Meet the SwimJim New York Team

Sebastian Agoston

Sebastian has been swimming since the age of 8, starting at St. Sebastian’s Swim Team in Woodside. He swam for his highschool swim team at St. Francis Prep and became the captain of the team his Senior year. In college he continued to swim for his schools and never gave up the mentality of pushing oneself to the best of their abilities, staying physically and mentally active. He graduated from John Jay College for Criminal Justice with a degree in Criminal Justice and minor is Security and worked as a lifeguard all throughout.  Sebastian has always had a passion for keeping people safe, both in and out of the water, and making those around him happy. Being a swim instructor has always brought him happiness through the spreading of his knowledge and expertise while watching his students progress to the best of their abilities.

Ivan Aranda

Ivan is currently studying for his political science associate’s degree and plans to use his degree to become a history teacher. In his free time, Ivan enjoys cycling, boxing, swimming and working on art projects in several different mediums. He believes that swimming and water safety are important skills to learn and help teach discipline while still being fun!

Xavier Arjune

Xavier is from Crown Heights Brooklyn and has been swimming since he was 7 years old. He loves to swim and the reason he has become a swim instructor is because he wants to help people learn how to swim. He is currently in college for sports management. His favorite sports are football and baseball.

Naidely  Cabrera

Naidely is a person who loves playing sports especially Softball. She achieved her Associates degree in Sports Management and is hoping to become a coach one day. She also loves dancing and eating pasta. Water safety is very important because it can be a danger to those that don’t know how to swim and don’t know much about water.

Raven Daniels

Raven attended Dewitt Clinton High school for an veterinary technician/animal care, where she swam courses as an elective for 2 years. After graduating she then went to study at LaGuardia community college where she then took on a science major, and is hoping to go back for marine biology. She loves to spend her free time making art and planting. Raven decided to take up being a swim instructor because she wanted to learn about water safety and teach her siblings and extended family about how to have fun whilst being safe.

Naomi Distant

Naomi is 23 years old and a recent graduate of Aveda Esthetics Institute. Naomi grew up in Jamaica and joined a swim team when she was just three years old! Naomi competitively swam from ages seven to eleven before moving to New York, where she continued to swim for fun and participated in several triathlons. She joined SwimJim in 2019 and after a brief hiatus, she’s back and can’t wait to get back in the pool to teach!

Kurdian Edwards

Kurdian is one of our newest additions to the team and most people call her kurdi. She is currently in college majoring in nursing. She enjoys running and working out during her free time. She thinks being a swim instructor is important because she loves kids and she also loves to be in the water. She loves to learn new things to keep improving on herself. Her biggest trait is she is very patient and knows how to vocalize her vocabulary to adapt to every age group that she comes across.

Miranda Errigo

Miranda has adored the water for as long as she could remember. Growing up with a pool resulted in her rarely being seen outside of it. Miranda also assisted in teaching her own younger siblings how to swim. As the eldest sibling, she is very patient and prioritizes safety above all else. She is excited to create a fun and safe learning environment for everyone!

Jayda Francisco

Jayda Francisco has always wanted to become a Swim Instructor!  It’s something she has always wanted to learn and involve herself in. She has a great passion for the water and working with children! During her free time she is a singer songwriter. She enjoys poetry & filmmaking. In the near future she would like to enroll into college to study Psychology & learn more about the human mind.

Rosemary Ghigliotty

Rosemary is a Swim Instructor and Lifeguard Director with SwimJim as well as an American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor.  She joined our team in November 2018.  Rosemary discovered her passion for swimming while in High School and swam for the Varsity Team in 2007-2008. While in High School, she was introduced to Lifeguarding as a gym class and found her passion. She understands the importance of swimming as a survival skill and loves to teach those skills to everyone.  She works patiently and gently to build and develop those skills to help the students progress to the next level.

Avonnie Hadden

Avonnie likes to write short stories and poets needless to say he is a passionate writer. His go to sport is MMA and that is his number one hobby. Avonnie loves working with children and instilling them learning that they will use for the rest of their lives.

Jazmine Holloway

Jazmine recently graduated high school (Class of 2022) woohoo! She is 18 years old, from Brooklyn, New York. She has worked with a non-profit organization that helps get families and children living in poverty into better and healthier living situations. She continues to strive to do so till this day. Jazmine became a swim instructor because like many people she had a traumatic experience in the water which led her to encourage, and now teach people to learn about the importance of water safety.

