Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) officially announced today the athletes and coaches that will represent Canada in swimming at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, Korea August 20-31.
With the FINA World Championships and Pan Am Games dominating this summer's swimming scene, the Universiade is primarily an opportunity for Canada to showcase some of its up-and-coming swimmers, however, the squad heading to Korea is still arguably the strongest of its kind in a decade.
Two national team veterans, University of British Columbia's Kelly Stefanyshyn (Vancouver) and University of Victoria's Christin Petelski (Victoria), lead a group of 11 swimmers that combined for 25 medals at the 2003 CIS championships.
Stefanyshyn, 21, is the most accomplished swimmer on the roster with 38 international medals and an eighth-place finish in the 200-metre backstroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to her credit. The CIS record holder in the 200m back and former national record holder in the 100m back is currently racing on an injury card as she attempts to recover from upper body and back ailments in time for Athens 2004.
Petelski, 25, is an eight-year member of the national team, finishing eighth in the 200m breaststroke as an 18-year-old at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Pacific Coast Swimming club member also helped Canada to a sixth-place finish in the 4x100m medley relay at the Sydney Games and, like Stefanyshyn, is hoping the Universiade experience will act as a confidence boost heading into Olympic qualification.
McGill University's Alexandre Pichette (Montreal) is one of five Universiade swimmers with national training card status, joining UBC's Michelle Landry (North Vancouver) and Caitlin Meredith (Kamloops, B.C.), Jennifer Porenta (North York, Ont.) from the University of Toronto and University of Calgary veteran Emma Spooner (Calgary).
Pichette and Petelski are the only team members attending their second Universiade as both were in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1999 - Pichette was sixth in the 200m back and eighth in the 100m back, while Petelski placed fifth in the 200m breast.
Landry and Porenta served notice that they are two of Canada's brightest young swimmers with standout performances at the Olympic Youth Festival in Sydney this past January. Landry took home a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley, Porenta a bronze in the 50m free, and both were members of Canada's 4x200 and 4x100m free relay teams that won gold and silver medals, respectively.
Meredith, who was named the female rookie of the year at the 2003 CIS swimming championships after a four-medal performance, is joined by male rookie of the year Chad Hankewich (Saskatoon) from the University of Regina, a triple CIS medalist who set a CIS record in the 50m butterfly.
Rounding out the team is Universite de Montreal student Michel Boulianne (Ottawa), a former national team member who placed fifth in the 200m breast at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Joseph Bartoch (London, Ont.), a UNLV student who placed second in the 100m fly at the most recent Canadian Trials, and McGill's Michelle Laprade (Montreal), gold medalist in the 50m breast at the 2003 CIS championships.
Christin Petelski of Victoria, a two-time Olympian, earned a second gold medal in the breaststroke this weekend winning the women's 200-metre race Saturday at the inaugural Club Nationals swimming competition.
Petelski, tuning up for the World University Games in South Korea next month, clocked 1:11.40 for the win. Lisa Blackburn of Waterloo, Ont., the 50 breaststroke winner, was second at 1:12.90 and Michelle Mange of Vancouver third at 1:13.53.
'I've battled injuries this year so I'm just glad I'll be competing at an event like the Student Games,' said Petelski. 'I've picked up my training since the world trials (in June) and it showed tonight. It's been overall a down year for me but I'm till planning to fight for a spot on the Olympic team next year.'
In the women's 200 freestyle, Elizabeth Collins of Regina denied Maya Beaudry of Vancouver a third gold medal with a victory. Collins clocked 2:04.04 while Beaudry, the 100 and 400 freestyle winner, was second in 2:04.84.
Other winners in womens competition were Audrey Lacroix of Montreal in the 100 butterfly and Caitlin Meredith of Vancouver in the 200 backstroke.
In men's competition, Jesse Jacks of Victoria and Colin Russell of Calgary each added a second gold medal with wins in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle respectively. Desmond Strelzow of Vancouver took the 200 backstroke.
The competition is also an age group meet with races held in the 14 and under and 15-17 for the men and 13 and under and 14-15 for the women.
Pacific Coast Swimming athletes Karley Stutzel and David Creel are currently in Barcelona competing in the 5km and 10km open water events at the World Championships. Check out Swim BC or Swimming Canada for all the info.
PCS finished the 2003 BC AAA Provincial Championships in fifth position on the overall team scores. All members of the team that traveled to Kamloops contributed to the overall success of the team. Erich Schmitt led the charge winning gold in the 200 fly, 200 IM and the 400 IM while also adding silver in the 1500 freestyle and both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Young gun Jayme Weimer won three gold and one bronze medal in a very successful meet for the 12 year old. Ten year old Alyssa Bakken won silver medals in the 100 and 200 backstrokes.
Craig Dagnall picked up two bronze and one silver medal while Ryan Clouton and Chantal Huard won bronze and silver respectively. Greer Jacks also climbed the podium winning silver in the 200 and 400 freestyle while Hollis Roth won bronze in the 200 butterfly.
The 2003 World Championship Trials proved to be very successful meet for the swimmers from Pacific Coast Swimming as three swimmers and two coaches will represent Canada this summer. David Creel and Karley Stutzel will be swimming in what has been called the 'Oldest Swimming Pool' the Mediterranean sea this summer as they compete for Canada at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Creel and Stutzel will swim the 5km and 10km Open Water races as Pacific Coast Swimming coach Ron Jacks will be the head coach for the open water team.
Later on in the summer Christin Petelski and coach Peter Vizsolyi will travel to Korea for the 2003 FISU World University Games. Petelski qualified for her 100 breaststroke swim in a time of 1:11.16. Her time was high enough on the points charts to place Vizsolyi as head coach of the Canadian team.
The summer will be exciting as everyone will be watching as Canada takes on the World at the World Aquatic Championships in Barcelona, the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and the FISU Games in Korea. Stay tuned for pictures of your Canadian national team members for the summer of 2003.
Good luck to Dave, Karley, Ron, Christin and Peter.
The 2003 World Championship Trials begin this Thursday right here in Victoria at the Saanich Commonwealth Pool. A number of Pacific Coast Swimming athletes are in the hunt to be selected to either the World Championship, Pan American Games or FISU (World University) Games teams. Jesse Jacks will look to defend his national title he won in the same facility last summer in the 200 butterfly and looks to be selected to his first Canadian National team. Christin Petelski, Danielle Bell and John Stamhuis, members of Canada 2002 Commonwealth Games team, will also be looking to earn selection to either the World Championships team or the Pan American Games team. Karley Stutzel has been pre-selected for the World Championships in the Open Water events and David Creel will be looking to join Stutzel off the coast of Spain this July.
All the action starts this Thursday at SCP with finals running from 6 - 8pm daily.
