“WE INSPIRE AND GUIDE SWIMMERS OF ALL KINDS IN THE OPEN WATER.”
In 1990, Coach Pedro Ordenes brought his passion and expertise to the Bay Area by founding Water World Swim. His mission was simple: to help swimmers make the transition from pool to open water, and to inspire a love and enthusiasm for the sport.
Water World Swim isn’t just an event organizer – we are an international community of passionate swimmers from the open water beginner to the Olympic hopeful. We aim to provide a safe, guided, and fun environment for people to uncover a lifelong and life-affirming love for swimming and to be a trusted resource for all. From weekly group practice in the bay to long distance international challenges, Water World Swim is the go-to hub for all that is open water swimming. We guarantee that not only will you become a strong and confident open water swimmer, but that you’ll have a warm and happy welcome to our global family!
Pedro Ordenes (Coach Pedro)
Founder and Coach – coachpedro@waterworldswim.com
Coach Pedro is certified as a coach by the American Swim Coaches Association and the World Swim Coaches Association. He has coached for over 20 years in open water. Coach Pedro also has over 4 Ironman world triathlon finishes and more than a dozen Half Ironman Triathlons. He has also organized and directed long distance swims in the San Francisco bay and abroad for over 20 years. His crossings include the Strait of Magellan (in temperatures below 37 degreed Fahrenheit), the Beagle Channel (swimming round trip to Argentina and back to Chile), the English Channel swims (two-time participant), several long-distance events in Italy and has swam from and to Alcatraz 1000 times
Kathy Winkler, ASCA
Kathy Winkler is a teacher and mother to two daughters, but when she’s not kicking butt with the kids – she’s kicking butt in triathlons! Kathy is a six-time podium placer in the Kona, HI IRONMAN World Championship, set three new course records in three days at the ULTRAMAN World Championships where she placed 1st in her age group and 2nd overall, and also has the following to her name:
- 3 podium finishes at IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship
- 10 time 1st in age group, and five times in a row at Wildflower Olympics
- 10 time 1st in age group and overall once in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
Mike Lockwood, ASCA
Coach & Swim Director
coachmike@waterworldswim.com
Coach Mike competed with masters programs since 1995, He competed with the Tri Valley Masters , Pleasanton, California. In 2007, he was introduced to open water swimming and completed his first Alcatraz, under the eye of Coach Pedro and has been swimming and coaching in the San Francisco bay ever since, and presently coaching long distance and marathon swimmers.
Coach Mike is an ASCA certified coach. He coached and headed the Varsity coach since 1997 for 9 seasons at James Logan High School in Union City, California.
Jake, ASCA
Coach Jake began swimming with Pedro and Water World Swim in 2001; and never looked back! He is an accomplished age grouper triathlete in over 50 various lengths and has 5 IRONMAN under his belt. In 2010, he began coaching and became the lead kayaker for WWS in 2011, since which time he has supervised over 50 various swims.
Coach Jake has also lead swim expeditions to Cuba and the Galapagos Islands where he participated in the local triathlon and also has swam in Chile’s Pacific Ocean and lake Villarrica.
Ann Schnuer, ASCA
Coach Ann began coaching with Water World Swim in January of 2011. She completed her first Alcatraz Crossing in December of 2010 and was immediately addicted to swimming in the bay. Because of Pedro’s influences she swims without a wetsuit, even during the chilly winter months. When she isn’t guiding swimmers in the water, she helps out with our large events, as she bring years of event planning.
Patrick Bickford, ASCA
Coach Patrick started swimming with Water World Swim in 2017, after years of watching his wife have all the fun. Since then, he has embraced it completely, finishing an Alcatraz crossing and the Bridge to Bridge 10k Swim. Patrick has run over a dozen marathons and an ultramarathon, and countless road and trail races over the years. If you don’t see him in the Bay, he’s probably running a trail somewhere in Sonoma County.
Alessandro Gottardis, ASCA
International Coach
coachale@waterworldswim.com
Coach Ale has coached children and adult teams at the Italian Swim Federation He has completed twice the swim across Lake Lugano in Switzerland, and also a number of times the Messina Channel, Sicily swim that now directs for WWS. He joined our Water World Swim International coaching team since 2012 after completing successfully his first swim from Alcatraz in San Francisco, California.
Gennie Gebhart, ASCA
Coach Gennie joined the Water World Swim coaching team in 2022. In addition to high school and masters swimming, she brings years of lifeguarding, kayaking, and piloting experience. More than any marathon swimming feat, Gennie’s proudest open water achievement has been convincing both of her parents to swim Alcatraz. Her favorite things to do as a coach are introducing people to Bay swimming for the first time and leading night swims.
Jeff Ireson
Assistant Director
jeff@waterworldswim.com
Jeff officially joined the Water World Swim team in September of 2019 after being a spectator on the sidelines for 3 years while his daughter Rosey swam. Jeff has always had a love for the water having grown up in Michigan around the Great Lakes. Whether boating, swimming or just sitting on the beach watching the wave’s crash being close to the water is where it is at for Jeff.
Bob Guinan
Event Support
bob@waterworldswim.com
Bob grew up in San Francisco, he is a retired San Francisco Police Officer after 35 years of service. He has extensive experience as a supervisor, coordinating and planning several major sporting events in the city has coordinated and planned a variety of SFPD charity events.. Bob takes great pride in sharing the beauty and enjoyment of SF Bay and all it has to offer.
Patrick Rogers
Lead Water Support Manager
patrick@waterworldswim.com
Patrick is an experienced rescue team member who has been leading the water support group either kayaking or paddle boarding.
He has directed the safety team in all Water World Swim major events, as the Escape from Alcatraz as all our major swims in the San Francisco Bay.
Patrick Foley
Water Support Manager
patrick3@waterworldswim.com
Patrick started swimming open water with Water World Swim in 2019 and loved it so much he completed 3 Alcatraz swims that year. Since then he’s enjoyed swimming and paddling all over the Bay and all over California.
Patrick comes with a wealth of outdoor experience in paddling, Tall Ship sailing, long distance cycling, mountaineering, firefighting plus wilderness and emergency medicine. He has been helping hundreds of swimmers of all ages and abilities to reach their own goals. He believes “everyone should try something impossible once in awhile.”
Juan Carlos Valencia
Website Manager
juancarlos@waterworldswim.com
Juan Carlos is a chilean designer from Viña del Mar, Chile. He first met coach Pedro during his days in Chile in 2015 and started helping on the promotion of international swim events in Cuba, Italy, San Francisco and Chile.
Juan Carlos loves to play music and practice soccer, and hopes someday to get in the water!