Pacific Coast Swimming to Start Up in Victoria

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.