The University of Alberta varsity swim program has committed to developing high performance swimmers in Edmonton, and will collaborate with the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club in an effort to reach that goal.

Colleen Marchese, who was recently appointed Head Varsity Coach of the Golden Bears and Pandas swimming program following the retirement of Bill Humby in April of 2015, will be joined by EKSC Head Coach Derrick Schoof who joins the Golden Bears and Pandas as the High Performance Varsity Coach.

Schoof has been the Keyano Head Coach and Director of Swimming since 2011, and also has extensive CIS experience, having coached at the University of Ottawa, and at UBC where he guided the T-Birds to 22 combined CIS men’s and women’s championships in 14 seasons. Schoof also picked up three CIS coach of the year awards in his time at UBC, and has coached on numerous national team coaching staffs.

“As someone who has been in the swimming community in Alberta for the past 35 years, including my time as a member of the U of A Pandas swimming team, I am very excited to be a part of the new direction for the U of A varsity swim program,” stated Marchese. “Bill Humby worked tirelessly over the past eight years to develop a strong and competitive varsity team, and I see this change as the next step in the evolution of the university's swimming program.”

“The new model combines the strengths of Keyano, which has a proven record of developing high performance swimmers, with the opportunity for those swimmers to gain a very high quality education while continuing to develop as athletes,” added U of A Director of Athletics Ian Reade. “The Golden Bears and Pandas, under the leadership of Colleen Marchese, will provide a great team environment within a high performance philosophy, supported by the expertise of Derrick Schoof and his coaching staff.”

Also joining the Evergreen and Gold is Brian McGrath, who is an Assistant Coach with EKSC, and will perform the same duties with the U of A program. He is originally from Philadelphia, and previously coached in the NCAA, with Rider University and Juniata College, and will serve as Marchese’s assistant coach for the Golden Bears and Pandas helping coach during the varsity season, and implementing the summer training program.

Marchese, who served as the General Manager and Head Coach last season while Humby was on leave, remains head coach of the U of A varsity swim program, but gets a boost from Schoof, whose duties will include coaching mentorship, working with Marchese to develop a training plan for the entire program, and selectively coaching previously identified high performance U of A swimmers, as well as the entire Golden Bears and Pandas swimming roster.

The shift in structure is an attempt to capitalize on the momentum the U of A program, in particular the Golden Bears, generated after putting together of one of its better seasons in recent history.

Under the guidance of Marchese this past season, four Bears raced to a CIS gold medal in the men’s 4 x 100m medley relay, which was the first CIS gold medal for the Golden Bears swim program since 1997. The podium placement also rocketed the Bears team to a fourth overall finish at the national championship meet.

Three of those Golden Bears are on the Swim Canada radar, including Joe Byram and Nick Kostiuk, who are both nationally carded athletes.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the U of A and the Keyano Swim Club, as well as for high performance swimming in the City of Edmonton,” noted Schoof. “This model will allow for Edmonton swimmers to seamlessly integrate with the U of A varsity team and high performance program. I believe we will also be able to attract high caliber swimmers to Edmonton who have aspirations of receiving a world class education and combining that with a world class swim program.”

The Golden Bears and Pandas finished fourth and ninth, respectively, at the CIS swimming championships last season, while the Bears captured silver at the Canada West level, and the Pandas earned team bronze.

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Matt Gutsch • Communications • (780) 492-7214;