The 2003 Swim BC Virtual Trials official results are now available online. These are the combined rankings from all the Regional Championship's, AA swimmers only. The top three swimmers in each event gain entry to the Team Aquatic Supplies BC Provincial Championships this summer in Kamloops. Visit the Swim BC website to view the complete list.
The brochure for the 2003 Thetis Lake Swim is now available online. Click here to download. Don't forget to check out our open water swim page for more information on open water swimming in BC. Entry forms for the VOWSA Series are now available on line as well.
Jesse Jacks led Pacific Coast swimming at the 2003 Mel Zajac International swim meet picking up a gold medal in the 200m butterfly while Hollis Roth made her first national qualifying standard. Jacks came from behind over the final 50 metres to win the gold over national team member Chad Murray from Calgary. His winning time was 2:05.18. Jacks also picked up a silver in the men's 100 butterfly in 55.80.
Hollis Roth made her first Canadian senior national qualifying standard on the weekend in the women's 200 butterfly. Hollis made the standard in the morning heats and placed sixth overall in the final.
Dave Creel was also on the podium for PCS winning a silver medal in the 1500 freestyle and also placed fourth in the 400 freestyle and the 400 IM. Karley Stutzel picked up a bronze medal in the women's 1500 freestyle on the first day of the competition.
2003 Open Water schedule is now available on the PCS website. Current schedule includes races in Vancouver, Penticton, Victoria and Qualicum. Click here to visit the Open Water page.
PCS B Group members wish a fond farewell to Natalie Condrashoff, who has been the assistant coach for the group throughout the short course season. Natalie is a student at the University of Victoria and is going home for the summer.
P.C.S returned from the Qualicum All-level meet with a bag full of ribbons and a pretty happy group after swimming very well. Fourteen swimmers from Tomoko and Mark's group took part on the Sunday of Ravensong's meet. Coming home with one new AAA swimmer Alyssa Bakken (10) who has been working hard and swimming fast this year after joining competitive swimming approximately one year ago. Her 1:18.00 in the 100 backstroke would have put her 12th at this years short course AAA Championships just over one month ago. She would have preferred to have made it in her favorite event, the 50 freestyle, but as luck would have it she got disqualified for a quick start.
Our other highlight swim of the meet was Johnny Luo who made his AA goal in the 13-14 age group swimming 2:49.10 in the 200 IM. Johnny didn't join the rest of the group who were in Vancouver last weekend picking up a swim bag full of hardware at the Dynamo meet but made his presence known in Qualicum winning a number of events.
Lancaster was very pleased with his swimmers performances on the weekend. Lancaster commented "This meet was well done considering that the swimmers came back from Vancouver last weekend and swam hard all week, did Swim-A-Thon on Saturday morning and then went to the meet and swam pretty well."
John Stamhuis, Jesse Jacks and Christin Petelski are in Indianapolis this week competing at the 2003 US National Championships. All three swimmers were in action on the second day of competition as Petelski and Stamhuis competed in the 200 breaststroke while Jacks swam the 200 fly.
In the women's 200 breaststroke Christin Petelski placed 14th overall in a time of 2:35.55 while John Stamhuis clocked 2:17.25 to place 6th on the men's side. Jesse Jacks won the consolation final of the men's 200 butterfly in a time of 2:01.84.
Craig Dagnall began the long course swimming season with a bang this past weekend at the first annual LOSC Invitational in Langley, BC. After breaking the BC short course Provincial record in the 800 freestyle twice within one month Dagnall continues to impress. His winning time of 9:49.35 broke the old record of 9:58.12 by Patrick Downing from Hyack in 2001. Dagnall finished the weekend with six first place finishes in the 200 / 400 / 800 freestyle, 100 / 200 butterfly and the 200 IM.
Iain McLetchie, Vikes Sports Staff *This article was written during the 2003 CIS Championships
Victoria, B.C. - After sending seven athletes to the Olympics in the past 20 years, seeing University of Victoria team members win over 200 national and international medals, and overseeing the rise of UVic's swimming program from a small level two sport to a Canadian university powerhouse, an unbiased observer would think that Dr. Peter Vizsolyi would have multitudes of highlights to pick from when asked to reminisce a little. Such is not the case, though, as the long-time coach, who is celebrating his 20th season as UVic's head swimming coach, chooses to focus on both the ups and downs that the job brings.
"In coaching, you have some unbelievably rewarding experiences and also some unbelievably trying and difficult experiences," Vizsolyi states while watching his swimmers perfect their strokes. "When someone tries to make the Olympic team and doesn't, there are two people who have to take 100 percent responsibility - the coach and the athlete. So you always wonder."
He mentions the time when an Olympian he coached presented him with her Olympic ring, along with a personal thank-you note, only to have another Olympian tell him a mere three hours later that he was planning to switch swimming programs due to conflicting ideals with another UVic swim coach. Vizsolyi disagreed with the move, and couldn't give the departee his support.
"Part of being a mentor is to guide you," says Vizsolyi, who hones his coaching style based on the ideas of great Canadian swimming coaches such as Howard Firby, Jeno Tihanyi and Ted Simpson. "And if I think you're doing the wrong thing, I have to tell you that."
His certification as a Master Coach at the National Coaching Institute has led Vizsolyi to the understanding that coaching is more than just perfecting technical skills; it also comprises the elements of leadership and mentorship. "Leadership is getting people to see their potential, getting them to work together within the group for the benefit of themselves, and getting them to do the things that are hard to do - necessary to do - to achieve at the highest level."
That approach is seen in the success of the UVic program, particularly individually. With a limited budget, UVic has always been unable to send the same number of athletes to Nationals as other CIS powerhouses, such as UBC and Calgary. However, the lack of team success has been superseded by a drive to place individual athletes on the podium, as well as prepare those athletes for international success. "We're looking at having the most people with medals at CIS (national) and in the international arena," claims Vizsolyi, who saw current Vike Danielle Bell, and alums John Stamhuis and Christin Petelski compete in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. "We're going to give you the best chance you can get to become an international swimmer, and if you're a CIS-level athlete we'll also give you that chance as long as you're a positive contributor."
That stance is one that works in complete tandem with Vizsolyi's ideal for a leader.
"I think leaders have to be able to do that - to be able to draw a line in the sand and figure out what zone they are prepared to work in and how much people can be outside that without compromising the overall goal of the program. If you are in our program, you have to be committed to doing the best job you can for the level you're engaged in.
That approach to excellence has been successful in the past, as UVic swimming continues to be a bastion for international-calibre swimmers. Along with Bell, the Vikes' current team is chalk-full of top-notch swimmers, including Karley Stutzel and Dave Creel, current national open-water champions, and former National Team member Phil Weiss. Weiss is returning to the program after a two-year hiatus, and the two-time UVic Athlete of the Year will be looked upon to do very well at CIS Nationals. His return to form showcases another of Vizsolyi's personal missions.
