Ontario Artistic Swimming is excited to announce the coaching staff for the 2024 Team Ontario program. These coaches representing 10 different Ontario clubs will lead our Provincial Teams to the SYNC Invitational in Gatineau, QC this July. The Junior Provincial Team, Youth Performance Team, and 12U Performance Team will also be competing for the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2024 Pan Am Artistic Swimming Championships, being held this August in Lima, Peru. Bios and head shots of our coaches can be found below. Let’s Go Team O!
Junior ProvincialTeam / Canada Games Athlete Pool
Lead Coach: 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 strong work ethic, positive reinforcement and clear feedback
Assistant Coach: Na Jin
Na Jin has been involved in Artistic Swimming for almost 40 years. She was China’s top swimmer and participated in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. She was the top provincial team coach in China for 10 years, she moved to Canada in 2012 and coached the Waterloo 13-15 team for another decade.
She began coaching the Junior team in 2022. Her athletes have had success with numerous Provincial and National podium results.
Assistant Coach: Amy Cameron
Amy is very happy to be working with the Ontario Provincial Team program again this summer. Amy has been coaching artistic swimming for 9 years, and is currently the Lead Regional League Coach at GO Capital Artistic Swimming Club. She is a Competition Development certified coach, a Level 1 judge, and she will be graduating from the nursing program at the University of Ottawa this spring.
As a coach, she has worked with athletes of all ages and loves to help swimmers develop their technical skills. She is looking forward to another exciting summer with Team Ontario!
Youth Performance Team
Lead Coach: Lola Shnayder Mazour
Lola has been involved in Artistic Swimming for more than 20 years in Ukraine, Israel and Canada at clubs and National Team levels. Starting her synchro career in Ukraine, former Soviet Union and competed to the Junior National Team 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. She was Head Coach of Israel National Team at the Junior and Age Group levels.
Lola has been coaching at Olympium Artistic Swimming Club, in both High Performance and Competitive programs with Senior, Junior, 13-15’s, 12U athletes and Masters. Lola was the 2022 13-15 Provincial Team Assistant Coach, helping to guide Team Ontario to gold medals in solo, duet and team at the 2022 SYNC Invitational, as well as representing Canada at the 2022 and 2023 Youth World Championships. She also brings extensive experience as an expert coach in OAS Academy program, working with identified Ontario athletes for the past three years.
Lola was Head Coach of Youth Performance Team Ontario at the 2023, which represented Ontario at the 2023 SYNC and 2023 UANA Pan Am Championships, winning 1st and 2nd places. Lola is looking forward to working with the Team Ontario athletes and coaches this summer!
Assistant Coach: Evelyn Young
Evelyn has been involved with artistic swimming for over 15 years as an athlete and a coach. She is a Competition Development Certified Coach and currently coaches for Granite Artistic Swimming Club. Evelyn coach’s athletes in every age category from 8u to Masters, primarily coaching the Youth and Junior high performance teams.
This will be Evelyn’s third year on the OAS Provincial Team staff. In 2023 she was the 11-12 Performance Team Assistant Coach, helping to guide Team Ontario to gold medals in solo, duet and team at the 2023 SYNC Invitational. The team went on to represent Canada at the 2023 Youth PanAm Aquatics Artistic Swimming Championships in Fort Lauderdale, USA where they achieved silver in solo and duet, and bronze in team. This season Evelyn assisted with the OAS L2T and T2T programs coaching 12 and under athletes from across the province.
Evelyn’s goal as a coach is to provide an encouraging environment for her swimmers to develop both as athletes and individuals. Evelyn is very excited to work with the youth performance team athletes this summer!
Youth Development Team
Lead Coach: Julia Thornton
Julia is thrilled to be working with the Youth and Junior provincial team athletes this summer. She brings more than 10 years of coaching experience, is a comp dev certified coach, a provincial tech controller and is excited to be working with the 2024 provincial team coaching staff again this summer. Previously, Julia worked with the 12u Performance athletes, leading the team to gold placements at the 2022, 2023 SYNC competition, and bronze at the 2023 Pan Am Championships.
Julia coaches for Durham Artistic Swimming, working mainly with the Youth and Junior athletes, as well as a major focus in flexibility and strength training for the club. She is currently working towards becoming a certified yoga instructor to better her athletes training regimen; mental and emotional well-being are crucial for competitive athletes. Julia believes that incorporating yoga into their training can help her athletes not only physically but also teach them how to manage stress and their ability to stay calm under pressure.
Julia’s coaching philosophy is centered around trust and teamwork. Her emphasis on teamwork, positive goal achievements, and creating a structured training environment shows her commitment to fostering a successful and supportive athlete experience. She believes that coaching is not just about teaching skills and techniques, but also about building a strong and trusting relationship with her athletes.
