After nominating 26 swimmers and naming key staff to the Olympic team following last week’s Olympic Swimming Trials, Presented by Bell at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Swimming Canada is pleased to announce the full staff accredited for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The team will be bolstered by 10 support staff across the pool and open water teams, with the full coaching staff also being announced.

“Holding the Trials and getting our swimmers selected was a tremendous undertaking, and we are excited to be moving forward with our team after more than a year of uncertainty caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson, who will act as team leader at the Games.

“Since the conclusion of Trials we have continued to work with various partners, including working with the Canadian Olympic Committee on our allotment of accredited staff. We are now able to announce our full group of world-class integrated support team staff and the coaching staff to support the team,” Atkinson said.

Coaches Ben Titley and Ryan Mallette (High Performance Centre – Ontario), Tom Johnson (High Performance Centre – Vancouver), Dave Johnson (Cascade Swim Club) and Vlastimil Cerny (University of Manitoba Bisons) have each been assigned groups of swimmers, and will be supported by Linda Kiefer (University of Toronto Varsity Blues) who will work across all groups providing additional coaching support.

“Having six coaches working to support all the athletes will ensure extra expertise each day of our tour,” Atkinson said.  “This now returns the entire coaching staff from our successful Gwangju 2019 FINA World Championships. All our coaches have done an amazing job to prepare our swimmers and now we work toward the Games. I also recognize the coaching chain that has prepared all the athletes over their careers and this should never be overlooked. The work of many has contributed to each athlete making this team, as well as the commitment and resilience of each athlete.”

The integrated support team will include Swimming Canada’s Manager, Paramedical Services, Johnny Fuller, as athletic therapist; University of British Columbia Sports Hall of Famer Ron Mattison as physiotherapist; massage therapists Rick Pelletier, Leanne Fuhr and Nathan Skirrow; physicians Dr. Steve Keeler and Dr. Robert Brunelle; and sports psychiatrist Dr. Carla Edwards as mental performance consultant.

Working alongside Atkinson will be Iain McDonald, Swimming Canada’s Associate High Performance Director, who will serve as Assistant Team Leader, and Open Water Team Manager. Swimming Canada Manager, Senior National Teams and Centres Janice Hanan will reprise her role as Pool Team Manager, while Senior Coach, Olympic Program, Martyn Wilby has been named Pool Head Coach. National Open Water/Distance Coach Mark Perry will be the Open Water Head Coach. Graham Olson of HPC-Vancouver will serve as race analyst, while Senior Manager, Communications Nathan White will serve as team media attache.

“We have a balanced staff with a wide variety of international experience, including multiple Olympic Games with Canadian swimming. Our ‘team behind the team’ will do everything in its power to support our swimmers as they work to perform to the best of their capabilities at the Olympic Games,” Atkinson said.

The team will gather in Vancouver July 3 for its final preparation camp, at UBC, before travelling into Tokyo July 16.

“All the work done by this group to date has been a major task to get the staging camp operational. This, along with the many varied COVID-19 protocols to be in place both in Canada and also for Japan has been at a level not seen before,” Atkinson said. “Working through and with the Canadian Olympic Committee with the Games organizers is ongoing and will be throughout the Games. Support and information from the Own The Podium Return to Sport Taskforce has been critical in planning, along with the support from partners at the University of British Columbia, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and the COC.”

TEAM STAFF – PERSONNEL