Our Coaches

Our passionate coaches are NCCP trained and beyond. All of our team coaches were competitive athletes and our head coach has judged at numerous international events, including two Olympic Games.

  • Dr. Teresa Alentejano is the head coach of Excel Artistic Swimming. Teresa is a certified Canada Level 3 Coach and FINA A judge, currently acting as a international Judge Evaluator. In this capacity she has participated at numerous international events such the Pan American Games, World Championships and two Olympic Games: the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Teresa holds a PhD in Physical Education and taught at the University of Alberta. She is the Head Coach of the U of A Synchro Club, which she established in 2006. She served multiple tenures as the Head Coach of the Brazilian Junior National Team. From 2002 to 2005 Teresa was the Head Coach of the Edmonton Aurora’s. During that time two club members made National teams. She was the 2011 recipient of Artistic Swimming Alberta's peer selected award to the Alberta coach who is recognized for contributing the most to the growth and development of coaches in the province. Teresa also served on the Board of Artistic Swimming Alberta in the capacity of Swimmer Development Chair.

  • Alex serves as the provincial stream and SOAR coordinator for Excel, bringing over 25 years of dedication to artistic swimming. Her coaching journey began in 2011, leading her to join the Excel team in 2013. Throughout her career, Alex has guided numerous competitive teams at provincial, national, and university levels. Her passion for the sport motivated her to obtain an advanced coaching diploma and a graduate certificate in high performance coaching and technical leadership from UBC. She also holds a degree in elementary education from the University of Alberta.

  • Bethany has swam competitively since 2011. She loves synchro more than anything else and wants to help young swimmers discover the amazing sport of synchro. In her free time she likes weightlifting and playing the piano.

  • Emma has been swimming for 11 years. She was selected for the Alberta Artistic Swimming’s Provincial Team in 2018, representing the province at SYNC. Emma loves working with kids and hopes to inspire them to love the sport even more than she does. She strives to have everyone feel welcome and safe in her class, and to also have fun! In her free time, Emma loves cooking and trying new things!

  • Leah swam competitively with Excel for 9 years and joined the Excel coaching staff in 2019. She is currently working towards her Bachelor of Science at the University of Alberta with hopes of pursuing a career in the field of psychology. Leah is passionate about fostering a supporting and kind environment where athletes can have fun and be challenged! She hopes to leave a long-lasting, positive impression of the sport she has come to love! In her free time, Leah enjoys reading, jamming to music, volunteering, and going to the gym!

  • Gwen swam for 8 years, two of them were with Excel and two were on the Canadian Senior National team where she participated at 2 international competitions representing Canada: Junior Worlds 2016 and Worlds in Budapest in 2017. Gwen likes coaching to help inspire young athletes to love the sport as much as she does.

  • Ellie Swam with Excel for 4 years, 2 of them with the National Stream and this year Ellie is coaching the advanced precomps. Ellie loves seeing the swimmers have fun and learn new skills. Currently Ellie stays active taking Contemporary and Tap dancing. In the summer Ellie does speed swimming where Ellie was awarded the the, “most dedicated swimmer” in the 2019 season. During free time Ellie enjoys reading a good book.

  • Rose swam competitively for many years and she joined the Excel coaching staff in 2017. She has a major in psychology and a minor in arts and design. In her free time she takes care of her pets: 3 ferrets and 3 dogs! She also enjoys painting, drawing and making stained glass portraits.

  • Izzy swam for 9 years with the Kelowna Dolphins. Along with swimming she also coached for 3 years in Kelowna and coached at BC Summer games in 2022. She is currently studying Sports, Rec and Tourism at the University of Alberta.

  • Mary was an artistic swimmer for 9 years and during that time she was selected for the Synchro Alberta's Provincial Team in 2018 and attended SYNC representing the province. Coaching is one of her passions. She believes that working hard can be fun.

  • Alexis swam competitively with the Red Deer Silhouettes for six years, as well as swimming with the Red Deer Marlins summer swim club for 10 years. Alexis has worked as a coach for the past two years, coaching the AquaGo program with the Silhouettes and competitive lane swimming for the Marlins. She is currently studying Nutrition and Food Sciences at the U of A and swimming for the U of A synchro team.

  • I am currently in highschool. I love coaching artistic swimming because I find it challenging and rewarding. It’s a sport that I love, and am passionate about.

    In my free time… Hahaha free time? I swim on the Jr National Team for Excel, and I coach. Between that and school, all my free time is spent at the pool.

    A goal I set for myself and achieved was to be selected to Team Alberta and represent our province at the synch competition in summer 2022. One day I would love the opportunity to compete with Team Canada.