a head coach at Rolling Hills, so far it’s been a lot of fun and I look forward to coaching The Stingrays again this year.
My love of the water began when I started swimming competitively at the age of 9. I swam with West Coast Aquatics in San Jose until I was 16. I quit after two years of high school swimming as I was having more fun in the marching band. I marched throughout high school and college; SJSU. After college, I started swimming masters and even competed for a few years. At one time, I ranked in the top 10 for the 1500m freestyle. I moved to Dallas, Texas in 1995 where I got hooked into the triathlon world. While I was doing triathlons with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I was the head swim captain for five years. I was able to help many non-swimmers gain the ability and confidence to swim 1500m, very rewarding to say the least. Triathlons lead to my love of open water swimming. My two favorite places to swim are Maui and the SF Bay. I have swam the Maui channel relay four different times. Now that I am back in the bay area, I have discovered cold-water swimming and love swimming in the SF bay, with no wetsuit.
I started my coaching career while in Dallas. I coached with the Dallas Mustang for 14 years, working with novice to experienced kids between the ages of 5-16. I also shared my love of open water swimming with some of my swim kids by participating in the annual Dallas Swim Across America event to raise money for cancer research. I have been away from coaching about four years now. I thought I had retired as a swim coach, but realized I missed sharing the joy of swimming with the kids. I am excited to continue coaching with the Stingrays and giving back to the sport I love!
For nearly all my life I've had a love for water and a passion for water sports. I started my aquatics journey “unofficially” when, as a toddler I would, on more than one occasion, jump into the pool with no floaties and no knowledge of how to swim. My parents then quickly enrolled me in a swim clinic at Rolling Hills, and at age 5, I joined the Stingrays swim team. I was a Stingray swimmer from age 5 to 18. At age 10, I started year-round practices with the Rolling Hills Tritons and competed at USA swim meets. I qualified for the Junior Olympics in the 200 YRD freestyle event at age 12. I would continue to swim competitively while adding club water polo in the 6th grade. During my high school years, I mainly focused on 100 Butterfly, 200 IM, and 500 Freestyle events for the San Marin High swim team in addition to remaining on the club water polo team year round and returning to the Rolling Hills Stingrays each summer.
When I was 16, I started work as a lifeguard and swim instructor, and in the fall of 2019 I began my coaching journey with the Junior Stingrays. In 2020 and 2021 I coached water polo for Marin Aquatics, taking a 12 and under team to the 2021 Junior Olympics in Los Angeles. After graduating from Long Beach State in 2023, I came back to coach the junior stingrays, referee high school water polo and taught private swim lessons. This year I'm looking forward to helping everyone have fun and find their love of the water as I did!
Kaylei Weston - Junior Stingrays Head Coach
My passion for swimming began at the age of five when I joined Stingrays. I instantly fell in love with the water. I continued to swim for Stingrays for 12 years. I competed throughout all four years of high school at San Marin. My favorite event is the 100 yard backstroke. During my senior year, I joined San Marin’s water polo team, which deepened my love for aquatic sports. My favorite places to swim and paddle board are the Russian River and Lake Almanor.
When I turned 16, I began giving swim lessons at Rolling Hills. I’ve continued over the past 3 years to teach kids around the ages 2-10 basic swimming skills. I love watching swimmers gain confidence and skill in the water. Over the past two years, I’ve also had the opportunity to be an assistant coach for the Junior Stingrays. Being able to coach the junior Stingrays and watch them grow as swimmers brings me a lot of joy. My goal for this season is for everyone to have fun and make great memories! I’m thrilled to help coach the Stingrays again this year!