"We have an incredible track record of rehabbing people back to international form," Vizsolyi mentions. His contacts and knowledge as a medical doctor have been invaluable in that regard, and return to competition of Stamhuis and Petelski, who suffered from a plethora of injuries, back up Vizsolyi's claim. And with four men heading to Nationals who will "probably all medal", and nine of 11 women competing, it's obvious the Vikes program is in good hands.
Pacific Coast Swimming had some impressive performances during the weekend at the 2003 Team Aquatic Supplies BC Provincial Championships en route to an impressive team finish.
PCS finished the weekend in 2nd place overall in the men's team scores, 5th in the women's and 5th overall. Leading the men were some great performances by Greer Jacks and Erich Schmidt who were fresh off their podium results from Western Canadians the weekend before. Schmidt won four gold medals throughout the weekend in the 100 / 200 backstroke and the 200 / 400 IM. He also made his first Canadian National qualifying standard in the 200 backstroke. Jacks won gold in the 100 / 200 / 400 freestyle events.
Gold medalists for PCS during the weekend included:
Ashkaughn Forghani 50 Freestyle
Hollis Roth 100 / 200 Butterfly
Greer Jacks 100 / 200 / 400 Freestyle
Erich Schmidt 100 / 200 Backstroke; 200 / 400 IM
For full team results please visit our results page.
Day one of the 2003 Team Aquatic Supplies BC Provincial Championships saw Pacific Coast Swimming's Craig Dagnall break his own provincial record in the 800 freestyle. Craig went out in 9:38.23 for the 800 split in his 1500 freestyle on Thursday. Dagnall held the old record set at 9:51.85.
PCS Swimmers collected a ton of hardware from the 2003 Western Canadian Championships in Regina last weekend. Greer Jacks won gold in the 100, 200, 400 freestyle and Eric Schmidt won the bronze in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Visit our Meet Results page.
27-Feb-03 by Rich Cole Story taken from UVic's "Martlet" newspaper
Students from around the countr packed their bathing suits, shaved their bodies and traveled to Commonwealth Place for the 2003 CIS Championships last weekend.
Hosted by UVic and their affiliate Pacific Coast Swimming (PCS), the competition offered Speedo-heads the weekend of a lifetime. The event's highlights included the shattering of 13 CIS records, not to mention one Canadian and one world record.
UBC's Brian Johns more than reimbursed swim fans' three-buck entry fee by shattering the world record in 400m individual medley. In a sport in which winners are decided by the difference of tenths and even hundredths of seconds, the Richmond native became the fastest all-around swimmer on the planet by an unprecedented two seconds.
The Vikes' own Jesse Jacks also made waves, notching up three of UVic's five medals. Jacks had had a difficult season, battling the flu bug, however according to Vikes head coach Peter Vizsolyi, it made Jacks learn new race strategies. By tapping in to what Vizsolyi calls 'intelligent fear', Jacks used any doubts on the swim blocks to his advantage. Son of a three-time Olympian and PCS coach, Jacks, a sociology student, spent the CIS weekend majoring in lapping his competition.
Another Vike with a great performance was soon-to-be-retired Phil Weiss, who earned a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley, the same race in which UBC's Brian Johns set a new Canadian Record.
"Going up against a world record holder was great," said Weiss of his last race as a Vike. "I've raced with Johns since we were kids. It was a good feeling to be on the podium beside him."
Also retiring this year is fourth-year backstroke veteran Dave MacDonald.
"I thought it was really great the way the Vikes pulled together for such a small team," said MacDonald. UBC may have won the overall points total, but MacDonald proudly pimped UVic's fourth-place performance, stating that "per swimmer, the Vikes out-did all the other universities at CI's."
27-Feb-03 by Rich Cole Story taken from UVic's "Martlet" newspaper
The Vikes' successful showing at Commonwealth pool last weekend illustrates the depth of the Varsity program, as UVic continues to dominate the CIS's year after year.
Peter Vizsolyi, now in his 20th year with the Vikes, has coached hundreds of swimmers from water-winged-wearing beginners to CIS contenders. With fifth-year veteran Kellie Rolston also retiring this year, Vizsolyi reflected on the true significance of an event such as the Interuniversity Championships. He recalled this year's great performances and said that, while he is really impressed with each medal, he feels that a coach's job is more than just breeding a fast competitor.
"Swim meets are really more to do with learning about yourself, how you can grow and change," he said. "These kids are giving up an important time in their lives to swim with the Vikes. Sometimes helping the swimmers grow as people can be even more important than their racing stats.
Vizsolyi's coaching philosophy seems to be the key to the Vikes'; continued success. The Vikes continue to win in and out of the pool. Future up-and-comers like Danielle Bell or Laina Steeple seem to be picking UVic for Vizsolyi and his team's great track record.
Swimming is a grueling test of an individual's true potential. Unlike most sports, there's not much to blame a loss on. No mechanical failures, no souped up equipment, just an athlete and the water.
For Phil Weiss, his UVic swimming career "has been an amazing personal adventure."
When I joked around and asked the retiring swimmers if they were going to buy walkers and spend the winters in Florida, Dave MacDonald laughed and said, "Yeah, me and Weiss are going to gain a hundred pounds...each." While it made for a great joke, the truth is that the retiring Vikes will spend the rest of their lives giving back to the sport that made them who they are.
Judging from the amount of Sidney Piranhas and Pacific Coast Swimmers cheering on their UVic mentors, the next generation of Vikes are well on their way.
Dave MacDonald even said that he'd tell any future Vike "the secret location of the showers in the Clearhue Building."
He said that he'd tell me once I qualified for CI's. Damn.
Victoria, B.C. - Day three of the Canadian University Sport Swimming Championship was another day of broken records and personal bests. In a grueling test of endurance Jesse Jacks and David Creel both competed in the menıs 1500m freestyle. A time of 15:33.85 was enough to secure the silver for Jesse Jacks while teammate David Creel finished fourth with a time of 14:42.26. In the menıs 200m individual medley Philip Weiss earned a bronze medal with a time of 2:03.53. Dave McDonald competed in the B Final of this event earning a seventh place finish with a time of 2:09.82. McDonald achieved a third place finish in the B Final of the menıs 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:05.87. In the menıs 400m medley relay the Vikes finished with a time of 3:52.69 for tenth place.
