Breathe Easy…You’re in Good Hands
Ricardo Urbina,
Peak Performance Coach | Co-Founder, APEX Peak Performance
Ricardo is a peak performance coach, specializing in the integration of breath control to promote both physical and emotional well-being and optimal personal performance. Through private coaching sessions and group workshops, he educates his clients on the benefits of breathwork, guiding them through techniques and practices, helping them unlock their full potential.
Ricardo is committed to making a difference and championing positive change, His extensive knowledge, personal experience, and supportive nature foster an environment framed in continuous improvement for his clients. Ricardo is dedicated to customizing breathwork programs that give both groups and individuals the tools necessary to harness and develop their physical, cognitive, and emotional capacity.
As both athlete and coach, Ricardo has over 20 years of World Championship level experiences, such as Triathlon, Running, Open Water Swimming, and Prone Paddling. Driven and disciplined, he approaches personal challenges by setting goals and committing to comprehensive training plans. He qualified and raced the Ironman World Championship in Kona 4X and has prone paddled across channels and large bodies of water, including the Catalina Channel (California), Channel of Bones (Hawaii), and Monterey Bay (California). He has coached triathletes to world championships and has also guided some of the best open-water swimmers in the world during their record-breaking long-distance endeavors, and most recently, surfed world renown big waves in Hawaii and Northern California.
In addition to his current coaching, he is a lifelong learner, and committed to furthering his knowledge and skills through ongoing professional development and education.
Donna Norkeliunas, Ed. D
Educational Consultant | Co-Founder, APEX Peak Performance
Dr. Donna Norkeliunas is an educational leader and consultant dedicated to advancing student well-being, institutional culture, and sustainable excellence. With over 25 years in school leadership, her work reflects a deep commitment to helping individuals and communities thrive.
Her approach sits at the intersection of education, wellness, and performance—integrating mindset, breath, and intentional practice to support how people learn, lead, and live. She believes that true excellence is not built on pressure alone, but on the ability to regulate, reflect, and respond with clarity, resilience, and purpose.
Throughout her career in independent and international schools, Donna has held senior leadership roles spanning divisional leadership, admissions, advancement, and strategic program development. She is known for aligning vision with practice—designing systems and cultures that support both high achievement and human connection.
As a long-serving Head of Lower School, she led the development of a dynamic and inclusive environment grounded in strong relationships, high expectations, and a commitment to the whole child. Her leadership emphasized that well-being is foundational to learning—and that mindset shapes not only performance, but possibility.
Her international experience further expanded this perspective, deepening her commitment to cultural responsiveness, belonging, and global citizenship. In subsequent leadership roles, she worked to connect mission with community—building meaningful relationships and advancing strategic initiatives that support long-term sustainability and impact.
As Co-Founder of APEX Peak Performance, Donna brings this breadth of experience into a comprehensive framework that integrates breathwork, movement, mindset, and leadership development. Her work focuses on helping students, educators, and organizations build the internal skills required to navigate pressure, adapt to change, and perform with intention.
At the heart of her philosophy is a belief that often goes unspoken in high-performance spaces: that gratitude and joy are not separate from excellence—they are essential to it. When individuals learn to savor progress, stay present in the process, and approach challenges with both discipline and appreciation, they create the conditions for meaningful and sustained growth.
Grounded in both research and lived experience, Donna’s work invites others to move beyond simply achieving—and toward living and leading with clarity, resilience, and purpose.
At APEX Peak Performance, we believe peak performance is not a single moment—it is a way of living. It emerges when the mind, body, and breath are aligned, when preparation meets presence, and when individuals learn how to access their full capacity in moments that matter.
Our mission is to help people unlock that capacity. Through a framework that integrates breathwork, movement, mindset, and deliberate practice, we equip individuals and communities with the tools to build resilience, sustain focus, and live with greater purpose. Whether in classrooms, athletic arenas, workplaces, or daily life, our work is designed not simply to improve performance—but to support people in thriving.
At the center of our approach is breath. Often overlooked, breathing is one of the most powerful bridges between physiology and performance. When trained with intention, it becomes a tool for regulating the nervous system, sharpening cognitive clarity, improving physical endurance, and supporting recovery. Breathwork anchors our methodology, connecting physical training, emotional regulation, and mental focus into a unified system for growth.
APEX Peak Performance was founded by Ricardo Urbina and Dr. Donna Norkeliunas, whose professional paths converged around a shared belief: that peak performance should be accessible, practical, and deeply human.
Ricardo, a four-time Kona Ironman World Championship qualifier, competitive freediver, and peak performance coach, brings decades of experience in endurance sport, resilience training, and high-performance environments. His work emphasizes the disciplined training of breath, composure under pressure, and the physical foundations required for sustained performance.
Donna, an educational leader with a doctorate in Educational Leadership, has spent her career exploring how individuals and institutions develop cultures of excellence. Her work integrates learning science, leadership development, and wellness practices to help students, educators, and organizations cultivate environments where people can grow, contribute, and lead with purpose.
Together, they developed the APEX framework—a holistic and scalable model that integrates breathwork, physical conditioning, cognitive development, and emotional well-being. The framework is designed to be lived, learned, and taught, allowing peak performance principles to extend far beyond a single training session.
Today, APEX partners with individuals, institutions, and community organizations to embed these principles into culture and practice. From classroom instruction and faculty professional development to athletic conditioning, leadership workshops, and water-based performance training, our work helps individuals develop the internal skills required to navigate pressure, adapt to change, and sustain excellence over time.
Ultimately, APEX Peak Performance is about more than performance. It is about helping people reconnect with their capacity—to move with strength, think with clarity, breathe with intention, and live with resilience and purpose.
Our work is also our purpose— seamlessly merging our passion and gifts to provide others with what they need. Our courses and workshops provide foundational tools for personal and professional development, encouraging people to tap into their potential, live optimally, and reach for peak performance in life.
