TRIFIT Coaches & Trainers

Bernard Baski played fifteen years of amateur and professional hockey training with Canada’s top coaches. His desire to help other young up-and-coming hockey players excel was the turning point of his career. His devotion to the sport of hockey helped him develop a career as a trainer and a coach at one of Canada’s internationally renowned top training camps. His experience with aerobic, anaerobic, and strength training helped him to develop a successful training formula.

With his wife Gina, Bernard is co-founder and CEO of TRIFIT Club & Studios, a complete training and testing facility designed to accommodate both beginning and elite athletes. He has coached several seasons for the corporate triathlon program for Team in Training, the largest endurance-training program in the world. Bernard’s certifications include: Pose Tech Running (Level II), USA Triathlon (Level II), USA/ASCA, is nationally certified as a strength and conditioning coach, and is nationally certified with Paul Swift Bike Fit Systems as one their top fit specialists in the US and Canada.

On weeknights he can be found putting his cycling classes through one of the toughest indoor workouts around. His performance-based approach has been recognized as both unique and effective methods for improving outdoor cycling performance. His love of coaching and his competitive edge have been fulfilled through the sport of triathlon.

Gina Baski, a former competitive gymnastics and swimmer worked early in her career as a swimming instructor, coach, and personal trainer while attending college and graduate school. After attaining a Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly and an MA from San Diego State University she continued her work as a coach and began teaching college in San Diego, CA. Shortly after meeting her husband, Gina left her position as a college professor and focused her life on training and coaching. Co-founder of TRIFIT CLUB & Studios, Gina is a nationally certified personal trainer, weight management consultant, yoga instructor, cycling instructor, Pose Tech coach, ASCA/USA swimming coach, and USA Triathlon coach. Gina headed up the first corporate triathlon program for Team in Training, the largest endurance program in the world.

With her husband Bernard, Gina has worked to bring TRIFIT to the forefront of the fitness industry in Los Angeles. They have worked with CEO’s and executives, Fortune 500 companies to provide fitness and health related services to their employees, numerous non-profit organizations to assist in their fund raising efforts, and some of LA’s top gyms, health clubs and studios. Additionally, Bernard and Gina have collaborated with some of the world’s best Olympic coaches, trainers and nutritionists who have been instrumental in helping them develop smart and effective training programs for their clients and members of TRIFIT. Whether through nutrition, strength and endurance training, or training for a first race—helping clients maximize their goals, have fun, and create a balanced lifestyle of health and well being is their ultimate goal. Together they have completed eight Ironman Triathlon’s and various other multi-sport races.

Coach Gerry Rodrigues started swimming in 1970 in Trinidad where he swam for the Caribbean islands national team. His ability brought him to Mission Viejo in 1980, eventually earning him an Athletic Scholarship at Pepperdine University.

As one of the founding members of Team Malibu Triathlon club in 1983, he started the Malibu Masters swim club, headed-up Southern California Aquatic Masters, ran the first Masters club at The Sports Club LA, and created and ran the UCLA Masters swim program from 1995 - 2008. Gerry, who was awarded the US Masters Swimming Coach of the Year award, has a workout and training philosophy based on his experiences in over 400 open water races all over the world, including winning two overall world masters open water championships. Currently Gerry coaches a select group of pro and age group triathletes at TriFit Club and Studios in Santa Monica and runs the renowned "Tower 26" Open Water Workouts at Santa Monica Beach.

Additionally, Gerry co-produced the best-selling Open Water Swimming DVD of all time, simply and aptly called Open Water Swimming – Skills, Techniques & Racing Tips in conjunction with Endurance Films and Michael Collins of the Novas Masters Swimming. More recently, Gerry co-founded (with Steve Munatones) the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA).

Open Water Swimming and Coaching:

Coach Gerry has been training in open water since 1971, and coaching it since 1983. He started in his native island, Trinidad, where he trained 3-4 days a week, 3 months a year in the salt for the island’s yearly open water event. He has competed in the island’s 5k event 11 times since 1974; winning it 8 times, while placing in the top 3 all 11 times.

With several hundred open water races worldwide under his belt, thousands of miles swum in oceans and lakes, over 100 race victories, national championships crowns and world championship titles, including a 28.5 mile swim around Manhattan Island; Coach Gerry is the library of knowledge on open water training and racing. He has swam the 2-mile Hermosa to Manhattan pier to pier race every year since 1988, winning overall several times while never placing out of the top 10 overall.

Pool Swimming:

Coach Gerry believes in specific, focused, technical, and intense training. His motto of "less is more" resonates in his coaching and true to his personal training. Into his mid-forties and on limited, but specific training of 15,000 yards a week on 3-4 workouts, Coach Gerry has both power and fitness: from a :49 sec 100 yd free to a 10 min 1000 yd free (1 min/100 pace). His 3k (approx 1.8 mile) was clocked at 31:20 (1:02/100 pace); and his 1 hour swim for distance - 5625 yards or approx 3.5 miles (1:04/100 pace).