The Vikes women were a force to be reckoned with this evening. Their first competition was the womenıs 800m freestyle. Danielle Bell was the first Vike to finish this competition in fourth place with 8:44.06 as her time. Karley Stutzel was not far behind with a time of 8:53.80 for a seventh place position. The womenıs 200m backstroke saw Danielle Bell finish eighth with a time of 2:19.78. Laina Steeple competed in the B Final of this event and her hard work paid off with a first place finish and a time of 2:19.23. The last individual event for the Vikes women was the 100m freestyle. Karley Stutzel competed and with a time of 59.12 finished sixth. To end the night the women competed in the 400m medley relay. Of the sixteen teams that competed, the Vikes women finished eleventh with a time of 4:40.19.
In the relation to the other teams, the UVic women finished seventh with 202 points though they had one of the smallest teams in the competition. The Vikes men finished an amazing fourth with 222 points, a having only four swimmers in the competition.
22-Feb-03 Pete Lewis - UVic Vikes Athletics and Recreation
Victoria, B.C. - Day two of the Canadian University Sport Swimming Championship was another day of intense competition and demonstration of Canadian swimming talent. David Creel got the first medal for the Vikes this evening, scoring a silver medal in the menıs 400m freestyle with a time of 3:54.88. Vikes gained another silver medal due to the merit of Jesse Jacks who achieved a second place finish, with a time of 1:58.80 in the menıs 200m butterfly. Jacks with 25.14 as his time also achieved a fifth place finish in the menıs 50m butterfly. Philip Weiss also swam well. He finished eighth in the menıs 50m butterfly with a time of 25.60 and placed seventh in the menıs 200m butterfly with a time of 2:03.34.
The Vikes women also had a successful night. Laina Steeple placed third in the B Final of the womenıs 100m backstroke with 1:05.28. In the B Final of the womenıs 400m freestyle four Vikes competed. Danielle Bell finished first with a time of 4:15.16, Karley Stutzel was a close second with 4:19.61, Emily Carwithen came fifth with 4:32.00 as her time, and Katie Humphries achieved a time of 4:33.92 which equaled an eighth place finish.
Danielle Gudgeonıs time of 2:22.92 was good enough for a first place finish in the B Final of the womenıs 200m butterfly. Teammate Katie Humphries placed eighth in the same competition with a time of 2:30.56. Kellie Rolston swam the A Final of this event, placing sixth with a time of 2:20.15.
In the 800m freestyle relays the women placed fifth with a time of 8:24.88 and the men finished seventh with a time of 7:38.11. Swimming resumes tomorrow morning at Saanich Commonwealth Place with heats starting at 10 AM and finals at 5 PM.
21-Feb-03 Pete Lewis - UVic Vikes Athletics and Recreation
Victoria, B.C. - Day one of the Canadian University Sport Swimming Championship saw over 30 teams with approximately 312 athletes converge on Saanich Commonwealth Place. The Vikes certainly made their presence felt in this pool of talent. Tension was high as several CIS records were broken, culminating in Brian Johns of UBC breaking a world record in the 400m individual medley.
First up on the evening for the Vikes was the women's 200m freestyle. Karley Stutzel placed 8th in the A Final of this race with a time of 2:03.10. Danielle Bell came 1st in the B Final with a time of 2:02.86. The women's success continued in event three, the women's 50m breaststroke. The Vikes Liana Steeple captured a second place finish in the B Final with a time of 31.12. Teammate Kellie Rolston followed suit, finishing 7th in the B Final of the Women's 100m butterfly with a time of 1:04.86.
The first event for the Vikes men was the 100m butterfly. Jesse Jacks earned the first bronze medal for the Vikes with a time of 54.54. Also competing in this event, Philip Weiss achieved his personal best in the A Final with a fifth place finish and a time of 54.78.
The first The women hit the pool again in the women's 400 individual medley. Emily Carwithen competed in the B Final and finished 6th with a time of 5:05.76. In the A Final men's 400m individual medley, David Creel finished in 4:27.54 earning him fourth place. Competition was tough in this event, with Brian Johns of UBC shattering the world record. Dave MacDonald achieved a personal best tonight with a 3rd place finish in the B Final of this same competition with a time of 4:30.90.
The first In the 400m freestyle relay the women finished 8th with 3:56.84 as their time. The men placed 14th in their 400m freestyle relay, finishing the night with a time of 3:32.27.
The first Swimming resumes tomorrow morning at Saanich Commonwealth Place with heats starting at 10 AM and finals at 5 PM.
Several members of Pacific Coast Swimming will head to snowy Regina this weekend to take part in the 2003 Western Canadian Championships and head coach Ron Jacks has some great expectations for this small group. "I am hoping that we can advance some of these guys past the national qualifying standard in their respective events" said Jacks."With the World Championship trials in Victoria this June it would be great to give them a few months to prepare by getting the standard this weekend. PCS has a shot at bringing home a number of medals from Saskatchewan against the best age group swimmers in the country." Jacks believes that all the PCS swimmers have a good shot at the medal podium this weekend. Results and more information from the weekend will be available at Swimming Canada.
Pacific Coast Swimming had a number of winners over the weekend at the 2003 Team Aquatic Supplies BC Senior Circuit. Christin Petelski (Breast), John Stamhuis (IM), Dave Creel (Distance Free) and Jesse Jacks (Fly) were all named the overall winners of the BC Senior Circuit in their respective categories.
The BC Senior Circuit is based on three meets throughout the short course season. The first was back in October in Victoria and the second in Richmond in January. The third and final meet was held this past weekend in Vancouver. Over the three meets swimmers earn series points and the athlete who accumulates the most points in each category over the three meets receives a cheque for $500.00 from Team Aquatic Supplies.
Here is how our swimmers claimed the overall titles: Creel won the 1500 freestyle on Friday and added a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle on Saturday to solidify his place in top spot among the BC Senior Circuit points for the men's distance freestyle category. Jacks won the 200 butterfly and picked up a silver in the 100 fly to claim the overall butterfly category. Petelski was second in the 200 breaststroke and third in the 100 breaststroke to claim the women's breaststroke title while John Stamhuis picked up the men's IM category finishing just ahead of Creel in the points standings.
Pacific Coast Swimming had it's first provincial record breaker this past weekend at the Wave Maker swim meet. Craig Dagnall broke the11-12 year old boys Provincial record for the 800 freestyle by over 20 seconds posting a time of 9:51.85.
David Creel capped off a successful weekend at the PCS Wave Maker by breaking a 14 year old club record in the 800 freestyle. His winning time of 8:04.15 broke the Vikes and PCS record that was held by Brett Regan and had stood since the late 1980's. Creel split 4:01.72 for the first 400 and then came back extremely strong in 4:02.43.
Danielle Bell and Karley Stutzel also swam well on the weekend posting seasonal best times in the 400 freestyle in 4:17.40 and 4:19.43 respectively. Megan Turner qualified for the CIS Championships later this month with her 200 butterfly swim bringing the total of Vikes women qualified for the meet to nine.
