Michael Jafari is in his fourth year at Whittier College and currently serves as the Director of Aquatics and Head Coach for Swimming & Diving. Over his tenure, he has coached multiple All Americans, SCIAC Champions, and an NCAA qualifier. To date, Coach Jafari has coached 10 NEW School records and counting!
Before joining the Whittier Staff, he was Head Coach and executive Director of MAX Aquatics. In 2009, Coach Michael competed for UC Berkeley’s Men’s Swim Team and Team USA’s Olympic Development Triathlon Team, giving him a wide variety of training backgrounds.
Coach Michael grew up in Glendora and trained at Industry Hills Aquatics Club, before being recruited to UC Berkeley’s Swim Team (#1 NCAA) as the second fastest distance recruit in the country. (From 2004-2008) At Cal, his senior year he captained the team that went 11-1 to finish second in the Pac-10 and helped recruit the team that later became back-to-back National Champions.
His swim experience consists of many USA Swimming Nationals, a NCAA Championship, and Olympic Trials; Coach Michael brings knowledge in the sport from the highest level. At the highest level of his success he was ranked 55th in the world for his 1500m Free in 2006.
After 2008 Olympic Trials he retired from the sport of swimming to become a part of Team USA’s Olympic Development team for triathlon. While training, he coached directly under Cal Head Coach Dave Durden as the Grad Assistant Coach during the 2008-2009 season. Competing for tri's brought him back down to Southern California to start coaching with Jan Lopez and MAX.
Education
University of California at Berkeley
B.A. (Middle Eastern Studies, Pre-Med)
Athletic Accomplishments
USA Triathlon Olympic Development Team (2009-11)
University of California at Berkeley Student-Athlete (2004-08)
* PAC-10 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
* Member of the CAL Men’s Swimming & Diving Team
* 10 Time U.S. National Qualifier
* Captained a team that placed 4th Nationally and 2nd in the PAC-10 (2007-08)
* Retired after 2008 Olympic Trials
Coaching Experience
MAX Aquatics (Head Coach and Owner) – 2011-Present
East Los Angeles College (Director of Aquatics, Head Coach – Women’s Water
Polo, Women’s Swimming & Diving) – 2017-18
MAX Aquatics (Assistant Head Coach) – 2009-11
UC Berkeley Men’s Team (Graduate Assistant) – 2008-09
Activities and Organizations
USA Swimming, Southern California Swimming’s Board of Directors
* Chairman
* Administrative Vice-Chairman
* Diversity Chair
Metro Committee, Southern California Swimming LSC
* Coach Representative
Honors and Awards
2015 Southern California Swimming’s Metro Committee’s Coach of the Year
2014 Southern California Swimming’s Metro Committee’s Coach of the Year
CSCAA NCAA Division I All-Academic Team, Honorable Mention
PAC-10 Academic All-American, 2nd Team
USA Triathlon All-American Honorable Mention
