The Canadian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association is proud to announce that it has distributed incentives to eight coaches who played key roles in medal-winning performances at the 2012 Olympics.

The CSCTA Olympic Medal Coach Incentive Program helps ensure continued success in international competition by identifying and supporting coaches of Olympic medal winners, as well as those who provided a foundation for their success in the critical development years.

“The ultimate goal for every coach in Canada should be to make this country a world-leading swimming nation,” said CSCTA Executive Director Chris Hindmarch-Watson. “We can only achieve this by working together at every single level, from the first club a swimmer joins to the university teams to the starting blocks at the Olympics."

The CSCTA will provide $15,000 to coaches who have had a direct hand in the
development of an Olympic medallist. Member coaches who have been responsible for the day-to-day planning, training and preparation of the medal-winning athlete for a minimum of one season are eligible to receive awards from the program. Also eligible are university, senior development and age group development coaches who have coached the athlete from as early as age 11.

"It's important to reward coaches who played a role along every step of our athletes' development paths,” said CSCTA President Bill Humby. “The Olympic medallists of tomorrow will grow from today's youth ranks. Coaches at those critical developmental levels deserve to be recognized and rewarded as well."

Recipients from the 2012 Olympics are Randy Bennett, primary coach of silver medallist Ryan Cochrane, and Rod Barratt, Cochrane’s age group development coach. Tom Johnson, primary coach of bronze medallist Brent Hayden, is also being recognized, alongside Hayden’s age group coach Vince Mikuska. Four coaches associated with bronze medallist Richard Weinberger round out the list of recipients: primary coach Ron Jacks, university coach Dr. Peter Vizsolyi, and development coaches Brad Dingey and Cory Beatt.

"Olympic medals are the pinnacle of athletic success, the big prize our swimmers and coaches strive for,” added Humby. “By directly recognizing the coaches behind our medal-winning swimmers we hope to reward them for their efforts and encourage the next generation to dream big."

The CSCTA Olympic Medal Coach Incentive Program provides recognition and incentive for coaches to put a higher priority on preparing Canadian swimmers for major international competition. It encourages club coaches to lay the foundation and develop training plans focused on career results, and encourages more cooperative and effective interaction between club and college coaches.

For more information on this program please visit www.csca.org.