Candidate biographies - Masters Swimming Canada

MSC Board Nominee BiosAND THE CANDIDATES ARE…1.) Christian Berger: La Vague de Brossard, QuebecA Masters swimmer since 1981, Christian Berger has also been Quebec andMasters Swimming Canada’s stats person for 20 years. He has written software for cluband results management. He has been on the FNQ Masters and club committees for 15years.2.) Douglas Blakely, Regina Masters Swim Club, Saskatchewan:A member of the Regina Club for over a year, Douglas Blakely has experiencewith swim clubs in Yorkton and Saskatoon when his children were swimming. He hasother sports experience at the board level with the Commodore Yorkton Canoe andKayak Club and as Provincial Commodore, Saskatchewan Canoe and Kayak Assoc. Hebelieves he can make a contribution to Masters Swimming Canada in the areas offinances, program development, program evaluation, and sport psychology.3.) Frank Coy, Niagara Brock Masters, St Catharine’s, Ontario.A registered Masters swimmer in Ontario since 1991, Frank Coy has competed atNational and Provincial Championships across Canada. He helped organize the 2006Ontario Masters Swimming Championship, Mar 31 - Apr. 2, 2006. In 2004, he helpedSwim Canada with its Marketing and Business Development strategies. In Dec. 2005 hewas asked to sit on a Swim Canada committee whose mandate was to assess the currentrelationship between Masters Swimming Canada and Swim Canada and discuss ways tostrengthen the relationship over time.He would like to help MSC promote and develop a greater sense of a "SwimCulture" in Canada. By bringing together the MSC family, which would include theProvincial bodies, as well as the other swimming constituents in this country, “we canspeak with a stronger voice, and tell the great story of swimming and its health benefitsfor individuals throughout their lives,” he says.4.) Sylvie Deliencourt, Technosport, Ottawa, OntarioA life long competitive swimmer, Sylvie Deliencourt joined Masters in the 1990s.She spent three years representing Masters swimmers interests on the Quebec SwimmingFederation Board and was three times the MC at Quebec Masters Awards Ceremonies.She has been involved at her club level as an assistant coach, a swimmer, and anorganizer of meets, swim camps, and social events.She has skills in the areas of project management, public relationscommunications, membership services, recruitment and retention. She would like to raisethe awareness of Canadians of the benefits of a complete sport like swimming to a

person’s well being. She feels Masters swimming needs to market itself to young, adultcompetitive swimmers so they will develop an interest and joy in continuing withswimming all their lives.5.) Nigel Kemp, Halifax Trojans, Nova ScotiaWith a lifelong involvement in swimming, Nigel Kemp spent 27 years as thevarsity coach at Dalhousie University. He has six years experience as a Masters swimmerand coach and has spent the last two years as the Nova Scotia representative on the MSCBoard. He currently serves as the chair of the Board’s coaching and leadershipcommittee. He is interested in advocating for opportunities for people of all ages to beactive in swimming, to increase participation and membership in MSC activities, and toenhance coaching and leadership.6.) Aart Looye, Semiahmoo Masters Swim Club, South Surrey, British ColumbiaAart Looye has been active in the Swimming community for the past 40 years inAlberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. He is completing his five-year term on the boardof MSABC (Masters Swimming Association British Columbia), having served asPresident for the past four years. During his term, Looye brought electronics to MastersSwimming in BC as BC Masters adopted Swim Direct as a vehicle for registration. Anemail bulletin was introduced and established to provide the 1,500 Masters swimmers inBC with current information on all aspects of Masters swimming. Working closely withSNC officials, Looye ensured that all aspects of sanctioning of meets and ruleimplementation were met. He has been Meet Manager, Official, Volunteer forProvincial, National and Worlds Age Group and Masters meets. As an arbitrator byprofession, Aart Looey can bring his strong expertise in swimming, administration,governance, and financial responsibility to the MSC board.7.) Lindsay Patten, Moncton Bleu et Or, New BrunswickAn active swimmer and competitor, Lindsay Patten is currently serving Mastersswimming at the club, executive, and provincial levels. He created and maintains theAtlanticMasters.org web site with information on Masters Swimming throughout AtlanticCanada. He is the New Brunswick representative on the current MSC Board of Directors,the chair of the MSC Communications Committee, and the MSC National Registrar. Hecreated and continues to maintain the mymsc.ca web site, including the online MillionMetre Challenge fitness program, and competitive results database.He believes the Million Metre Challenge and the Results Database are examplesof how MSC can help clubs and provinces offer enhanced services to their members.Coming from one of the smaller provinces he thinks Masters swimmers could benefitfrom MSC offering programs that individual provinces do not have the resources to run.He wants to continue contributing to the development of MSC's online programs andcommunications. He says Masters swimming across Canada can benefit by everyoneworking together, sharing resources and sharing best practices.

