Four coaches will participate in Swimming Canada’s apprentice coaching opportunities in 2020, an ongoing effort in partnership with CSCTA.
“It is really important to enable more coaches to experience the national team environment, and see how to prepare their swimmers for teams when back in their home programs,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson.
“They will interact with national team coaches, science and medicine staff and take back a much greater understanding of what happens on our teams, which they can then pass on to their swimmers and fellow coaches,” he added.
Apprentice coaching opportunities will be available in both the Olympic and Paralympic programs, with opportunities on senior, development, and open water teams.
The CSCTA will provide a range of funding for the expenses of successful candidates. Based on applications, Swimming Canada and the association will select the participating coaches. Funding will be paid directly to the successful applicants and will be available as an advance. The level of funding will be based on several factors, including projected costs and the length of each activity.
“The results of the program,” Atkinson said “will be better prepared swimmers and coaches in the future across all of our programs.”
Participants will provide the CSCTA and Swimming Canada a written report within 45 days of the end of the activity.
“This partnership has provided real opportunities to our Canadian coaches over the past two years, and we are proud to continue building this with Swimming Canada. There is no substitute for hands-on experience with Canada’s best athletes, coaches and support staff, and this will help us continue to build our coaching capacity here in Canada,” said CSCTA Executive Director Chris Hindmarch-Watson.
Successful candidates will be assigned responsibilities by senior coaches Martyn Wilby (Olympic program), Vince Mikuska (Paralympic program), national development coach Ken McKinnon or open water and distance coach Mark Perry.
Some examples of duties include: monitoring athletes during warm-up or swim down, assisting coaches with specific training and assisting science and medical staff with team operations. All application deadlines are April 15.
One of the opportunities will be at the Olympic Games staging camp in Wakayama, Japan. Tour dates are July 10 to Aug. 3 and the staging will be held July 10-19. Funding of up to $5,000 is available. The application link is https://forms.gle/R8m9EabUSHpdssQ66.
Another opportunity will come at the Paralympic Games staging camp in Japan. The tour dates are Aug. 10-Sept. 6 with the staging slated for Aug. 10-Aug. 21. Funding of up to $5,000 is available. The application link is: https://forms.gle/yvMj7so3YmeaCzgg6
Funding of up to $3,000 is available for the successful candidate who will serve as an apprentice at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships Aug. 10-23 in Hawaii. Application forms are available at: https://swimming.ca/content/uploads/2018/02/Apprentice-Coach-Opportunities-Application-Form.pdf.
Funding of up to $2,500 is available for the successful candidate who will serve as an apprentice at the Open Water Pan Canadian provincial distance and open water camp in November in Barbados. The application link is: https://forms.gle/AGHbcrTMbQdTP6Qf6.