Mike Maritzen - Stingrays Head Coach

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. 

Karen Miller - Stingrays Assistant Coach

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!

Lou Rigney  -  Stingrays Assistant Coach

I have spent 20 years of my life coaching swimming, having started my freshman year in college (University of Nevada), where I also worked as a ski instructor (at Mt. Rose). I was the Head Coach here at Rolling Hills for the last 10 years of  my coaching life, and it was back in 2016 that I walked away from coaching the Stingrays.

I am eager to get back out there and help bring the Stingrays back up to the top. Elizabeth (9), my oldest, is back for another season, and my youngest, Isabella (5), will be starting her first season with the team, joining the Junior Stingrays. My wife, Paula, will be out there cheering the team on. I look forward to being a part of the great Stingray tradition, and am excited to work with, not just the team of coaches that have been put together, but all of your children! Go Stingrays!!

Peyton Oga, Kaylei Weston and Johnathan Towns - Stingrays Juniors Coaches