Coaching Staff: Qualifications And Training

The Evolution Racing Club coaching staff consists of a Team Director, Site Director and coaches.

All our coaches are USA swimming accredited and have passed the following United States Swimming requirements for coaching credentials:

• Background check
• CPR/First Aid
• Athlete Protection Training
• Safety Training for Coaches

In addition, we believe in continuing education for our coaches and take every opportunity, such as the United States Regional Coaches Clinic, to learn from and be trained by some of the best and most experienced coaches in the country. We hire coaches with a passion for the sport, matched by an enthusiasm for teaching age-group swimmers. 

Evolution Racing Club Coaching Staff

Felipe Delgado is a two-time Olympian (1996 & 2000). Felipe started his career by swimming for the South Gate Gators before moving to Orange County.  Felipe competed at Mission Viejo High School where he set numerous high school records. He went on to compete at Arizona State University where he graduated with a Marketing Degree. Felipe graduated as a member of the dean's list and was recognized as a scholar-athlete. While at Arizona State, he was a fifteen time All-American, and qualified for finals multiple times at the NCAA Divison I Championships.  He was the bronze medalist at the 1996 NCAA Championships (50-yard freestyle) and went on to help set multiple team records in the relay events, while posting Top 10 all-time swims in individual events. Felipe was a Pac-10 Champion and US Open bronze medalist (50-meter freestyle). Felipe finished his career swimming for Mike Bottom and The World Sprint Team.  [email protected]

Cynthia “Cindy” Kullberg - Member Services Representative.  I am currently “YOUR” answer to most Evolution Racing Club questions. Trust me, there are many questions. I am officially your Member Services Representative for Evolution Racing Club. A quick bit about Me. I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where I loved and played most sports. After studying Psychology at the University of North Florida I relocated to Southern California. I landed in Coronado, Ca. Where I loved and lived for 30 years. My greatest accomplishments in my life are named Brittany and Luke and they continue to make me a proud momma every single day! My other two loves are my fur babies, Gigi and Stella! They pretty much own me. Many of you know that my true love is baseball. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to create and run several baseball leagues in Coronado that continue to thrive. I also ran the Coronado High School program for over 10 years. That success and love of the game led me to my dream job at the San Diego Padres. Go Padres! Now back to EVO! I relocated to Mission Viejo for my husband's job. My only requirement was to live near a body of water and own our own pool. A huge change from Coronado but we love it. I soon decided to look for a small job that would allow me to make new friends in our new town. What I found was a HUGE job with EVO and now I have over 300 new connections. I have grown leaps and bounds learning about the swim world and swim terminology and I owe it to many of you, so thank you! I thrive on learning so keep the questions coming! GO EVO [email protected]

Jeff Natalizio did his college swimming at UC Berkeley, and credits much of his coaching style to having trained with some of the sport’s greatest coaches- Nort Thornton, Mike Bottom, Dave Salo, and Dave Durden. Jeff is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and, as a strength coach, was instrumental in Anthony Ervin’s achieving a record-setting gold medal in the 50 freestyle at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Before joining Gators, Jeff spent a year coaching in Serbia, working with some of that country’s top swimmers. Jeff has been coaching with Gators since April, 2015, and many of his swimmers have gone on to swim in college at various levels. Jeff brings a level of technical and physiological understanding to his workouts, and his passion for the sport of swimming is palpable and infectious. In his own swimming, Jeff is a multiple US Masters national record holder. You can learn a little more about Coach Jeff at [email protected]

Sungmo Cho (Coach Cho)  participated in the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004 as a swimmer. His father, who was also an Olympic swimmer, wanted Coach Cho to follow in his footsteps, so he encouraged him to swim at the age of 4. Coach Cho’s main events were the 800m & 1500m freestyle. Coach Cho held the Asian and Korean records in these events, and in 2002, ranked as high as 9th in the world rankings with a time of 8:01 in the 800m. Coach Cho also swam the 200 Fly & 400IM. From 1999 to 2004, Coach Cho was coached by Jack Simon, a long-distance swim coach in the United States, and during this time, Coach Cho won the US Open, USA Swimming Grand Prix, and the Janet Evans Invitational (now LAI) competitions. Coach Cho graduated from Korea University in Korea and majored in Physical Education at the Korea National Sport University graduate school. Since 2011, Coach Cho has been working as a coach, and his goal is to one day become an Olympic team coach.  C[email protected]