Neema Kania

Neema is currently a Pharm.D. student at LIU Brooklyn. She is in her first year of her professional graduate program. She has been swimming since I was 7 years old whether it was constantly going to the beach or in the pool during swim practice . She transitioned to teaching when she was 15 and fell in love with teaching children’s aquatics and has been doing it ever since. She’s super excited to be a part of the SwimJim team and can’t wait to see you in the pool!

Sera Knobler

Sera is an instructor at SwimJim. She has been swimming competitively for 13 years and lifeguarding since she was 17. She swam on Asphalt Green’s swim team starting at the age of 10 and then went on to swim for Hunter College where she recently graduated. Outside of SwimJim she is currently training to be an EMT. Sera has had a love for the water ever since she was young and is excited to bring that energy to the pool.

Kira Knorr

Kira loves swimming, and has 3 years of previous teaching experience. She has previously WSI certified by the Red Cross, Kira is a musical theatre major from Utah.  She grew up near a lake and spent a lot of time with family there, and is very passionate about being safe in the water while having fun!

Chyanne Myles

Chyanne is from Brooklyn NY and is currently a college student going for a human Biology degree. While she loves the sciences Chyanne is also interested in fashion and owns a small business hand-making her own clothes.  She’s been swimming since she was 6 years old and got her first job as a lifeguard. She believes that water safety is an important step in creating a safer environment for the children of the world and is an important skill set for everyone to learn.

Carlos Ordonez

Carlos is from Ecuador where he learned to swim at an early age and has a background in competitive swimming. He is currently studying web development in school, and enjoys being outside and exploring the city in his free time. Carlos’ favorite part about being a swim instructor is being able to see how excited his students are to come to class every week! Carlos is eager to share his passion for swimming and all of its benefits with all of his new students on Wednesday afternoons! 

Danibel Rodriguez

Danibel is very artistic! She was a dancer and played volleyball for 6 years. She has 4 dogs to go home to, so you can say she’s a bit of a dog person. Dani grew up by the water in the Caribbeans but as a kid was never taught to swim, putting her in dangerous situations at times. She loves being a swimming instructor because it gives her the opportunity to show the youth how to have fun in the water safely.

Azure Savage

Azure is excited to join the SwimJim team because swimming has been a source of joy from a young age and he wants to be able to pass that joy to others. He swam competitively on a club team in Seattle where he grew up, and also swam for his high school team. His favorite events were always sprints of freestyle and butterfly. Currently, he attends The New School for a bachelor’s in psychology and plans to be a therapist for children and teens one day. Working with youth and being in the water combines two of his passions and he couldn’t be more thrilled to work with you!

Stephanie Shao

Stephanie comes from the San Francisco bay area and is a senior studying finance and management at NYU’s Stern school of business. She has been a swimmer for over 13 years, and got her start at a swim academy very similar to SwimJim. Since then, she went on to join USA Swimming Gold Medal Club Pleasanton Seahawks, attended various regional championships, and was the varsity swim captain at her high school. She hopes to teach kids the joy of something that has been a crucial part of her life by being a swim instructor at SwimJim.

Cece Smith

Cece joined SwimJim’s team in August of 2021. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Pace University in Mental Health Counseling. Cece grew up spending her summers at the beach where she discovered her love of swimming and all things water. Originally from Maryland, she loves to spend her time outdoors running, hiking, and really anything that gets her outside! Cece loves working with people of all ages, and believes that water safety is one of the most valuable skills you can learn and she is excited to help anyone learn!

Kelli Stryker
Kelli joined the SwimJim team in 2008.  At the age of 3 Kelli was taught how to swim by her uncle and SwimJim Founder and C.E.O, Jim himself. Growing up on a swim team she was awarded many purple participation ribbons but never got gold. Though competitive swimming wasn’t for her, in the long run her love for swimming always remained intact. She obtained a BFA in Musical Theatre from Webster University Conservatory of Fine Arts. Kelli can be seen not only in the pool but in the office as SwimJim’s Director. She has received her Infant/Toddler and Special Abilities certification from the United States Swim School Association as well as trained at AquaPros in San Diego with their Special Needs program.  When Kelli is not at SwimJim she can been seen around the country speaking at conferences, educating other about teaching or management techniques. Teaching swimming and educating people on water safety are some of Kelli’s greatest passions. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have taught someone a skill that makes them safer in and around the water.

Yeshi Wangchuk

Yeshi Wangchuk is currently a student in city tech for nursing. Some things he likes to do during his free time is playing volleyball, Swimming, Basketball, watching movies, and reading books etc. Back in high school he was in his volleyball team for 4 years and swimming varsity for one year. Being a swim instructor is fun because he gets to teach kids and make some type of impact in their lives and it also gives him a sense of accomplishment when he sees your kids use the skills they have been taught them