David grew up in Greensboro, N.C. and currently lives in Greenville, S.C. Growing up swimming in lakes and the Atlantic Ocean he patterned his “front Crawl” ( freestyle ) like many kids his age from Olympic champions Duke Kahanamoku and Johnny Weissmuller. Later he discovered he had problems similar to what others experienced with freestyle. Coordinating the stroke, issues breathing, and physical limitations like rotator cuff injuries.
Over the years, he endured several ineffective self-teaching starts, hoping to develop a reliable freestyle stroke. He came across an article concerning Total Immersion.
After working with an individual TI coach, and experiencing many improvements, he decided to complete the Total Immersion Coach training program. Shortly after, he established his coaching business, Mindful Swimming LLC.
He is a Coach In Good Standing with USA Swimming, a U.S. Paralympic Level 2 coach, a Level 3 coach with American Swim Coaches Assoc. (ASCA) and a US Masters Level 3 Coach. David has also completed Advanced Swim Coach and High Performance training under the international swim coaches organization, Swim Mastery.
Outside of swimming he has been known to spend time making noise on his Mapex Saturn V drum set, paddle down white water rivers, kiteboard in Gulf and Atlantic coastal areas, sail around in Upstate South Carolina lakes, hike and bike in the Blue Ridge and Southwest Mountains, attend yoga and spin classes, pound the table during physical therapy, and play with his four grandsons, Luke, Michael, Patrick and Matthew
He is married to Marcia Workman Guffey, and has a daughter, Laura McGinniss.
David has a BS degree in Social Work from UNC Greensboro, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching / Science Education from Clemson Univ.
Retired from the private business world of industrial manufacturing and sales, he taught middle school science in grades 6-8, and worked as an interpreter for the S.C. Parks Dept. Until recently, he also operated David Guffey Photography, focusing on commercial, editorial portraits and photo printing.
David understands the fear we face when we attempt to grow beyond our self-imposed limitations.
He invites you to join us him on a journey of self exploration to re-discover health, vitality and a verve for life through our relationship with the water and swimming. Where you will experience the relaxation, balance, and challenges of learning, or improving your life long swim adventure.
He believes swimming can make a real difference in our physical and cognitive health. If we choose, help us meet the challenge of our competitive nature, and generally find joy, be safe and have a blast while being wet in any body of water.
407 Bridgewater Dr.
Greenville, SC 29615
[email protected]
+1 (864) 901-7133
