The Toronto Swim Club is pleased to announce the hiring of Alex Wallingford as Head Coach and Director of Swimming.
“Alex is certainly one of the top coaches in the country and has proven time and again that he can produce athletes who can perform at the top levels”, said TSC president Byron MacDonald. “TSC has established itself as one of the top clubs in the province and country, and I have no doubt that Alex will be able to continue this tradition of performance.”
Outgoing Head Coach John Grootveld (moving on to work as the Director of Sport Performance at the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario), is equally excited that the legacy of swimming excellence he helped build will continue to prosper under the guidance of Wallingford. “TSC has grown into one of the top clubs in the country and as such the role of its Head Coach is filled with opportunity. I am happy that Alex Wallingford, being such a qualified coach with a dynamic personality, will be leading TSC for years to come”
“I am truly excited to be coming to TSC as I feel that it is a natural progression in my coaching career. I had a wonderful experience at Oakville Aquatic Club these past fourteen years and have nothing but great things to say for my time there. This will be a new challenge and I plan to continue my direction of high level performance at TSC and look forward to the liaison with the Varsity team at U of T and the new High Performance Centre also based at U of T”, said Alex Wallingford.
Wallingford will begin his position on September 1st, 2010. He comes to TSC from the Oakville Aquatic Club where he coached many swimmers to National Teams and to National Age-Group Records. Alex has also coached on several Jr. and Sr. National teams including North American Challenge Cup (2008, 2009, 2010), Australian Youth/Junior Tour (2009, 2010), Ontario Canada Games Team (2009) and the Tri-Nations Team (2009). Alex brings much experience in running a large successful club. During Alex’s tenure as Head Coach of Oakville he was able to continue that club’s rich history of swimming success by leading the team to provincial championships in 2000, 2008 and 2009 and consistently placing high at the national level.
The Club will be retaining the services of its long standing coaches including Bob Hayes (Head Age Group coach) and Victor Delac (Head Development Coach), along with other staff. “I am excited to work with the current staff as they have done an outstanding job already for TSC,” said Wallingford.
President Byron MacDonald, the Board of Directors and the membership of TSC wish to extend a very warm welcome to Alex and look forward to working with him.