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Coaches & Directors

We are here to support your needs. If your questions are related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, or other swimming-related needs, please contact one of the coaches. For all questions related to administation, such as dues, safety, or policy issues, please contact our office at (403) 220-2772 or Click HERE...

Coaching Staff

Mike Blondal

Head Coach UC Dinos and UC Swim Club

Head Coach UC Dinos and UC Swim Club

· Head Coach - UC Dinos and UC Swim Club since 1994

· 2002: Coach of Commonwealth & Pan Pacs Team Members Dena Durand & Chad Murray

· 2001: CIAU Male Coach of the Year; Coach of Worlds Team Member Tim Cowan

· 2000: Coach of Olympian Garrett Pulle & National Champ Carrie Burgoyne

· 1999: Coach of 4 National Team Members

· 1998: World Championships Team Coach

· 1997: CIAU Coach of the Year; Coach of CIAU Men’s Champions

Jan Bidrman

Head Coach Calgary Academy

Calgary Academy of Swimming Excellence since 2006

University of Calgary National Swimming Centre since 1997

Jan Bidrman is both a decorated swimmer and coach. He competed for Sweden in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In 1996, he was the head coach of the South African Olympic Team in Atlanta. Jan has coached for the Canadian Olympic teams in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008. Jan also served as a Canadian coach for the 1998 World Swim Championships in Perth, 2001 World Swim Championships in Fukuoka, and 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Some of Jan's most notable athletes include:

Penny Heyns (Olympic double gold medalist, Atlanta 1996 in the 100 and 200 breaststroke; Olympic silver medalist, Sydney 2000 in the 100 breaststroke; 14 time world record holder in breastroke events)
Curtis Myden (Olympic silver medalist, Sydney 2000 in the 400 IM; World Championships silver medalist, Perth 1996 in the 400 IM; Commonwealth record holder)
Joanne Malar (Olympic finalist, Sydney 2000 in the 200 and 400 IM; Commonwealht Games gold medalist, Kuala Lumpur 1998; Commonwealth record holder)
Morgan Knabe (Olympic finalist, Sydney 2000 in the 100 breaststroke, World Championships finalist, Fukuoka 2001 in the 100 breaststroke; Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Manchester 2002; Olympian, Athens 2004)
Chris Renaud (Olympian, Sydney 2000 in the 100 and 200 backstrokes)
Shamek Pietucha (Olympian, Sydney 2000; Canadian record holder in the 200 butterfly)
Rick Say (Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, Manchester 2002; Canadian record holder, short course 200 and 400 free; Canadian record holder long course 200 free)
Lauren Van Oosten (Olympian, Athens 2004)
Erin Gammel (Olympian, Athens 2004)
Mike Brown (Olympic finalist, Athens 2004 in the 200 breaststroke)

Kevin Anderson

Asst. Head Coach University of Calgary

Kevin Anderson
Assistant Head Coach
University of Calgary Swim Club

2006-2009 UCSC Assistant Head Coach
Swimmers broke numerous records in 2008-2009. Provincial record for women’s 50Br and 2 swimmers were part of a new Canadian record in the 4X100 medley relay.
Swimmers combined to establish 3 National Age Group 15-17 4X100 medley relay records both men and women and numerous Provincial and Club Records during the 2007-2008 season.
Placed athletes on Canada’s North American Challenge Cup team, Australian Youth Olympic Festival team and National Junior Team for 2009.
Provincial Coach for the Alberta Western Canada Summer Games and North American Challenge Cup Teams in 2007
Placed 2 athletes on 2009 World University Games Team and selected as a coach.
Sat on the Executive Board of the Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Assoc. and sat on Swimming Canada’s Domestic Advisory Committee as the CSCTA representative for the 2007-2008 season
• Placed many athletes on provincial teams.
2006-2009 Swim Alberta Provincial Butterfly Coach
2005-2006 Assistant Coach UCSC National Program
1994-2005 Head Coach Trenton Dolphins Swim Club
1999 CSCA Development Coach of the Year
CSCA Silver Recognition for coaching an athlete to a top 50 world ranking
Kevin’s athletes have gone on to become Ontario Provincial Champions, have won 3 National Titles and represented Canada at major international competitions.
4 15-17 Boys National Age Group Records have been set under Anderson’s coaching (100 Fly/200 Fly short course, 100 Fly long course,4X100M.R.)

