Meet Swim Coach Mya
Mya has been teaching swimming and water safety lessons for 25+ years. She is currently a U.S. Masters Swimming Level 1 & 2 certified coach and American Red Cross certified Lifeguard. Previously, a certified USA Swimming coach member and certified Water Safety Instructor. She currently swims on a U.S. Masters Swimming team in Pasadena, CA, and LOVES teaching swimming and water safety. Mya is also a certified yoga instructor and sync licensing music producer.
Mary Ann "Mya" Souza
Owner and Chief Instructor
I love all things water & ocean – swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, etc. I’m a conservation-minded “fish-watcher” who loves being around, on, and under water. I’ve been a swimmer since I was 5 years old & started teaching swimming a while ago.
I'm a Los Angeles native & spent my teenage years living in Brazil (English is my first language, Portuguese is my second language). I worked in the music/audio recording industry in Los Angeles for over a decade. Now, I'm a sync licensing music producer, yoga instructor, and I have taught swimming lessons for 25+ years.
So, when did I learn to swim & how did I become a swim instructor?
My family had a boat when I was a kid & we visited Catalina Island regularly. When I was about 5 years old, one of my siblings, who could not swim, fell off our boat into the ocean. My dad jumped in and rescued him from under the boat, where the current had quickly taken him. For our safety, we were enrolled in swim lessons immediately. I was uncomfortable being in water at first. But, my swim instructor, Mickey was his name, was kind and did everything he could to help me love the water. Through my first swim instructor's patience and skill, I lost my fear and began to love the experience of being in water..
When I was about 8 years old my family moved to a house in Arcadia (in Southern California) with a pool. I would spend hours swimming & playing with friends in the pool every summer. I loved being in that pool so much, I would teach Water Competency skills to my friends (who could not swim) so we could play together in the pool. "Wanna go swimming? I'll teach you. It's easy!" is what I would ask friends and family who couldn't swim when I wanted to play in the pool (FYI: for safety, we always played in the shallow end of the pool).
In my adulthood, I became a certified Water Safety Instructor in 1995. I thought I might spend one summer teaching private swim lessons. But, people kept calling me (and keep calling me) for swim lessons every summer! So, here I am, twenty-five plus years later, still teaching swimming and water safety, and still loving every second of it!
Wanna go swimming? I'll teach you. It's easy!