Swimming Canada is pleased to announce two recipients of the Women in Coaching Grants. Marta Belsh, Head Coach of the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team and Sarah Smith, Head coach of the Goulbourn Sea Hawks Swim Club will each receive $4,000 in the form of scholarships for their National Coaching Institute (NCI) studies.

Marta Belsh is an NCCP Level 3 Certified coach with extensive high level experience at the National and International level. She is in her first year as Head Coach of the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team (FAST) and has over 11 years of coaching experience as well as her own experience as a National-level swimmer in her native Poland. Before becoming Head Coach with the FAST program, Marta was a coach with the Barrie Trojans Swim Club and coached para-swimmer Brittany Gray onto the 2008 Paralympic Swim team. Marta was also a member of the coaching staff that traveled to Rio de Janeiro for the 2007 Para-pan American Games. Marta will be doing her NCI studies through distance education from the Atlantic branch.

Sarah Smith is an NCCP Level 3 Certified coach with over 18 years coaching experience. Before becoming Head Coach of the Goulbourn Sea Hawks, Sarah was the Associate Head Coach at Brock Niagara Aquatics and had the opportunity to work with all levels of athletes; from young development swimmers through to varsity. Sarah has been responsible for developing swimmers through to podium performances at the Provincial, Eastern Canadian and Age Group National level. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Swimming Coaches Association and is currently active in working with Swimming Canada and the Canadian Swimming Coaches Association in developing and delivering NCCP coaching education programs. Sarah is moving to Victoria to complete her NCI studies.

These grants are from Swimming Canada’s Women in Coaching Funds through Sport Canada. Grants are awarded annually to recipients who are working to enhance the education and development of women towards high performance objectives. Recipients may include individuals, clubs or provincial sections.