Pierre Lafontaine, the former head of the Australian Institute of Sport’s swim program before he became Swimming Canada’s boss, is returning to the pool deck as the head coach of Swim Ottawa.
Lafontaine left his role in Australia to head the Canadian program in 2005, which marked one of his last direct coaching experiences. After eight years in post in the joint role of CEO and National Team Director at Swim Canada, Lafontaine became CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and after that served as CEO of both Cross Country Canada and Cycling Canada. He also had roles in Canadian Skiing.
Now, after making a return to swim coaching at the beginning of this year, as high-performance head at Swim PEI, he will begin a new chapter at Swim Ottawa, a club that welcomed him with these words:
“It is our great pleasure to welcome Pierre Lafontaine to the Swim Ottawa family as our new Head Coach. Pierre is recognized as one of Canada’s best known swim coaches who has contributed to every aspect of the advancement and success of the sport in Canada and to positioning Canada as a leading swimming nation.
“He exudes passion for sport and excellence in coaching, and is widely known for his creativity and energy on deck. We can look forward to a very dynamic coaching environment for all our swimmers, at all levels, under Pierre’s leadership. He brings new training and development ideas in and out of the water, as well as support to our senior athletes in pursuing varsity swimming careers.”
Pierre Lafontaine’s hire is the latest in a strong of moves in Canadian coaching, including Sean Baker’s arrival at Markham Aquatic Club, Dave Ling’s appointment at Newmarket Stingrays, Darren Ward’s move to Hamilton Aquatic Club and Robert Novak’s return to coach at Etobicoke Swim Club.
Congratulations Pierre Lafontaine
Super nouvelle !!!!
Ils sont tellement chanceux de t’avoir Pierre Lafontaine!!! ?
Kar-Yne Brousseau merci il ne me manque que mon assistant Alexxxx
Pierre Lafontaine ????il lui reste un peu de temps la nuit !!! Je te l’envoie ! Hein Alex!
Congrats Pierre
Atta boy Pierre Lafontaine you are back where you belong…coaching athletes on the pool deck! Congrats my friend, the swimming world is a better place now!
Félicitations coach! Je vous ai rencontré lors du championnat du monde à Dubai en 2010, j’en garde un très bon souvenir. Merci pour vos conseils avant mon 200m brasse, ainsi que le bonnet de natation de l’équipe nationale ??? bonne chance dans cette nouvelle aventure!
Félicitations Pierre !!
Ils sont vraiment chanceux !!
J’aurais bien aimé avoir la chance de nager plus longtemps avec toi !
Bon succès !!
Great news!!
Congratulations Pierre!
Wishing youa and your swimmers lots of success!
Congratulations Pierre Lafontaine! Hope you and your family are well.
Congrats Pierre Lafontaine
Congratulations Pierre Lafontaine!!!
Félicitations Pierre!!
Félicitations boss
Congratulations Pierre.
Congrats coach Pierre Lafontaine! Wish you the best.
have fun smelling the chlorine again. Im still coaching, also.
Wow! A good catch pour ce club!
Toujours excellent d’avoir Pierre Lafontaine dans les parages! Bon succès!
Félicitations Pierre !
Congratulations!!
Welcome back!!