Bill Atkinson, Founder

As a young man, Bill was an accomplished musician, but the entire course of his life changed when he made the decision to join the Navy. In his 21 years of service, he gained extensive leadership and teamwork experience as a Navy SEAL, completing his career with distinction as Command Master Chief, SEAL Team EIGHT.

Following additional post-secondary education, he started to work in commercial and residential construction, consulted in organizational transformation and change management, and provided winter survival and movement training to operators from Naval Special Warfare Development Group. More recently, he worked for Navy Recruiting as a Warrior Challenge Mentor, running the flagship program that successfully prepared hundreds of men and women ages 18-28 for the rigors of the SEAL, SWCC, EOD, and Diver and Air Rescue programs.

His interests and activities are many, but his true passion is to help others exceed their own expectations of themselves through guided self-discovery. The thing he is proudest of, however, happened in 1992. Then, he and Stephanie Rudat, diagnosed with terminal leukemia as a toddler, achieved a miracle: a bone marrow transplant which enabled her to live a full and prosperous life through the spring of 2017.

Don Walsh, Associate

Don was born with a love of the ocean and worked as an ocean lifeguard in his teens. Following three tours as an Air Force KC-135A Crew Chief refueling aircraft in-flight over Vietnam, he returned to the Jersey Shore to work for Prudential in their computer operations center.

He’s coached swimming all over the US at the club, high school, and college levels, with experienced triathletes and aspiring Navy SEALs. He competes in 1 mile-10k ocean races, with his long-distance swims including Key West (12.5 miles), Mays Landing River (21 miles), Manhattan Island (28.5 miles), and the Isle of Jersey (41.5 miles). The ocean is his second home. He’s in it year-round, swim cap, goggles and Speedos only; no wetsuit, ever! 

Don has produced an instructional GOSWIM DVD, Combat Side Stroke with Don Walsh, and is also the author of Teach the Beach, a children’s book on water safety that includes a song he wrote and recorded. He finds great joy volunteering with the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium where he teaches water safety and respect for the sea and environment to grammar school age children, always at the oceanfront, of course.