Wendy Theders  - I’m Wendy Theders and I’ve been coaching swimming for over 25 years. I have a teaching credential in elementary education and a B.A. in Kinesiology.  I competed in all levels of swim as an age grouper through high school and college. I also have 2 kids who competed at all levels as well. As a parent of swimmers I feel I can address any questions or concerns you may have about your kids. From purchasing the best swim goggles to signing up for the correct meet, I’ve experienced it all.I love the sport, the competition and the kids. I believe the rewards athletes gain from swimming are immense!. From self-confidence to sportsmanship, the kids gain a sense of pride in themselves and as a team. Swimming is also a great way for them to socialize and make lifelong friends. My goal in coaching has always been to create fun workouts that focus on technique and I’ve found that the more creative my drills are the more engaged the swimmers become. The more engaged the swimmers are, the more apt they are to come to practice, and the more they come to practice the quicker they will improve. It’s a win-win for everyone! When I’m not on the pool deck, you can find me at the beach. My old swim friends and I have migrated to ocean swimming and it is fantastic. I swim with seals and dolphins daily and have competed in many open water competitions. I’ve swum the Waikiki rough water swim, Alaska 6 mile, Cayman Islands, Santa Barbara 10K and in 2018 I swam the Catalina Channel, 22 miles in 13 hours. Once a competitor, always a competitor.  [email protected]

Leanna Cockerham - Leanna Cockerham  Coach Leanna has been coaching at our Nellie Gail Ranch location with Evolution Racing Club for 7 years. She works with our Navy 1, Orange 1, and Orange 2 groups. Her goal is to focus on improving technique, endurance, and equally as important, on having fun. By day she is a swim coach and by night you can find her working at one of our local hospitals as a nurse. When she is not coaching or working night shifts, you can find her reading a book or browsing through Target.   [email protected] 

Barrett Tester - Using swimming as a prime motivator and connector, Barrett has parlayed his love of water sports into an exciting aquatic career spanning several decades. Starting as a local age-group swim coach and becoming an experienced ocean lifeguard (California State Parks and Los Angeles County Fire Dept.), Barrett naturally moved into the corporate sports world. He became a seasoned surf marketing executive (Quiksilver Rainbow Sandals), Guinness World Record holding event producer/promoter(Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle, Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race Co-founder)and World Championship Contest Director and sports official(International Surfing Association, United States Canoe; Kayak, USA Water Polo). Returning to swimming in 2018, Barrett spent several years coaching age- group and high school swimmers at SET Aquatics; El Toro High School;(Lake Forest, CA) before joining; Evolution Racing in the Fall of 2022.Barrett’s prior coaching experience includes working with swimmers at all levels from beginner to national team members. Past positions include UC. Davis Men’s Swimming, Loyola High School, Southern California Aquatics (SCAQ), FAST (Fullerton Aquatics Swim Team), Team Santa Monica and Graduate Assistant at UCLA Men’s Swimming. As an accomplished swimmer, Barrett was a four-year Letterman at UCLA. (University of California, Los Angeles), Jr. Nationals qualifier and earned several National Age-Group rankings and Junior Olympic championships. As an avid ocean sports competitor, Barrett won five (5) individual and relay United States Lifesaving National Championships and became World Bodysurfing Champion. Barrett earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA. In addition to coaching Ladera Ranch’s Navy 2 and 3 groups, Barrett is a Resident Substitute Teacher for the Saddleback Valley School District. He is married to Julia and has two children, daughter Kaelin (junior at Chapman University) and son Cruz (entering Orange County Fire Authority Academy summer 2023). [email protected]

Shane Calder - Coach Shane is a graduate of Tesoro High School and is currently enrolled at Saddleback College for a degree in Computer Science. After 10 years of swimming experience, including competing for Tesoro High School and making it to the CIF championships, Coach Shane is ready to share his experience with young swimmers to both encourage and develop his swimmers in a positive and hard-working environment. Coach Shane is currently working with Orange 1 & Orange 2 swimmers.  [email protected]m   

Ian Tesdall - [email protected]