The third PCS mini camp went off extremely well on the weekend with 29 swimmers attending the session. There were 13 coaches on deck helping the swimmers learn the best way to change strokes through the Individual Medley events. The coaches for this camp included 2002 Canadian Commonwealth Games team members Danielle Bell, John Stamhuis and Christin Petelski; Canadian National Open Water Team members Karley Stutzel and David Creel; 2002 National Champion Jesse Jacks; former National Team member Philip Weiss; and a number of Varsity swimmers led by 5th year veteran Kellie Rolston.
At the VIR Championships in Comox last weekend Pacific Coast Swimming placed second overall in the team scoring with 3,024 points. With a team just over half the size of the winning team 27 athletes swam hard throughout the weekend. When the team size was taken in to account PCS actually came out on top with the average point score per swimmer being 112. Click here to view the point scores from the meetand click here to view the point scores taking team size into account.
The University of Victoria Vikes finished the 2003 Canada West Championships this past weekend with a total of 10 medals, four of them gold. The small team from Uvic found themselves up against some tough competition during the three day event as the Canada West schools once again showed why they are the best swimming conference in the country.
The men's team placed 4th overall behind much larger teams from the Canada West. Jesse Jacks, Dave Creel and Philip Weiss each won three individual medals and were joined by Dave Macdonald on the 4x200 freestyle relay to win the bronze. Creel picked up gold in the 1500 freestyle and added silver in the 400 freestyle and 400 individual medley. Jacks won two gold medals in the 50 and 200 metre butterfly and picked up a bronze medals in the 100 butterfly. Weiss won gold in the 100 butterfly and silver in the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
The womens team also placed fourth overall. Illness struck the team quite hard during the weekend keeping several of the athletes from competing.
The team now has a weekend off before competing at the Pacific Coast Swimming Wave Maker swim meet on the February 1-2 weekend at Saanich Commonwealth Place. Uvic will also host the 2003 CIS Championships at SCP on the February 21-23 weekend.
Fourth Year Vikes swimmer Philip Weiss added another Canada West gold medal to his collection on Day 2 at the Swimming Championships in Calgary. Weiss, two-time UVic Athlete of the Year, won the men's 100 metre butterfly event in a personal best time of 55.14. This is Weiss' first year back in the pool after a break from the sport for two years. Jesse Jacks won his third medal of the weekend picking up the bronze in a time of 55.23.
David Creel continued his success with a silver medal performance in the men's 400 Individual Medley. Creel was gaining on the leader with every stroke over the last 50 metres but ran out of pool and had to settle for the silver. Creel has visited all three podium spots over the first two days of the competition.
On the women's side the flu has taken its toll on the team but there have been some good performances all round. Karley Stutzel won the consolation final of the women's 200 freestyle dropping three seconds from her heat time.
Competition continues Sunday. Watch for Dave Creel to pick up another medal in the 400 freestyle while Jacks and Weiss will battle for the medals in the 200 butterfly.
On day one of the 2003 Canada West Swimming Championships the Vikes walked away with three medals.
Leading the way was third year swimmer David Creel who won the gold medal in the mens 1500 freestyle in time of 15:38.48. Creel pulled away from two UofC swimmers over the back half of the race to claim the CW title.
Following Creel's inspirational swim was Jesse Jacks in the mens 50 metre butterfly. Jacks won the gold with a great second 25 in a time of 25.16. Watch for Jacks in the 100 and 200 butterfly later in the weekend.
On the women's side Emily Carwithen had a great swim in the 800 freestyle.
The Vikes men's4x200 freestyle relay teams also swam to a podium spot winning bronze. Creel and Jacks joined Philip Weiss and Dave MacDonald to win the bronze. The womens 4x200 team of Danielle Bell, Karley Stutzel, Laina Steeple and Danielle Gudgeon placed 4th.
Pacific Coast Swimming will be offering an IM turn camp on January 26, 2003 from 8:00am to 11:00am at UVic McKinnon Pool.
This camp will emphasis all the turns in an Individual Medley. With a minimum of five coaches on hand and numerous Senior National and International swimmers assisting, there will be a very low athlete to coach ratio. Video taping will take place and verbal feedback will be provided.
This camp is open to all swimmers who wish to improve the speed and efficiency of their IM.
The camp will cost $20.00 for PCS swimmers and $30.00 for other winter or summer club swimmers.
For additional information on this camp, please contact Rod Barratt at 812-9852 or rodbarratt@pacificcoastswimming.ca.
The inaugural PCS Christmas Cracker swim meet went off without a hitch over the weekend. Teams from the Island as well as the Lower Mainland region took part in the meet. Special thanks to all volunteers who helped out and made the event such a success.
MINNEAPOLIS - Audrey Lacroix of Montreal earned her second gold medal in two days while John Stamhuis of Victoria posted his first career international victory Saturday to conclude the U.S. Open swimming championships.
Silver medals were also won by Mike Mintenko of Vancouver in the 100 freestyle and Rick Say of Calgary in the 1,500 freestyle. Canadian swimmers ended the three-day meet with eight gold, five silver and four bronze.
In the women's 200-metre butterfly, Lacroix grabbed the lead in the final 50 metres to win in two minutes and 12.81 seconds. Lauren Stinnett of the U.S., was second in 2:14.25 and Jessica Deglau of Vancouver, the Canadian record holder, was third in 2:15.31.
"I had a much better race tonight," said Lacroix, 19, not satisfied with her performance in her 100 butterfly win on Friday. "I took it out much slower than usual but I fought back with a very strong final length. That was my plan."
Stamhuis led a Canadian medal sweep in the mens 200 breaststroke. The 24-year-old clocked 2:18.12 to edge Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and Canadian record holder Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., second in 2:18.78 while Chad Thomsen of Edmonton, the 100 breaststroke winner on Thursday, was third in 2:21.29.
"It was fun to have a good race against the other Canadians," said Stamhuis, who has made a remarkable comeback from a serious injury five years ago when he fell off a cliff. "The first three lengths were right on track but I fell off a bit on the last 50."
Say posted a personal best time in finishing second in the 1,500 freestyle in 15:41.03 as did Mintenko in the 100 freestyle clocking 50.41.
Other Canadian finalists were Jesse Jacks of Victoria fourth in the mens 200 butterfly, Taryn Lencoe of Vancouver and Brittany Reimer of Surrey, B.C., fourth and sixth in the women's 800 freestyle and Christin Petelski of Victoria sixth in the women's 200 breaststroke.
Keith Beavers of Waterloo, Ont., also won two gold medals at the meet highlighted by his victory in the 200 backstroke Thursday in which he beat world record holder and Olympic champion Lenny Krayzelburg of the U.S.
