A new swim coach is coming to North Bay.

John Mcleod has been a coach for 15 years and is coming to the North Bay Titans from Battleford, Saskatchewan.

He has also coached in Toronto and Montreal.

Mcleod has family in the area and has spent plenty of time here over the years.

He took notice of the team and the success of swimmers like Dominique Bouchard a few years ago.

“I was a little intrigued, thinking there’s some pretty good swimmers coming out of small towns maybe it doesn’t matter if you’re in a big town or small town,” he said.

He also likes what the area has to offer.

“It’s a waterfront town, it has some good recreation aquatics, they’ve had some high level athletes for winter and summer Olympic sports, it seemed like the next logical step for my career,” Mcleod says.

As for his coaching style, he’s bringing both the science and art of coaching to the team.

“Do the metrics and all that kind of stuff, and then I’m looking forward to helping the athletes find that pathway to swim for life, university swimming, swimming for masters, all of that. I’m looking forward to getting to know the athletes and getting the most out of them,” he says.

Mcleod says there’s plenty of young swimmers and older high school aged athletes that are doing well with the team, plus, there’s a lot of room to grow the team.

“We were just knocking on the door of about 100 swimmers a couple years ago and we’re probably about half that now, so there’s lots and lots of room to grow,” he says. “The Olympics are around the corner and everyone knows that brings a lot of interest to our sport, so I’m really excited about that.”

His message to parents with younger kids is that swimming is a safety and survival skill.

“Kids grow up around beaches, around rivers, lakes, pools, bodies of water, they need to know how to swim,”Mcleod says.

Once kids are in the program, he says swimming isn’t just about racing, it’s about opening doors.

“You can get coaching, there’s different events like open water, it really builds the better athlete and when the kids get older, there’s a pathway in Canada where you can swim for life,” Mcleod says.

He also announced that clinics with Dominique Bouchard are planned for North Bay, he’s looking to grow high school swimming locally and the Titans are planning a ‘welcome back’ bbq in August for anyone looking to find out what they’re all about.

 

(Photos submitted – John Mcleod coaching at the Olympic pool in Montreal)