Romina "Romi" Caristo was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 11, she began competing on a national level for her country.  In 1991 she began working as a swim instructor and has had a passion for it ever since. After earning a BA in graphic design at the University of Buenos Aires in 2002, she moved to Redondo Beach where has been working as a swim instructor.  In addition to her work, Romi is a proud mom of 2 beautiful children, Ina (18) and Ruka (15), and loves spending time with friends and her dog, Dino.

 

What you might not know…

 

• Romina began to swim competitively at the age of 11.

• When she was 16, she competed in the Argentine National Championships

• She began coaching youth when she was only 15 years old.

• In 2005 she worked as a Los Angeles City Lifeguard and swim instructor.

• Since 2009, she has worked as a swim instructor at Spectrum/Bay Clubs.

• Age group Coach at 2 premier swim clubs: SOBA (South Bay Swim Team) and BCS (Beach Cities Swim)

• She coaches masters swim classes at the Bay Club and Equinox.

• Swim coach at Redondo Union High School.

• Both of her children have a connection to the ocean.

• Her son Ruka, almost drowned at the Redondo Marina at age of 2 and since then water safety is her MOTTO of life. Romi and her children were/are part of the program, but now GIVING BACK as a second chance.

 

A competitive athlete:

 

• Between the ages of 12- 13, she swam 3 open water river races and 1 ocean race

• At the age of 16, Romina competed in 4x100 meter freestyle relay, the 200 meter breaststroke and the 100 meter breaststroke at the Argentine National Championships

• She swam at the collegiate level at age 19.

• She competed in every Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier swim since 2002 with the exception of 2006 (due date of her son) and 2021 (COVID).  She swam the race in 2003 while 6 months pregnant with her daughter Ina. 12 years afterward, Ina and Romi swam the race side by side.

• Swim races: 3 La Jolla Rough Water swims, La Jolla 10-mile relay, San Clemente Ocean Festival, Seal Beach, Santa Barbara 5K, swimmer in a relay for the Los Angeles Triathlon and Hermosa Beach Triathlon (Day at the Beach).

• Running races: Completed the Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach 10k running races, Palos Verdes Marathon (twice) and Catalina Marathon (twice)