As a former Ironman Canada competitor, Physical Education Instructor with the Canadian Forces, NCCP Level 3 Volleyball Coach, NCCP Level 1Track and Field Coach, and previously owning his own Personal Training Studio Kevin brings a very diverse background and knowledge to UCSC. His commitment to excellence and to the success of his athletes and team is unquestionable. Kevin was also a former City Councillor in his previous municipality. He was accepted into the National Coaching Institute in September 2007 and is currently working on his Diploma in High Performance Coaching and completion of the NCCP Level 4 program. During the 2006-2007 season Kevin placed 5 swimmers on the Team Alberta North American Challenge Cup team 4 swimmers on the Team Alberta Western Canada Games Team and was a coach for Team Alberta for both competitions.

Kevin has also had success out of the pool producing one of the top Ironman amateurs in Canada, Angela Lilly:
Ironman Wisconsin 2003
1st 25-29 yr old female finisher
Ironman Triathlon World Championships (Hawaii) 2002
18th 25-29 yr old female finisher
Ironman Canada 2002
4th 25-29 year old female finisher

Rick Pelletier

Asst. Coach University of Calgary

Rick brings to us over 15 years of coaching experience in Alberta, BC, and Manitoba; including Head Coach/Assistant Head Coaching positions with the Edson Orcas, Cascade, and the Glencoe Gators Swim Clubs. Rick also spent a year in Kamloops as the Head Age Group Coach, and four years as Head Coach of the St. James Seals in Winnipeg where he retired from the Military as a Phys Ed Instructor (having worked with Kevin in the past).

In his years coaching Rick has consistently coached numerous medalists and Champions at Provincials ranking in the top five in Canada, and finalists at National who have gone on to represent Canada. Rick has also coached swimmers to the podium of the World Military Games in Rome Italy 1995 also breaking Canadian Masters records.

In 1997 Rick was awarded the Manitoba Award of Sports Excellence in recognition of outstanding coaching performance and in 2003 was a recipient of the CSCA Excellence Award for coaching a National Age Group Champion.

Rick is also a Massage Therapist, and has tons of experience at the international level.
Being on staff from 1995-1999 with the Manitoba National Sports & Swim Centre and Team Canada Volleyball provided Rick the opportunity to travel to numerous major gamesincluding a trip to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Canada Games 1997, Pan-Am Games 1999, Pan-Pac Swimming (Sydney 1999) and World Short Course Champs (Hong Kong 1998) and has already been selected to the staff of this year’s Pan-Pac team in Vancouver

Rick is looking forward to achieving his goal of being part of what he considers the best coaching staff in Canada, and is a firm believer that: a strong work ethic, along with good technique and attention to detail of all the little things are the key foundations to big success.

Eric Landa

National Development Coach

Eric Landa has 20 years of coaching experience on five different continents, working with swimmers, runners, cyclists and triathletes.

Eric has worked as a personal coach, age group coach, assistant coach and head coach in Netherlands, Singapore, New-Zealand. He also worked as the national coach for Egypt. Aside from coaching, he is also active as a coach educator, conducting coaching courses for National Federations and FINA (International Swimming Federation).

In September 2009, he started his Canadian adventure as the head age-group coach for the University of Calgary Swim Club.

In addition to coaching at a provincial and national level, Eric has extensive experience coaching at an international level. He has coached swimmers in three Olympic Games, European Championships, World Championships, Asian Championships, Africa Games and Arab Games.

Eric is looking forward to contributing to a team that is dedicated to excellence!

