REGION OF WATERLOO SWIM CLUB

Coaching Staff   

 

Alex Johnson (AJ)

Head Coach

Groups: National Development

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Alex graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor's of Math in Honours Statistics.  Here he spent 5 years swimming under Varsity swim coach Jeff Slater competing with the University of Waterloo.

Previously, Alex coached with Club Warriors.  He gained experience running several groups within the club over his five-year span of coaching. Alex is a certified NCCP Fundamentals coach and looks to continue educating himself through the National Coaching Certification Program. He is pleased to work with the experienced coaches that ROW has and feels that he can learn a lot from them.

Prior to University Alex began his swimming career as a ten-year-old with East York Swim Club where he swam for two years making his first provincial championship.  After folding in 2001 Alex moved to Crescent Town Swim Club under coach Fred Arzaga where he competed for the remainder of his age group swimming career.  He has competed at several age-group provincial and national championships including Ontario Junior and Senior Provincial Championships,  Eastern National Championships, Canadian Age Group Nationals and Canada Cup.

 

 

 

Ron Forrest

Assistant Head Coach, WLU

Groups: PD1, WLU Varsity

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Ron has over 25 years of coaching experience working with swimmers who have raced at all levels of competition. Before re-joining ROW (where he started swimming as an age-group swimmer), Ron was the Head Coach and Program Director of the Fort Worth Area Swim Team (FAST), where he coached for more than two decades. During his time as an age-group coach and then an elite-level Head Coach, Ron has produced a great number of swimmers who went on to qualify for all major national and international swimming competitions. He coached an Olympic Gold medallist, another Olympic Qualifier and World Record Holder, 1 para-swimming World Record Holder, numerous Pan-American and Commonwealth Games competitors, NCAA medallists and many other qualifiers and medallists at state and national levels in various age groups. He was named Texas Swimming Senior Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004 for his role in developing International talent.

 

 

Kaitlyn Schultz

Groups: Age Group Development, RSA Age Group, ROW Swim Academy

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Kaitlyn has been a vital member of the ROW coaching staff now for over 12 years, and we are thrilled to have her return for her 13th season. Kaitlyn has been affiliated with swimming in Ontario for over 25 years, having begun her swimming career at East York Swim Club before moving to Crescent Town where she swam until her retirement from age group swimming. 

After retiring from swimming Kaitlyn continued her dedication to the sport of swimming, teaching and coaching with Champion Swim Club from 2004-2005. There she built a love for teaching novice swimmers and those new to the sport.  Following her time at Champion, Kaitlyn took on an Assistant Head Coach position with Variety Village Flames in 2006, where she would later take over as Head Coach in 2008. During her time there Kaitlyn gained valuable experience coaching both able-bodied and Paralympic swimmers of all ages. During her tenure there, she successfully placed a swimmer on two consecutive Paralympic World Championship teams for the S9 100m Fly, and 50 Free. Kaitlyn is the recipient of two national awards for her time coaching at Variety Village. A Speedo Award of Excellence for coaching two athletes to Canadian records, as well as a CSTCA award for being the coach of a national title holder. 

Kaitlyn's coaching philosophy closely mirrors ROW's commitment to the sport of swimming, community and youth, "Although the idea of personal best is a prominent theme in my coaching, the concept of "team" is just as important. I want my athletes and their family members to share values of friendship, team pride, and community support."

Kaitlyn is a NCCP level 2 trained coach and continues to further her swimming education. 

 

Carly Martin

Groups: Junior Development 1, Junior Development 2, Tops

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Carly started her competitive swimming career with the ROW swim club in 2000. After 9 years with ROW she continued swimming with the Wilfrid Laurier University team for the next 5 years. During this time Carly competed at several national level championships including the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships, and Olympic Trials. 

Her passion for swimming grew very quickly during her time at ROW, so in 2005 she started coaching in hopes of passing her knowledge and enthusiasm of swimming on to the younger athletes in the club. After graduating university in 2014 she decided to continue coaching as a career and started furthering her education through the National Coaching Certification Program. Carly is currently a NCCP level 2 coach in training and will continue to advance her coaching knowledge through the program.

 

Russ Franklin

Group: PD2 

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Russ is joining us for his 51st year of coaching. Approximately 30 of those years were spent working as a head coach, filled with numerous success stories including Provincial and National Medalists, having worked with athletes going on to represent Canada at international competitions, including the Olympics. Russ will be accompanied by his wealth of knowledge and passion for the development of athletes as both swimmers and people.

 

 

Tyson MacDonald

Group: SD 

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This is Tyson MacDonalds’ second consecutive year working at ROW, however in a larger capacity. He has just wrapped up his swimming career, having competed for ROW and represented Canada in several international competitions - most recently at the 2023 Para Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile where he earned 3 medals. Since attending Wilfrid Laurier University [2015/2016 - 2019/2020], Tyson has demonstrated tremendous love, knowledge, and passion for both the sport of swimming and the Region of Waterloo Swim Club. 

 

 

Chloe Hughes

Groups: RSA Competitive

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This is Chloe's third season as a full-time staff member with ROW - although her history with the club stems back to her multiple years as a well-preforming swimmer and part-time staff member.  Chloe started her competitive swimming career back in 2011 and has been a part of the coaching staff since 2016/2017 - currently coaching a variety of our programs with ages ranging from 4 to sixteen. Chloe works closely with her own swimmers and those in other groups to encourage and create influential bonds with each of them. Chloe encourages her swimmers to reach their individual potentials and strive towards becoming confident both in and out of the pool. 
 
Chloe is currently a NCCP level one trained coach and continues to search for coaching opportunities to expand her learning within the sport. Chloe holds a bachelor's honours degree in English from the University of Guelph (2019/2023) and is currently entering her second year at Western University's Teachers College (2023/2025). Through her vast interest within the field of education, learning, and student success - Chloe's role within her groups and our club expands farther than the pools she enters.