Ontario Artistic Swimming is pleased to announce the 2022 Provincial Team Coaching Staff who will be leading our teams this summer. OAS will field an 11-12, 13-15, and Junior Provincial Team, all of which will attend the SYNC Competition, July 14-18 in Edmonton, AB. The 13-15 Provincial Team will also have the opportunity to qualify to represent Canada at the 2022 Youth World Championships.
The coaches who will be leading our Ontario athletes this summer are:
Junior Team Head Coach/Provincial Teams Lead: Courtney Durand
13-15 Team Head Coach: Manny Wu
11-12 Team Head Coach: Julia Thornton
13-15 Team Assistant Coach: Lola Shnayder Mazour
11-12 Team Assistant Coach: Alyssia Leithwood
Assistant Coach, Provincial Teams: Evelyn Young
Provincial Teams Lead Coach
We are excited to announce that in addition to her Junior Head Coach responsibilities, Courtney Durand will also be acting as Provincial Teams Lead. In this role, Courtney will be the lead mentor coach responsible for coach development, and a key resource and support for the entire coaching staff in the planning and implementation of team programming. Courtney says “I am thrilled for the chance to work with all of these talented athletes and coaches! As a coaching team this summer, a big focus will be to bring all 3 teams together and create a positive and cohesive Provincial team program. We are so excited for the chance to have our athletes compete at this level again!”
Congratulations to the 2022 Provincial Teams Coaching Staff – we look forward to a tremendous program this summer and a successful competitive experience at SYNC under your strong leadership!
Please see below for 2022 Coaching Staff Bios.
Courtney Durand
Courtney has been involved in the sport of artistic swimming for over 20 years as both a coach and an athlete. She is the Head Coach of Granite Artistic Swimming and works primarily with the 13-15 and Junior High Performance athletes. As a coach, she loves to develop new and innovative ideas in routines and drills to help swimmers progress in the sport. Courtney believes that the most successful athletes come from a well-balanced environment with focuses on technical improvement, strong work ethic, positive reinforcement and clear feedback.
Manny Wu
Manny has over 20 years of artistic swimming experience, both as a national level swimmer in China and a coach. She retired after participating at the 2004 Olympic Games as an athlete and started coaching in Canada in 2008. The coach of the 2014 and 2015 Canadian National Junior Team Champions, Manny has experience as a head coach and assistant coach in clubs, Regional Training Centre-Ontario, Ontario Provincial Teams, and Canada 13-15 and Junior National Teams. Manny is a graduate of the Advanced Coaching Diploma program from the National Coaching Certification Program, and she is attending UBC for her Masters of High Performance and Technical Leadership.
Julia Thornton
Julia brings over 10 years of coaching experience to the 2022 provincial team coaching staff. She is a certified competition development coach and has coached both provincially and nationally over the years. Currently, Julia works as a coach of Durham Synchro’s 13-15 and Jr. team. In addition, she has acted as a technical expert within the L2T programs in the past. Aside from coaching, Julia is also involved in aquatics and is finishing her degree in psychology. Julia’s coaching philosophy is building and guiding her athletes to reach their highest potential, in and out of the pool. She strives to have a well balanced and structured training environment, full with positive goal achievements and happy athletes. She also believes in teamwork, amongst coaches and athletes!
Lola Shnayder Mazour
Lola has been coaching Artistic Swimming for more than 20 years. Lola began her synchro career in Ukraine, former Soviet Union and competed till Junior National Level. After her studies for Bachelor of Physical Education and Sport Science at the Wingate Institute, she established Synchro Club which became over the years one of the largest and most successful clubs in the country. Over the next 15 years, she was Head Coach of Ashdod Synchro Club and served as Israel National Team Coach at the Junior and Age Group levels. Lola has been coaching at Olympium Artistic Swimming Club since 2016, in both High Performance and Competitive programs with Senior, Junior, 13-15’s, 12U athletes and Masters. Lola is LEN(European) Judge certified since 1999, FINA Judge certified since 2011. Her coach philosophy is: “Aim high, Work smart”.
Alyssia Leithwood
Alyssia’s artistic swimming career started at Mississauga Synchronized Swimming Association where she swam with them at all different levels for 8 years until she graduated from high school and went off to university. Alyssia, now with Granite Artistic Swimming, has been coaching this sport competitively for the past 5+ years and is very excited to expand her knowledge of the sport at this level. Alyssia’s most proud memory of being a coach is when her swimmers who had never swam at this high of a level all achieved personal bests in both figures and routine at their final competition. Alyssia brings a positive attitude, dedication and a passion for artistic swimming. Her coaching philosophy is “not everybody is perfect, but achieving even a little personal best everyday goes a long way in the end.” Alyssia looks forward to a successful season and to share her dedication and drive for this amazing sport.
Evelyn Young
Evelyn has been involved with Artistic Swimming for 15 years beginning as a swimmer at Olympium Artistic Swimming Club where she swam in their high performance program. She currently swims on the London University artistic swimming team at Western University. She began coaching at OASC 10 years ago and now coaches at London Regional Artistic Swimming club. Evelyn is currently working with one of the 13-15 teams and duets while she studies Media Information and Technoculture with a certificate in Digital Communications at Western University. As a coach, she believes in providing an encouraging environment for her swimmers to develop as athletes and individuals. She is very excited to work with the Ontario provincial team athletes and coaches this summer.