Meet your Coach

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Stephanie (Kozowyk) Havelka

Swimming has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

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I grew up on the East Coast as a competitive swimmer, lifeguard, swim instructor, cross-country runner, and open water athlete. What started as a love of the water grew into a lifelong pursuit of understanding not just how to swim, but how to perform, think, and thrive in the water.

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That journey eventually took me around the world.

After qualifying for and competing in the Ironman World Championship in Kona at just 22 years old—traveling there completely on my own—my life changed forever. Hawaii opened my eyes to a different way of living, where adventure, the ocean, and personal growth became inseparable. I fell in love with the islands, immersed myself in ocean sports, and began expanding my knowledge through outrigger canoe racing and open water swimming.

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Over the years I've competed, coached, and trained across an incredible range of endurance and paddle sports, including:

• Competitive Swimming

• Masters Swimming

• Open Water Swimming

• Ironman & Triathlon

• XTERRA Triathlon

• Cross Country Running & 5Ks

• Outrigger Canoe Racing

• Flatwater Kayaking (1996 Olympic Trials)

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One of the greatest honors of my athletic career was paddling alongside some of the world's most accomplished women in outrigger canoe racing. Together we won the Molokai World Championship Crossing, multiple Hamilton Island Cup victories in Australia, and many other major events during more than two decades in the sport.

Along the way I've also had the opportunity to work as the personal trainer for Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, and coach actors preparing for swimming roles in film.

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But here's what I believe matters even more than any medal or title.

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Championships don't tell you about the coaches who shaped me.

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They don't tell you about the mistakes that forced me to become a better athlete.

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They don't tell you about spending my summers coaching alongside and learning from Olympic legends like Matt Biondi, Tracy Caulkins, Mary T. Meagher, Jim Naber, and many other world-class athletes whose lessons still influence how I coach today.

Those experiences taught me something that changed the way I teach swimming forever.

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Great swimming isn't built only through better technique.

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It's built through confidence.

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Through understanding how your body moves.

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Through learning to stay calm when conditions become difficult.

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Through developing the mindset that allows you to solve problems in the water instead of panicking.

That philosophy became the foundation of the Surge Swim Method™.

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Whether I'm coaching someone who has never learned to swim, helping an athlete prepare for an open water event, working with military personnel, Masters swimmers, or experienced competitors looking to improve performance, my goal is always the same:

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Create swimmers who are confident, capable, self-sufficient, and able to move powerfully through the water.

I'm also passionate about the mental side of performance. Visualization, focus, and mindset have been central to my own athletic career and coaching philosophy. I was honored to be featured in a book by John Assaraf, where I shared my personal visualization techniques and the role they played in my success as an athlete.

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Today, every lesson I teach combines decades of experience in competitive sport, open water, coaching, and performance psychology into one proven system.

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Because learning to swim isn't just about swimming.

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It's about becoming the kind of person who stays calm under pressure, trusts themselves, and knows they can handle whatever the water puts in front of them.

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That's the swimmer I want to help you become.