2008 Swim BC Annual Awards

Swim BC announced its annual awards at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting in Whistler, BC this past weekend. Coaches Ron Jacks, Peter Vizsolyi, Mark Lancaster, John Stamhuis and Meghan Griffiths attended, as did Board Members Margaret Penning and Barb McKee.

UVPCS was well represented in the honours lists. Stephanie Dixon won SWAD Swimmer of the Year and Karley Stutzel was awarded Open Water Swimmer of the Year. Ron Jacks won both SWAD and Open Water Coach of the Year. There were also group recognition awards given to members of Olympic-Paralympic teams and Stephanie Dixon and Ron Jacks both received these awards.

Finally, but certainly not least, PCS Head Coach Ron Jacks was inducted into the Swim BC Hall of Fame in the Coach category.

Ron is already in the Hall of Fame as a Swimmer - he competed for Canada at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games - and he has gone on to become one of the top coaches in the country. Ron is one of very few coaches who has completed a hat trick at the International level, with medallists among able-bodied swimmers, swimmers with a disability, and open water swimmers. In the pool, Ron has had medallists at the Pan-American Games, Pan Pacific Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympic & Paralympic Games. Ron has produced finalists or semi-finalists at every Olympic Games from 1976-2004 and coached two Olympians to Bronze medals. He coached Stephanie Dixon to multi-medal and two World Record performances in the 2004 & 2008 Paralympic Games. In Open Water, Ron coached Greg Streppel to a Gold Medal at the World Open Water Championships. To date, three of Ron’s swimmers have been inducted into the Swim BC Hall of Fame. Ron has been recognized for coaching excellence by Swim BC, the BC Swim Coaches Association, the Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Association and Swimming Canada.

Congratulations to all!