Columbia Masters is an adult-oriented swim program combining instruction with competitive training. Columbia Masters is great for athletes, competitive swimmers and fitness swimmers with dedicated lanes and professional coaching at every practice.
Requirements for the Masters Swim Program
The Masters Swim Program is an adult-oriented swim program combining instruction with competitive training. The program is not swim instruction — coaches will be on-deck providing feedback and instruction, rather than in the water.
All participants must be a CA member with access to the Columbia Swim Center. Additionally, all participants must be a USMS member (fee extra), which can be done online. Our club code is COLU.
Pricing information
The CA Masters Swim Program costs $50/month, regardless of how many practices/sessions a participant attends each month.
The program costs $40/month for CA employees.
All participants must become USMS members, which requires an additional fee not paid to CA.
Getting Started/First Practice
We want to make sure you love the Masters Swim Program as much as we do before you put down any money!
Contact Mariana Orellana (Mariana.orellana@columbiaassociation.org) about interest in the program. Then, for your first practice, you can try out the program and see if it’s a good fit for you before registering. The first practice doesn’t require any fee or registration cost.
After the first class, participants who want to register for the Masters Swim Program will talk to Mariana Orellana (Mariana.orellana@columbiaassociation.org) to complete the registration process
Weekly schedule
All Masters Swim practices will take place at the Columbia Swim Center (10401 Cross Fox Ln, Columbia, MD 21044, United States)
Monday | 5:30-7:00am – Sophia Kobelja
10:15-11:30am – Mariana Orellana |
Tuesday | 1:00-2:15pm – Basem Magd |
Wednesday | 5:30-7:00am – Sophia Kobelja
10:15-11:30am – Mariana Orellana |
Thursday | 1:00-2:15pm – Basem Magd |
Friday | 5:30-7:00am – Sophia Kobelja
10:15-11:30am – Mariana Orellana |
Saturday | 6:00-6:55am – Kevin Costello |
Instructor information
Sophia Kobelja — Sophia has been a competitive swimmer her whole life, an avid swimmer as long as she’s been able to walk. Although she is a 200-butterfly event veteran, her focus in adulthood has shifted to more long distance and triathlon training (although we still do lots of short-course and targeted training throughout the week!) Sophia’s coaching style relies on these two principles: mindfulness and enjoyment. Her workouts are challenging, engaging, diverse, and lots of fun!
Mariana Orellana — Mariana is a lifelong swimmer with immense dedication to the sports and all those who choose to try it. They grew up swimming on CNSL (Columbia Neighborhood Swim League) and Columbia Clippers and went on to do UMBC Club Swim. She continuously finds herself back in the pool and coaching no matter what life throws their way and is excited to share her passion with the Master’s group.
Basem Magd — Basem Madg began his swimming journey on the Fort Washington Sharks Swim Team under PMSL (Prince-Mont Swim League) where he swam for nine years. He later joined the D.C. Wave Swim Team in PVS and swam for five years from middle school to high school. Basem went on to swim Division 3 at Baldwin-Wallace University on their Swimming & Diving Team for a year and a half, then decided to swim unattached for PVS for three years. Basem continues to swim Unattached for PVS and US Masters Swimming.
Kevin Costello — Kevin Costello grew up in club swimming and has been coaching youth swimming at various levels since 2014. He is excited to get involved with Masters this year as both a participant and coach, in which capacity he’ll be leading the Saturday morning practices
Pool closures and practice cancellations
The Columbia Swim Center may close for inclement weather. However, it doesn’t follow the Howard County School System closures — closures are contingent based on coaches discretion and facility access.
All members of the Masters Swim program will be part of the group’s Team Unify. If the Columbia Swim Center is experiencing a closure or a change in schedule, all members will receive an email update from Team Unify.