8.) Mark Sandilands, Lethbridge Masters Swim Club, AlbertaA former age grouper, Mark Sandilands swam for a precursor club of EdmontonKeyano. In 1975 he discovered goggles and has been swimming for fitness and somecompetition ever since. He has been a Masters swimmer since 1978 and joined theLethbridge Masters in 1985. He has been a volunteer assistant coach for LMSC,President of Masters Swim Alberta, and the Alberta nominee to the MSC Board sinceNovember 2000. He has been MSC Secretary since May 2001.As a fitness swimmer, Sandilands believes competition is an important part of theMasters experience. He encourages swimmers to attend a meet to monitor their training,he says. He believes MSC must provide programmes for the swimmers who do notcompete. As well, he thinks that MSC can be a force for swimming at all levels and agesin Canada, from the six-year old beginner to the Olympic hopeful to the retired lapswimmer.He would like to bring MSC to this level of influence. As a retired universityprofessor, he would also like to bring his experience with volunteer groups at the local,provincial, and national level to the Board of MSC.9.) Brent Schurman, Summerside Masters, Prince Edward IslandA Masters swimmer for 20 years, Brent Schurman supports MSC’s competitivemandate; he also believes that since over 80 per cent of the MSC membership does notcompete, the voices of those swimmers must also be heard.Schurman serves as Summerside Masters president, the PEI representative onMSC, and as MSC Treasurer. He heavily promotes the Million Metre Challenge andbelieves Masters Swimming “is one of the most beneficial and healthy activities a personcould be involved in ‘for life.’” A corporate controller and accountant by profession, hebelieves his greatest contribution to MSC would be in the financial area. He will alsocontinue to promote Masters swimming in PEI.10.) Chris Smith, Trillium Y Masters Swim Club, OntarioChris Smith has been involved in swimming for 40 years at the club, provincial,national, and international levels. He has served as a Level 5 Official, Referee, Starter,and Meet Manager for numerous Championships and on the Board of Ontario SwimmingOfficials Association. Smith has been Masters swimmer and regular competitor since1989. He was on the Board of Masters Swimming Ontario, 1992 – 1998 and MSOPresident 1997-1998. He has been on the Board of MSC since January 2003 and MSCPresident since February 2004. He is a former Architect, Urban Designer and HousingAdvocate.With experience in all areas of sport and organization Chris Smith wants tocontinue providing leadership to build MSC into a strong force for adult fitness through

swimming. He wishes to develop democratic governance, to involve all interestedmembers in the process, support all aquatics, to serve our members, sport andcommunities in Canada, and make MSC a model for other national Mastersorganizations.11.) Fred Stock, Manitoba Masters Aquatic Club, Winnipeg, ManitobaFred Stock learned to swim and competed in school meets in England. He wasprimarily a cyclist, champion of the East Yorkshire Cycling Club. After immigrating toCanada he returned to swimming and is a founding member of the Manitoba MastersAquatic Club in 1981. He competes regularly in club, Provincial, and NationalChampionships. He also competed in the World Masters Swimming Championships,held in Sheffield, England.As a Professional Engineer, licensed to practice in England and Canada, he has arecord of successful engineering projects. From those projects, he has learned to initiatestrategies to get things done in co-operation with others, he says. He would also bring hisbilingual skills to the Board of Masters Swimming Canada.12.) Marion Wyatt, 1000 Islands Y Swim Masters, Brockville, OntarioA Masters swimmer for 13 years, Marion Wyatt says her perspective oncompetition and fitness is fairly recent as she did not come up through the age groupswimming ranks. She is interim president of her local swim board. She has experiencerunning competitions at age groups and Master’s levels as Meet Manager using Hy TechMeet Manager program. She was president of the Upper Canada Swim Club (for agegroupers) for seven years and is currently Upper Canada’s past president/treasurer. Oneof the ways she’d like to serve Masters Swimming Canada is by coordinating the databases of all clubs across Canada to better serve their common needs.@