"Our performances here are right in tune with our game plan for the 2004 Olympics," said Canadian national team head coach Dave Johnson of Calgary. "There were numerous positive performances that were very excited about. And to see youngsters like Reimer and Lencoe reach finals already is a great start for them."
Minneapolis, Minnesota - PCS swimmer John Stamhuis won his first international gold medal at the 2002 US Open. John led the race from the start to pick up the gold medal in a time of 2:18.12. Stamhuis led a Canadian sweep of the event as his Pan Pacific Games teammates Mike Brown and Chad Thomsen joined him on the podium. Way to go John!!!
In other events on the final day of competition Christin Petelski was 6th in the women's 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:34.75 and Jesse Jacks was 4th in the 200 butterfly in 2:04.26.
Remember to come out and support all the PCS Swimmers next weekend at the PCS Christmas Cracker and for your chance to win an autographed Canadian swim cap signed by all the PCS National Team members!!!
Minneapolis, Minnesota - PCS swimmer and Canadian National Team Veteran Christin Petelski placed 6th in the women's 100 breaststroke on the first day of competition at the 2002 U.S. Open Championships. Petelski posted a time of 1:12.28 and was the top Canadian in the event. Competition continues through Saturday.
The Pacific Coast Swimming Parents and Swimming Association is pleased to host the following officials clinics. (Click on the link below to download the information in PDF format)
Timers Clinic - Thursday December 12th Clerk of Course Clinic - Friday December 13th
Edmonton - The best and brightest of Canada's swimming world were honored during the final day of competition at the 2002 Canadian Open Swimming Championships and PCS was front and center. The 2001 - 2002 Canadian Long Distance Swimmer and Coach of the Year awards were all awarded to swimmers from Victoria's Pacific Coast Swimming. Winning the female Long Distance Swimmer of the Year was Karley Stutzel while her PCS teammate Dave Creel won the men's award. PCS Head Coach, Ron Jacks, was named Canada's Long Distance Coach of the Year.
Stutzel won the national award for the third straight year showing once again that she is Canada's top female open water swimmer. The award was given to Karley based on her 11th place finish in the 10 km event from the World Championships in Egypt this past September. Stutzel had a busy summer in the ocean's around the world as she won the Canadian 5km and 10km titles as well as a 4th place finish in the 10km race at the Alexandria World Cup stop.
Creel claimed his first Canadian Long Distance Swimmer of the Year award for his 13th place finish in the 10km event at the World Championships. Creel, who won both the 5km and 10km National Championships this past summer, also placed 8th at the Open Water World Cup stop in Alexandria.
Long time national team coach Ron Jacks won the Canadian Long Distance Coach of the Year Award for his work with both Karley and Dave. Ron accompanied his two swimmers to Egypt for the World Championships as Canada's Head Coach.
Both Dave and Karley are currently in training after returning from the Canadian Open in Edmonton on the weekend and have their sights set on the CIS Championship right here in Victoria this February. The two athletes are also the favorites for selection to the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain in the open water category.
Edmonton - Three PCS Swimmers won medals at the 2002 Canadian Open Swimming Championships in Edmonton, Alberta this past weekend. David Creel led the way winning a silver medal on day one in the 800 freestyle and then claiming the bronze in the 1500 freestyle on the final day of the competition. Jesse Jacks won a bronze medal for the 100 butterfly while Philip Weiss won a bronze in the 200 butterfly. Jacks used a great last 25 meters to claim the bronze medal over a number of the countries best butterfly swimmers. With Phil Weiss climbing the podium in the 200 fly it marked his return to National level competition after a two year break from the sport.
Throughout the entire weekend the team had some great performances and have picked up where they left off after the Summer Nationals here in Victoria last August. The senior group will now be training hard through the Christmas break with a mini Camp in Portland and Nanaimo getting ready for the heavy meet schedule in January and February.
Looking towards the new year the group will be competing at the 2003 BC Senior Circuit # 2 in Richmond BC in early January and then on to the Canada West Championships in Calgary for the University eligible swimmers. The BC Senior Championships in Vancouver and the CIS Championships here in Victoria will be the main meets in February.
Edmonton - Pacific Coast Swimming's David Creel won the silver medal in the men's 800 freestyle on the first day of the 2002 Canadian Open Swimming Championships. This was the first medal won by a PCS swimmer at a National Championships, but will certainly not be the last. In a tight race for the silver medal Creel held off challenges from two swimmers over the final two hundred meters to post a personal best time of 8:07.20. Creel will be looking for more medals in the 400 and 1500 freestyle races later in the weekend.
In the women's 800 freestyle Karley Stutzel placed 6th in a time of 8:55.34.
For full results and other stories from the 2002 Canadian Open Swimming Championships please visit www.swimming.ca.
21-Nov-02 by Rich Cole Full article appeared in the UVic Student Newspaper The Martlet
What did you do for reading break? A little traveling? Maybe you even managed to study a little bit between naps? While most were sleeping it off, the Vikes Varsity swim team defended their hometown pride.
After some early season meets, the team returned home to school the 17 other clubs that participated in the Pacific Cup at Commonwealth Place. Joining their Victoria affiliate Pacific Coast Swimming, the Vikes guarded their home waters and took first place.
"I was really impressed with the performance," said coach Peter Vizsolyi. "All the Varsity swimmers did really well." The racing action included some great wins from current Vike and Commonwealth Games team member Danielle Bell, and a five-event sweep from the promising Jessie Jacks.
The participation of Vikes international long distance swimmers David Creel and Karley Stutzel was another of the event's highlights.
"The distance swimmers were really great at the meet," said Vizsolyi. After returning from the World Open Water Championships in Egypt, followed by a World Cup event where Stutzel placed fourth in the women's and Creel placed eighth in the mens, the duo showed no signs of fatigue, winning the longer Pacific Cup events.
From early weekday practices to race-filled weekends, the Vikes are gearing up for a great season. Six UVic swimmers, plus two more Varsity team alumni, are bound for Nationals in Edmonton next week.
Ten PCS swimmers made the trip up to Campbell River for their All-level meet. The group swam really well with most swimmers going best times in the majority of their events.
Standouts for the weekend were:
Jordan Gybels (11) who swam 100 percent best times and improved over 72 seconds over his slate of 8 swims! Good work Jordan! Alyssa Bakken (9) also swam 100 percent best times improving 57 seconds over her 8 weekend swims. Just missing the 10 & Under AAA standards. Next meet she will be moving past those milestones easily! Nicole Crawford (11) also swam to 100% best times and went 7:18 for her first 400 IM. Way to go Nicole.
The Swimmer of the Meet goes to Alistair Young(11) who swam 100 percent best times in his 8 events, and made his first AAA time in the 50 freestyle! Alistair who came to us in October from a school swimming program in Australia, likes to swim breaststroke but just missed the standard by one or two tenths of a second. Directly after the 50 freestyle he swam his first swim meet 400 IM faster tha his best workout time by over 30 seconds! Congratulations!
