JASON YORK, HEAD COACH
October 2020 - Present, Email: [email protected]
Before joining San Clemente Aquatics in 2020, York served as Head Coach at the Buenaventura Swim Club in Ventura, California, where he grew the club’s footprint enormously. During his 13-year tenure at Buenaventura, the team earned Silver Medal club status and sent several swimmers to Olympic Trials including Solie Laughlin and Junior Nationals 100 fly champion Alex Valente in 2016.
Before Buenaventura, York coached at the renowned Santa Clara Swim Club for 7 years. In his own competitive career, York competed in the 1650 freestyle at the 1992 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he competed in distance freestyle events.
TODD HICKMAN, HEAD AGE GROUP COACH
August 2025 - Present, Email: [email protected]
Coach Todd has dedicated his life to swimming, both as a competitor and as a coach. With over 22 years of competitive swimming experience, he achieved numerous accomplishments, including qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984, 1988, and 1992, where he finished in the top 16 in the 200 and 400 IM. He was a nine-time USA Swimming Nationals qualifier, earning a career-best 4th-place finish in the 400 IM, and competed collegiately for the University of Arizona from 1984 to 1988, where he became an NCAA All-American in 1987. Todd was also a member of the USA Junior National Team from 1984 to 1985, ranked in the top 15 in the United States and top 25 in the world, and set a National Age Group Record in the 500 freestyle.
As a coach, Todd has worked with athletes at every level, from learn-to-swim beginners to elite national competitors. He has helped guide swimmers to Olympic Trials, Division I collegiate programs, and national-level success. His coaching accomplishments include developing National Team swimmers, coaching National Select Camp athletes, being named to the 2016 USA National Team Coaches List, and coaching qualifiers for both the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Under his leadership, athletes have broken multiple Southern California Swimming relay and individual records, national relay records, and a National Age Group individual record in 2014. Additionally, Todd has led multiple Junior Olympic teams to first-place finishes. Passionate and dedicated, Coach Todd continues to inspire his athletes to dream big, work hard, and achieve the impossible.
DORIAN JOHNSON, COACH
June 2019-Present, Email: [email protected]
Dorian joined the club in 2009 and swam for a total of 10 years until he graduated from SCHS in 2019. In that time, he broke numerous records and still holds the record for both the 1500 meter and 1560 yard freestyle. Dorian has been coaching since June of 2019. He is excited to give back to the sport that means so much to him. Dorian believes that everyone is capable of achieving great things, while having a ton of fun doing it.
SANDY KOS, COACH
May 2017-Present, Email: [email protected]
Sandy has been around aquatics her whole life as either an athlete or a parent of SCA athlete's. A NCAA All-American swimmer in the 200 butterfly, and 500 Free. NSSA Collegiate Champion. Sandy earned a B.S. in Microbiology and Economics at UCSD and a MBA degree from UC Irvine, Sandy is a former SCA board president and currently the boys varsity swim coach at San Clemente High School. She is a certified Level 2 paralympic coach through US Paralympic Swimming. Sandy coaches the Silver, Senior and FitPrep groups for SCA.
EVE DIMAGNO, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS / TEAM ADMINISTRATOR
January 2022-present, Email: [email protected]
Eve is originally from Lincoln, Nebraska. After completing 4 years on the Swarthmore College Division III swim team, she graduated with a BA in History and moved to Kathmandu, Nepal to direct her study abroad startup program, teach high school, and coach youth swimmers. In both in the United States and abroad, she coached youth teams at all levels, from non-competitive recreational swimmers to internationally competitive age group athletes, some of whom represented Nepal at the 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 Olympics. She returned to the US in 2019, and has coached youth teams in multiple states, eventually landing in California in 2021.
Eve strongly believes that it is important to help athletes develop an appreciation for hard work, responsibility, and character in addition to working on their physical and technical skills. She is particularly invested in helping younger athletes cultivate a positive relationship with fitness and competition alongside their love of swimming.
During his competitive career, Aidan was a sprint freestyler, breaststroker and IMer. He spent most of his club swimming years in Northern Virginia at Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP), but swam for San Clemente Aquatics and San Clemente High School from 2013-2015. He competed as a four year letter winner at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering. Aidan currently works full time as an engineer in the defense and space industry.
Aidan began coaching in middle school for his local neighborhood summer league team, taught private lessons throughout high school, and helped coach several clinics and camps hosted by the Georgia Tech Swim and Dive team. After graduating college, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama to begin his engineering career, as well as his first USA Swimming coaching job at Madison Swimming Association (MSA). His engineering career brought him back to Southern California, where he is now more excited than ever to continue teaching the sport to the next generation of swimmers at his old club.
ALEX NESS, COACH
June 2024-Present, Email: [email protected]
Alex began his swimming career in 2008 with San Clemente Aquatics. He joined the Santa Margarita High School varsity swim team from 2015 to 2019, contributing to their second-place finish at CIF in 2019. In 2023 he graduated from Biola University with a degree in Human Biology. During his time at Biola he was part of the school’s first Division II conference championship team.
In 2020, during his sophomore year, he began coaching at San Clemente Aquatics, aiming to provide swimmers the same club experience he received. Alex currently works as an EMT for Falck, responding to 911 calls. He is seeking to acquire additional experience, knowledge, and skills as he pursues his goal of becoming a firefighter.
WENDY THEDERS, COACH
August 2025-Present, Email: [email protected]
Coach Wendy has lived in Southern California her entire life. She began swimming competitively at the age of 5, and continued all the way through high school, eventually competing for two years on her college team and being recognized as an All-American. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1991 with a BA in Kiniesiology, then completed a teaching credential and taught elementary school for many years.
She has been coaching for over 25 years. Her own kids swam (among other sports) through high school and college, so she knows what it is like to be both a swim mom and a swim coach. As a coach, she designs her practices around technique and FUN! The more creative and positive her workout can be, the more the swimmers want to and do improve. When she’s not coaching, you can find Coach Wendy ocean swimming down at Laguna Beach. She is an accomplished ocean water athlete, with her last big swim being the 22-mile Catalina Channel swim in 2018.
Employment Opportunities - If you are interested in joining the team as a coach please contact Jason York at [email protected]