Assistant Coach: Allyssa Gosling
Allyssa is thrilled to join the Youth Development team this summer! With 20 years of experience in Artistic Swimming as both an athlete and a coach, her journey began at age 7 with the London Regional Artistic Swimming club. She excelled at both the Provincial and National levels, and now serves as the Head Coach of her home club. Throughout her coaching career, Allyssa has worked extensively with athletes across all age groups, with a primary focus on the Youth & Junior levels.
Beyond the pool, she also dedicates her time to providing customer care and support in the service department at Oxford Dodge dealership. Allyssa’s coaching philosophy centers on fostering a positive and collaborative environment for coaches and athletes alike. She firmly believes in the power of teamwork and community support in achieving success.
12U Performance Team
Lead Coach: Alyssia Leithwood
Alyssia is a competition development certified coach and the head coach of Mississauga Artistic Swimming. She is a returning coach to Team Ontario. Alyssia has worked with a variety of different programs over years including Granite Artistic Swimming, team Ontario as well as Canada artistic swimming. Outside of the pool, she is a dance fitness and aquatic fitness instructor.
Alyssia’s coaching philosophy is that each practice is a new opportunity to be at least 1% better than yesterday. When coaching her focus is fostering a positive atmosphere for all athletes and coaches to train their best. Alyssia is excited to lead the Team Ontario 12U program this year and she is excited to share her passion and love for artistic swimming with all the athletes.
Assistant Coach: Frederique Desjardins
In the past 5 years, Freddy has coached athletes of all ages with various skill levels at Go Capital Artistic Swimming Club, and worked with OAS athletes last summer as an apprentice coach. She has been an artistic swimmer for the past 12 years, and currently swims a masters solo. Outside of the pool deck, she is completing her second year of Childhood and Youth Studies with a minor in Disability Studies at Carleton University. Over the years, coaching has grown to become one of her greatest passions, striving to create a positive and uplifting experience for all. This season, she has stepped into the role of Go Capital’s Social Coordinator where she works on building club engagement by organizing events and managing their social media accounts.
When it comes to her coaching philosophy, she believes that the only way to achieve your goals is by giving it your all, which all starts with the proper mindset. Freddy is so excited to learn from some of OAS most experienced and dedicated coaches. She is also looking forward to help create an unforgettable experience this summer, where athletes can look forward to surpassing their goals they set for themselves!
12U Development Team
Lead Coach: Gillian King
Gillian has been coaching for over ten years and is currently the assistant head coach at Nepean Artistic Swim Club. Over her coaching career, she has coached athletes in every age category from 8U to masters and also works to develop the next generation of coaches and build their excitement for the sport as an AquaGO course facilitator! She has a masters degree in Mental Performance from the University of Ottawa and her coaching philosophy is that success is supported by hard work, a combination of athletes giving 100% every day and coaches giving the support and trust that the athletes need to grow.
Last summer, she was the assistant coach with the Youth Development Team and loved the opportunity to work with the Team Ontario program. She is very excited for the opportunity to work with the provincial team program again this summer and work with the 11-12 Development Team to help them reach their goals!
Assistant Coach: Sabrina Lopresti
Sabrina has been coaching for over 10 years and is currently coaching at York Artistic Swimming Club. She started swimming at just 5 years old and has continued to be involved in the sport ever since. Her coaching philosophy is based around the love of the sport and that the best athletes are the ones that truly love swimming. She works on fostering an environment where athletes can receive constructive criticism and feedback in a positive manner that drives their desires to be better than they already are. She is very excited to be joining Team Ontario this year and can’t wait for an amazing summer!
Adapted Team
Lead Coach: Katie Allaire
Katie is the Club Manager and Adapted/Mixed Ability Program Lead Coach at Remix Artistic Swimming Club in addition to coaching athletes in their 8U, 10U and 11-12 programs. Katie is an NCCP Competition Development Trained Coach along with Special Olympics Competition Introduction and Mixed Ability Sport Coach Certified. Katie acts as a Coach Representative on the Ontario Adapted Artistic Swimming Committee and has played a crucial role in the development of many adapted and accessibility initiatives to date and has supported Adapted Coach Development in Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.
Katie is in her final months of her degree in Child and Youth Studies at York University and works in the Inclusive Recreation field, supporting the growth and development of various Summer Camp Inclusion programs and services for over 5 years. Katie believes that we can adapt any sport to create inclusive and competitive environments for athletes and families to experience and benefit from all that sport has to offer.
Applications for Adapted Team Assistant Coach coming soon!