STEVEN MUNATONES

Steven Munatones is a multi-decorated open water swimming coach, journalist, race director and administrator. He is an honor swimmer and board director in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and is the only American on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee.  He serves on the USA Swimming Open Water Swimming Committee and is a board member of Swim Free and co-founder of WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association).

In 2010 Steven produced the acclaimed DVD, Tactics and Techniques of Elite Open Water Swimmers. 

Steven served as the USA national open water swim team coach at the 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 World Swimming Championships and as the head coach at the 2004 World Open Water Swim Championships and at the 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Select Camps. He has also coached several Catalina Channel, English Channel and USA Swimming national championship swimmers and organized the first Global Open Water Swimming Conference.

He served as Race Director for the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships, and has conducted numerous open water swimming clinics from Acapulco to Tokyo including clinics at the 2010 World Open Water Swimming Championships.

As a writer and commentator on swimming, his prodigious output includes Swimming Without Lines, innumerable articles covering all areas of the sport for the likes of NBC, NBC Olympics.com, USA Swimming, Swimming World Magazine, Triathlon Magazine (Japanese edition), Competitor Magazine, Swimming Australia Magazine, SWIM Magazine, SWIMMER Magazine (since 1984), The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, National Geographic Magazine, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, National Public Radio, and the London Olympic Organizing Committee. He also served as an Olympic 10K Marathon Swim commentator for NBC Olympics.

Steven has created several swimming websites: www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com, www.10Kswim.com, www.pacificopenwater.com.  In line with his innovative involvement in open water, he also created the Open Water Swimming Dictionary, World's Top 100 Open Water Swims ranking, the World Open Water Swimming Man and Woman of the Year Awards, the World's Greatest Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year Contest, as well as rules for Special Olympics open water swimming and Staged Swimming. He currently serves on the Board of WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association).

Steven has researched various aspects of open water swimming including the techniques of drafting, dolphining, pacing and positioning and consults with race directors and federations around the world on course layout, event safety, competition standards and equipment.  Prior to his work on land, Steven won the 1982 World Marathon Swimming Championship (25K), was a two-time USA Swimming national marathon swimming champion, and completed five unprecedented solo swims ranging in distance from 32K to 58K.

In recognition of his contributions to open water swimming, Steven has received numerous awards, including USA Swimming Awards in 2001, 2005 and 2007.

Steven resides in Huntington Beach, California where he continues his open water swimming experiments, research, coaching and writing.