The next stop for this group is the Christmas Cracker meet hosted by Pacific Coast Swimming at the Commonwealth pool Dec 14th and 15th!
The full force of Pacific Coast Swimming was felt over the weekend at the Pacific Cup meet at Saanich Commonwealth Pool. PCS Swimmers at all levels had an excellent meet resulting in PCS winning the overall team title by more than 700 points.
This was the first meet of the season where all levels of Pacific Coast Swimming athletes competed together at the same competition, but will definately not be the last. Pacific Coast Swimming finished with 2,179 points to win the meet. Every member of the team who competed on the weekend contributed to the overall success of the team. PCS won the men's title finishing with 1340 overall while the second place team finished with 451. The women finished in 3rd place overall with 839 points. The senior swimmers led by example sweeping the podium spots in six men's events and collecting a load of hardware overall.
With more meets in the next few weeks for all PCS swimmers it was a great showing at the first invitational meet of the year and everyone is excited for the next time a PCS swimmer takes to the blocks.
The University of Victoria swim team joined with other PCS teammates to compete at the Colleges Cup in Vancouver and had some excellent performances. With the smallest team entered in the competition the team pulled together to finish in 3rd place over all on the men's side and in fifth on the women's. For this competition the Vikes teamed up with Pacific Coast Swimming athletes John Stamhuis, Karley Stutzel and Christin Petelski to form the Victoria team entry.
Leading the men's team were Philip Weiss and Jesse Jacks. Weiss, who has returned to the pool this year after a two year break from the sport, won the B flight of three events over the weekend; the 200 butterfly and both the 200 and 400 individual medley. Phil also added a second place finish in the A flight of the 100 butterfly and was a member of all of the Vikes relay teams. Jacks, placed 2nd in the A flight of the 200 butterfly in a near personal best t butterfly when the rest of the CIS converge on Victoria in February.
On the women's side national team member Danielle Bell led the team with strong performances in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle. Swimming in the A flights against a tough field of Canadian team members Bell raced to third place finishes in both the 400 and 800 freestyle and added a second in the B flight of the 200 freestyle.
Eight members of the swim team have already qualified for the 2003 CIS Championships which will be hosted by UVic for the first time since 1994 this February.
A large portion of the PCS National / Varsity group competed at the first BC Senior Circuit meet of the 2002 - 2003 season. The BC Senior Circuit is composed of three meets culminating at the BC Senior Championships in February 2003. Athletes earn series points for placing in the top 16 in each event at the three meets with prize money being awarded in six separate categories (Sprint Free, Distance Free, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and IM) for both male and female.
Pacific Coast Swimming had a strong contingent at the competition being led by national team members Christin Petelski and Danielle Bell on the women's side and by Jesse Jacks and Dave Creel on the men's.
Petelski, a double Olympian and long time national team member, won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke to start her season off with a bang. Bell placed second in the 400 free and added third place finished in both the 200 and 800 freestyle.
Jacks, the defending BC Senior Circuit butterfly champion, won the 1500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly and added a second place in the 100 butterfly behind "The Tank" Mike Mintenko from Vancouver. Creel won the 400 freestyle and placed second behind teammate Jacks in the 1500 and was also fourth in the 400 IM.
This meet also marked the return to competition for Philip Weiss. Weiss retired from the sport in the Spring of 2000 but returned to the pool this September with PCS. In his first competition Phil qualified for both Nationals and CIS Champs by placing third in the 200 butterfly in 2:09.00. He also had strong swims in the 400 IM and 100 butterfly placing third in both events. Weiss is quickly returning to the form that made him a national team member for five years and named the University of Victoria Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
Pacific Coast had it's first meet and it was great! We had 25 swimmers with all their new t-shirts and caps on. Everyone had a great time and swam really well for the first meet of the year. We had five of our coaches come and check out the action and help to coach the swimmers at all levels. All in all it was a good experience for all the PCS swimmers who attended. We even came home with two bags of ribbons mostly blue! (the coaches favorite color). Swimmers can check the results out on the web in the next few days. The next meet for PCS Swimmers will be the Senior Circuit meet this coming weekend Saturday at the Commonwealth Pool. Come on out and cheer on the top swimmers in the province and see how they get it done in the pool.
Karley Stutzel came off a tough race series at the 2002 World Open Water Swimming Championships to place 4th overall at the final FINA Open Water World Cup stop in Alexandria, Egypt. Her time of 2:14.04 was a mere 8 seconds behind the overall winner.
Dave Creel who had also just finished the 5km and 10km races at the World Championships also competed at the World Cup stop and finished his 10km race in a time of 2:04.44 good enough for eighth position overall and only 4 seconds behind 3rd place.
Up next for both Creel and Stutzel will be the 2002 Senior Circuit #1 at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria on October 26th.
The 10 km World Open Water Championship race took place in Egypt yesterday and Pacific Coast swimmers David Creel and Karley Stutzel both took part and finished strong in a tough world class field. On the women's side the event was extremely close as only three one hundredths of a second separated the top two competitors. Pacific Coast Swimming's Karley Stutzel finished in 11th position in a time of 1:59.45. The women's event was won in a time of 1:56.42 by Germany's Britta Kamrau.
In the men's race David Creel finished in 13th spot in a time of 1:50.21, less than one minute behind first place finisher Ivgueni Kochkarov, from Russia, who won in a time of 1:49.30. The 2002 World Championships was Creel's first taste of international competition, but will definitely not be his last. As one of Canada's best up and coming open water swimmers he will be one to watch for in future open water events.
While this brings the World Championships to a close for both Stutzel and Creel, they will remain in Egypt to compete in a World Cup event. The 11th stop in the Marathon World Cup Circuit will take place in Alexandria Abou Heif, Egypt on October 2. Following the 10km race they will return to Victoria and join their Pacific Coast Swimming and UVic Vikes teammates in training for the current season.
The next major international open water event that Stutzel and Creel will be swimming towards will be the 2003 World Aquatic Championships taking place in Barcelona, Spain next July.
It was a blistering day in Egypt with temperatures over 40 degrees celsius as both Karley Stutzel and Dave Creel competed in the 5km to open the 2002 World Open Water Swimming Championships. On the women's side it was 30 year old Viola Valli from Italy who took the gold medal in a time of 56 minutes and 23 seconds. Stutzel, who is Canada's only female entrant in the World Championship's finished in 12th position in a time of 58 minutes and 44 seconds. The field was incredibly close as there was only 9 seconds separating Stutzelfrom the fourth place finisher.