Jeff Welechuk

Junior Age Group Gold Head Coach

• coached with UCSC since 1996
• focuses on excellence in stroke development, endurance training, dry land training, meet preparation, parent and coach liaison, video analysis
• certified NCCP Level II – technical and theory
• master’s swimmer with Calgary Masters Swim Club
• 2001 Canadian Master’s Record Holder SCM (30 – 34 Age Group) – 200 IM and 100 Free
• 1996 World Master’s Record Holder – 100 back
• 1988-1993 Varsity Swimmer, University of Alberta Golden Bears, Edmonton, Alberta
• 1993 World Student Games, Buffalo, New York
• University of Alberta Record Holder, 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back
• 1992 Olympic Trials, Montreal
• 1991 Pan American Games, Havana, Cuba
• 1988 Olympic Trials, Montreal

Born in Hinton, Alberta, he began my swimming career with a local summer club. At the age of 15, he left home and moved to Edmonton and joined the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club. It was here that he first made the national team and then went on to swim with the University of Alberta Golden Bear’s varsity team. In 1995, he completed his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geology, moved to Calgary and began doing technical software support for a geophysical company. Jeff continued to swim for an additional year with the University of Calgary Swim Club. In 1996, he joined the University of Calgary Swim Club as a coach. He encourage the well being and overall personal and swimming development of each individual swimmer in his group. Jeff also enjoy downhill skiing, mountain biking and having fun.

Personal Quotation: “There is no crying in sports unless you win a Gold Medal at the Olympics. And then I’ll cry with you.”

Darren Desrochers

Junior Age Group Red Head Coach

Darren Desrochers is the Head Coach of our newest squad, Junior Age Group Red. Darren grew up in Calgary where he swam for the Cascade Swim club from 1990-1999. He was a national level swimmer in the 200 butterfly and 1500 freestyle. From 1999 until 2002, Darren went to the University of Victoria where he was a CIS finalist in both the 200 butterfly and 1500 freestyle. He coached with the Cascade swim club from 1997-1999 and the Sydney Piranhas Summer Swim Club in 2004.

Outside of the pool, Darren is a substitute teacher for the Calgary Board of Education. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching CFL football, running and reading.

Yvette Kortekaas

TREX 5 Head Coach

Giang Trinh

TREX 4 Head Coach

Giang has been with the University of Calgary Swim Club since 1997. At eight years old, she began swimming in the Churchill program, coached by Lorna Snow. She swam for eight years as a Dino and is now going into her sixth year of coaching. Giang has coached swimmers to qualify for Age Group Trials and also Age Group Provincials. This past summer, she was the Head Coach of the Alberta Summer Games Calgary Team. She is currently a fifth year Communications student attending the University of Calgary. Once done her Communications degree, she plans on going into the field of Education. Other than coaching and school, Giang is also the President of the Hip Hop and Funk Styles Club at the University and acts as the team manager for a dance team called "Universoul." In her free time, she enjoys shopping, eating, dancing and sleeping!

Lorna Snow

Head Coach Churchill / Team Manager

Lorna Snow is the Head Coach in the Development Program at Churchill pool. She is one of the most experienced and educated coaches of young swimmers in Canada. She has been committed to UCSC for over 30 years. Lorna has a Master's degree in Physical Education from the University of Western Ontario. She taught Therapeutic Recreation at Mount Royal University for 25 years and continues to coach for the joy of the interaction with the children. Lorna is a certified NCCP Level II swim coach. She has a passion and ethusiasm for teaching excellent technique, and encouraging young swimmers to love the sport and have confidence in their abilities. Her swimmers learn the value of respect, commitment and hard work.

When asked, "Who are the most successful athletes you have coached?" Lorna said, "Approximately 2,500 children have gone through the development program at Churchill pool, have learned to swim extremely well, and have grown up to be happy, healthy, contributing citizens. Their lives were enriched because of the experiences they had in our club. These are my most successful athletes."