Coaches Corner
Head Coach: Danielle Brault, B.Sc. (phys.ed.), M.Sc. (kinesiology), NCCP (Level 3)
Over 30 years of coaching already - time flies when one’s having fun! I started in 1973 as an assistant with the Équipe de Natation de Cowansville (Québec) and became the head coach in May 1977. The youth team was quite competitive at the time with about 100 swimmers, almost maximum numbers considering Cowansville is a small town of 12,000. At the same time as heading the Swim Team, I also taught physical education in Eastern Townships’ elementary schools. An extremely busy period of my life.
Having heard of the Masters program, I started coaching a group of adults as an extension to the youth group in 1979. And it was fun! Quite a few of the swimmers who were with the club when it began are still swimming in Cowansville. It was great for me to join them in workouts during my sabbatical in Quebec last year.
In 1985, I took a one year leave of absence from my Quebec jobs and traveled to Germany where I became head coach of the Lahr Beavers Swim Team, a club set up for children of Canadian military personnel based in Lahr. These adults were keen and fit, an easy target for starting another Masters program. We competed in Switzerland, France, Denmark . . . a tough life!
I enjoyed Germany so much that I applied for a teaching job with DND and for several years taught at base schools in Lahr and Baden. Back in Canada in 1991, I completed a Masters degree in kinesiology at the Université de Montréal and did some coaching with the University’s Masters Team for one year. I then returned to Cowansville for a couple of years to teach and yes, to coach masters.
In July 1994 I met Avila at the World Championships in Montreal and she told me the Victoria Masters were looking for a coach for the upcoming season. Super for me as I was moving west and looking for work. And here I am in 2005. This is my 11th year with VMSC and I truly enjoy coaching such dedicated swimmers. When I’m not coaching or teaching, I’m in the water myself or on the running trail and even sometimes on my bike . . . I’ll need help from Travis with this triathlon business.
Assistant Coach: Avila Rhodes, B.Ed.
Avila has been swimming with the Victoria Masters Swim club for years - she recruited Danielle to coach the team when they met in 1994! Avila started as an assistant coach for the club in the 2003-2004 season, and her enthusiasm for swimming and athletics is much appreciated by the swimmers! Avila has been instructing/coaching at a number of Victoria pools since her teens. After highschool she got her BEd at Uvic and taught for several years. Avila has been working as a coach for the Victoria Amateur Swim Club at Commonwealth Pool for the past 10 years (& continues to do so) mainly introducing young swimmers to the world of competitive swimming. She also works as a private instructor for adults.
Assistant Coach: Keith Kendal
I was enjoying (not) growing up in the suburb if Edmonton called "Sherwood Park", when after building a swimming pool in 1974, an at the ripe old age of 14, took lessons from an age group swimming club from Edmonton called the "Olympian Swim Club" (OSC). I moved to Edmonton in 1976 and started swimming 11x per week with OSC. My area of speciality was being known as a "workout" swimmer, and not too bad of a 200m flyer. If question by anyone Keith would have to confess to having had a love affair with pull and paddle workouts because he could beat almost anyone with these tools then and he still can today! I finished swimming in 1979 at 17 after graduating from high school.
At 27 years of age (1988) I finally got back into the pool when a co-worker told me about the Calgary Masters Swim Club and I started swimming and racing again with that club. (The best part was the brunch at Dee Dee’s after the Saturday morning workouts) As I moved about I have swum with the University of British Columbia Masters Swim club (1990 to 1992), University of Victoria Masters swim club (1992 to 1994), Tyee masters swim club (1996 to 2000).
While swimming on my own at Crystal Pool on a early Saturday morning, back about the year 2001, Keith was merrily swimming a long free set of... 4 x 400’s ...or something like thatand could not help noticing that he was being soundly whipped by about 6 or so Victoria Masters Swim club swimmers in the adjacent lane, all of which appeared older than him. I had an "epiphany", I promptly checked out their workout board, and realized with a little bit of group therapy I might be able to get himself in shape to make their pace time and hang with them, and I promptly joined the Victoria Masters Swim Club. For better or worse, mostly better... and cannot remember a worse... Keith has been swimming and racing with Victoria Masters ever since.
Keith commenced coaching with the Navy Masters Swim team since 2004 and with the Victoria Masters Swim Club since 2006. He actively involved in masters swimming and is currently (2009) the treasurer of the Provincial Masters body: Masters Swimming Association of British Columbia.