On the men's side David Creel finished his first international open water competition in 15th position in a total time of 54 minutes and 10 seconds. Creel was apparently fighting a cold the day before the 5km event took place but felt well enough to compete.
Both Creel and Stutzel will compete in the 10km event on Wednesday an event in which they are both current National Champions. Stutzel will look to improve on her 10km performance from the 2001 World Aquatic Championships where she placed 4th overall.
Two Pacific Coast Swimming athletes left early this morning for the 2002 Open Water Swimming World Championships in Egypt. Karley Stutzel was fourth in the 10km event at last years World Aquatic Championships in Japan and will be looking to move into a podium position this year. Stutzel is in her third year at the University of Victoria and is the two-time Canadian Female Long Distance Swimmer of the Year in 2000 and 2001. Stutzel will compete in the 5km and 10km events.
Joining Stutzel will be her PCS and UVic team mate Dave Creel. Creel won his first national titles this past summer when he took both the Canadian National 5km and 10km events to earn himself a spot on the World Championship team. Creel is also in his third year at the University of Victoria. As the new guy on the block Creel will be looking to turn a few heads as he takes to the waters of the Middle East.
Also traveling with the team will be PCS head coach Ron Jacks. Jacks will be the head coach of the Canadian Open Water team in Egypt. Jacks was the coach of Canada last World Open Water Champion Greg Streppel back in 1994.
GOOD LUCK DAVE AND KARLEY!!!
Check back here for on going updates during the competition.
Sarah Sinclair has agreed to join the Pacific Coast Swimming coaching staff for the upcoming season. A former competitive swimmer with the UVic Vikes Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge to the club. She has been the head coach of the Grand Forks Piranhas summer club for the past three summer's and will be working with the Olympic Way group.
Marlena Prill has agreed to join the Pacific Coast Swimming coaching staff for the upcoming season. Marlena brings with her fourteen years of competitive swimming experience.
Tomoko Itami will be staying in Canada this year and has graciously agreed to donate her time to Pacific Coast Swimming. She will be coaching the "D" group at Saanich Commonwealth Place as well as an Olympic Way Group.
Resumes for the Pacific Coast Swimming Coaching staff are now on line. Visit the Staff page and download resumes for Ron Jacks, Rod Barratt, Mark Lancaster, Peter Vizsolyi and Penny McCullough-Barratt. Click here to visit the staff page.
The tentative training schedule for Pacific Coast Swimming is now on line. The schedule is subject to approval by the Review Board before it becomes official.
On July 11, 2002 Swim BC granted approval to Geller Sports for the formation of a new swimming club to begin operations in September. Pacific Coast Swimming will offer a professionally delivered model that has proven to be highly successful worldwide and is clearly the wave of the future in terms of delivering top notch professional coaching that produces results.
The new club has commitments from a large group of International and National Level athletes who will be making the move to the new club to stay with their coaches. These include 2002 Commonwealth Games team members Danielle Bell, Christin Petelski and John Stamhuis, Canadian National Open Water Swimmer of the year Karley Stutzel,. and 2001 Canada Games gold medalists David Creel and Jesse Jacks. Geller Sports will work co-operatively with the University of Victoria swim program to provide services to this core group of athletes.
The club will be led by twenty-six year National Team coaching staff veteran, Ron Jacks. Jacks, a former three time Olympic swimmer himself, began coaching following the 1972 Olympics and has been involved at the highest level ever since. He has been one of the most successful and consistent coaches in Canada, placing twelve swimmers on Olympic teams since 1976 as well as having coached two Olympic bronze medalists and a World Champion.
Rod Barratt joins the team after six years as Head Age Group Coach under Ron Jacks. Rod has extensive experience as a Head Coach at the National level, has worked with National Centre programs in both Victoria and Calgary and is the President of the BC Swim Coaches Association. Penny McCullough-Barratt who has developed successful Elementary School programs in both Red Deer, Alberta and Victoria will also be joining the team come September.
UVic head coach Dr. Peter Vizsolyi, who is also the Vice President of High Performance with the Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Association, will act as a Technical Consultant to the program. The assembly of this staff will ensure that the highly successful partnership between Ron Jacks and Dr. Peter Vizsolyi will be maintained.
The club will receive administrative and support services from Geller Sports, which is owned and operated by National Diving Coach Mitch Geller. The new club will expand the range of development programs currently available in Greater Victoria, via the Geller Sports OlympicGarten program, which seeks to involve children between the ages of four and seven in aquatic sports and to lay a foundation for future elite performance and the overall development of diving and swimming.
Victoria, BC will have a new high performance club starting in September. Pacific Coast Swimming has received affiliation from Swim BC to begin operations.
The new club's goal is to deliver high performance aquatics in the Greater Victoria Area.
As one of only a few professionally run clubs in the country, the Team of coaches involved in this new club feel they will be better able to address the needs of each and every swimmer through more efficient and effective use of resources.
The High Performance Staff include:
Mitch Geller - Business Manager Mitch Geller is fully certified NCCP Level III and a course conductor. He developed several Canadian diving stars including two Commonwealth Games champions, a Pan Am Games bronze medallist as well as numerous other international medallists. While coaching in Thunder Bay, his team represented more than half of the National Team and was the top team in the country in all categories. Currently, Mitch is the head coach of the national team that captured Olympic silver and bronze medals, two World Cup gold medals and most recently, World Championships gold and silver medals. He is also the founder, owner and director of Geller Sports Inc.- A sports management company that oversees the operations of a continuum of diving and acrobatic programs in the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
Ron Jacks: Director of Swimming Ron is a fully certified NCCP IV swimming coach and NCI Master Coach. He arrived in Victoria in 1984 and has been the Director of Swimming for Island Swimming, an organization he helped to establish since 1988, and the Island National Swim Center (INSC). He is a National Performance Coach and was selected to both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games staff. He has produced finalists at every Olympic Games since 1976, has coached 2 Olympians to Bronze medals, and coached a World Champion.
Rod Barratt: Director of Athlete Development Rod has been the Head Age group Coach at Island Swimming since 1996. He is has coached Nationally and Internationally. He has been primarily responsible for swimmers at the AAA level, preparing them for Junior Teams and the progression to the National level program and Centre programs as well as overseeing new program development and recruitment of Elementary school participants.
Dr. Peter Vizsolyi - Technical Consultant/ Sport Science Coordinator Peter is a medical doctor with a Diploma of Sport Medicine. He is a fully certified NCCP III swimming coach, NCI Master Coach, and has been the Head Coach of the University of Victoria program since 1983. Peter also helped found Island Swimming and has been the Technical Director of Island Swimming and the INSC. He is currently the VP of High Performance for the CSCTA, and sits on both the SNC High Performance Committee and the Saanich Commonwealth Place Operating Agreement Review Board.