Coach Gerry recently broke the world masters record for the 800 meter freestyle in the 45-49 age group in December 2007 (8:52); he is a member of the national record breaking 4 x 200 free mixed relay in the 160+ age group, and also broke the US Masters national record for the 1-hour swim in the 45-49 age group.

Kirsten Wagner was a collegiate soccer and All-American lacrosse player and coach at the University Of Notre Dame. From 1998 - 2000 she was a strength and conditioning graduate assistant for the athletics department at Columbia University in New York where she earned a master’s degree in Applied Physiology and graduated as a member of the Kappa Delta Pi honor society in education.

After school Kirsten ran the Center for Health and Wellness for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System in Livingston, NJ.  In addition to managing the center she was also the head exercise physiologist for the Athlete Development Program and the Obesity and Weight Management Center while continuing to coach club lacrosse in her spare time. For the last two years Kirsten has been the head of the TriFit Performance Testing Center, one of only four official USAT Performance Testing Centers in the U.S. Kirsten follows Olympic Training Center protocols for exercising metabolic, lactate and resting metabolic tests.  She also works closely with TriFit coaches developing training programs for various multisport races, teaches TriFit core conditioning classes three times per week, and works one on one with clients as strength and conditioning coach. In her free time you can find Kirsten outdoors and always active, she loves to spend her dog Lucky.

Bonnie Parcells - Plus One Health Management - Bonnie Parcells has served in a variety roles in the health & fitness industry for 25 years. She is currently a District Manager for Plus One Health Management and oversees 11 corporate fitness facilities on the west coast. Bonnie coaches the Amgen Triathlon Team and competes as a triathlete as well. She has run her own personal training business and has taught group fitness for over 25 years. Her areas of expertise consist of sports specific training for triathlon, running, cycling. She is a certified indoor cycling instructor and participates in the Amgen California Coast Classic each year riding 520 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for The LA Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

Master Richard Alonzo grew up in Southern California and has been training in Tae Kwon Do and HapKiDo since 1979. He first learned how to formally teach martial arts classes from Grandmaster Jun Chong in 1984, after earning his 1st Dan Black Belt in both disciplines. Although he was only a teenager then, he was able to retain lessons from all of his teachers, including (from the “Best of the Best” movie franchise) Masters Phillip Rhee, Simon Rhee, & Ken Nagayama. Occasionally, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace dropped by to teach a few classes. During his college years, he continued to grow as a teacher, and eventually did stunt work for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live Action Tour before returning to Los Angeles to continue teaching in 1995. He has been a co-chief instructor at the Jun Chong Martial Arts Center in West L.A. since 2000 and is working on a documentary on the history of the school. Master Alonzo has adapted Grandmaster Chong’s open-minded approach to teaching and training in martial arts. Not one to discount the intrinsic value of repetition to achieve optimum results in any physical activity, he has spent most of his life learning different training methods and techniques not only from fellow martial artists in their martial arts, but coaches of other sports, trainers, and even healing arts professionals. However, he strongly believes in the often-underestimated value of balancing a strong Body with an intensely focused Mind and a constantly challenged Spirit. Ultimately, our most powerful weapon is a focused & resourceful mind.

Aron is a USA Cycling licensed cycling coach, an expert bike fitter, an N.A.S.M. certified Personal Trainer, and a Category 1 road and track cyclist.

Aron has been immersed in a career centered on physical fitness since the early 1980's when he began weight training and bodybuilding. His original interest in bodybuilding culminated in a fourth place finish at the 1992 ABCC All Natural Mr. California Contest. Aron obtained his fitness trainer's certification at N.A.S.M. in 1994 while working as a trainer at Jackson Souza's Training Facilities in Santa Monica and Malibu. In his spare time he also worked at Paulseth and Associates Physical therapy as an aid as well as trainer for rehabilitated patients.

Aron began road racing a mere 6 years ago. His talent was obvious when he upgraded from a USCF Category 5 to Category 3 during the course of his first season. During his second season of racing (2004), Aron dominated Category 3 racing and won the Southern California Cup, reflecting his status as the #1 Category 3 in all of Southern California and Nevada. He also won the Category 3 State Championship Criterium and placed second in the Category 3 State Championship Road Race.

Now regularly lining up alongside top professional cyclists in the Pro/1/2 Category, Aron has already shown that even against the very best he is a talented sprinter on the track and the road. He has won 4 Elite State Championship titles as well as numerous State and National medals on the track as well as the road.