Jeff Natalizio Succeeds Mike Jafari as Swimming & Diving Head Coach

WHITTIER, Calif. (May 26, 2026) – Jeff Natalizio has been chosen as the subsequent Head Coach of the Whittier College males’s and ladies’s swimming & diving groups.

Natalizio, who has been working as this system’s interim head coach since March 2026, initially joined the Poets in July 2024 because the full-time assistant to former University of California, Berkeley faculty teammate Michael Jafari. Along with Jafari, Natalizio helped take the Poets’ swimming & diving packages to the subsequent stage, culminating in a historic 2025-26 season. This previous yr, Jafari, Natalizio and their workers produced the SCIAC Male Swimmer of the Year in Honza Zika, completed fifth on the lads’s facet on the convention championship meet and had been named SCIAC Male Coaching Staff of the Year for his or her efforts.

The Whittier males’s workforce then superior to the NCAA Division III National Championships, leading to an equally historic week the place the Poets closed the season outscoring SCIAC runner-up Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on the nationwide stage.

With Jafari stepping down as head coach on the conclusion of the meet, Natalizio, who has been working because the interim head coach since March, will look to double down on the swimming & diving program’s unbelievable momentum and take the Poets to the subsequent stage.

“I’m very excited to continue to grow the swimming & diving program here at Whittier, all while protecting our identity as a program that prioritizes student-athlete development over individual athletic accomplishments,” Natalizio mentioned. “I originally accepted the assistant coach position because I felt the drive of the institution from the President down to the Athletic Director to grow by supporting its staff and students. It’s the proof of that that makes me confident in accepting this new role.”

Prior to becoming a member of the Poets, “Coach Zio” coached the Southern California membership workforce “Evolution Racing Club” to historic finishes over 9 years on the helm. Those groups developed gifted swimmers equivalent to Harvard University’s David Schmitt and Cal’s Humberto Najera, each of whom joined the National Junior Team roster in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Natalizio’s membership groups have additionally completed within the Top 10 at Winter Junior Nationals in 2022 and 2023 and at Summer Junior Nationals in 2023.

Natalizio’s power and conditioning background ought to proceed to be an asset to the Purple & Gold. The veteran coach has held a CSCS certification (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) since 2013 and used his experience to assist one other Cal graduate, Anthony Ervin, to a gold-medal end within the 50 Free on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

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