Our Coaches
Early
Life
Swimming have been the focal point of my life ever since I was 8
years old. Because of this, I learned at a very young age that hard
work, dedication, and patience were the keys to success in sports
and in life. I was always an athlete. Whether it was in the
swimming pool, soccer field, volleyball court, ski slopes or
running cross country, being a part of a team has always been a
part of my life.
I won my first Nationals at age of 10. Then
for 8 consecutive years as a Bulgarian National Team member I
enjoyed reaching the podium year after year. Swimming was my
passion. As a swimmer I was heavily influenced and inspired by
Russian, Hungarian and German swimming.
Education
Bachelor Degree in Physical Education and Sport Management from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. Also, a NCCP level 3 certified coach in Canada and American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) member.
Swimming Coaching Career
I am lucky enough to say that I have been coaching swimming since 1991 in Canada. I joined Richmond Hill Aquatic Club in 2004 as an assistant Provincial group coach. I was the Head Coach at RHAC from the 2007 season until 2022. I had the pleasure of collaborating with the other amazing RHAC coaches to help the swimmers grow each and every day.
In my coaching career I have been mostly influenced, not limited only to USA swimming, but also the Russian and German sports systems. Coaches like Greg Troy, Eddie Reese, Richard Quick and Bill Sweethenham have helped me greatly experience coaching success.
My Finest
Moments in Coaching
- When former swimmers come to see me on the pool deck and share a moment of remembrance of the past. I always have the interest and curiosity to find out how retired swimmers are doing in their lives after their swimming career ended.
- Setting up a High Performance Fund at RHAC. This fund was created in 2007 to support high-performance swimmers who have consistently demonstrated leadership and good sportsmanship attributes in and out of the water. It is very important for the development of the athletes to attend all performance meets and RHAC recognized the high cost of travel to these.
Professional Achivements
- Significant coaching contribution to achieving:
Junior World Champs medalist (Silver medal), Junior Pan Pacific participant (2 Silver) Canada Games 2013 medalist (6 Gold, 1 Silver,1 Bronze), Canadian Senior Nationals medalists (4 medals) , Age Group Nationals medalists (33 medals – 12 Gold – 11 Solver – 10 Bronze), Canada Eastern Champs medalists, Ontario Provincial Champs medalists.
- Canadian record holder for 13 - 14 girls in 100 Free (2010) - Victoria Chan
- Junior World Champs medalist (Silver medal), Canada Games 2013 medalist (6 Gold, 1 Silver,1 Bronze), Canadian Senior Nationals medalists, Age Group Nationals medalists, Canada Eastern Champs medalists, Ontario Provincial Champs medalists – Victoria Chan
- Victoria Chan was awarded with the Richmond Hill Hall of Fame Sports Award
- Canadian record holder for 11 - 12 boys in 50 Free (2010) - Zachary Fitzgerald
- Junior Pan Pacific participant and Canadian National Team member (2010) – Kourosh Ahani
- Canadian Olympic Trials 2012 and 2016 - 2 Silver Medals in 100 Fly - Kourosh Ahani
- Kourosh Ahani was awarded with the Richmond Hill Hall of Fame Sports Award
- Canadian Olympic Trials 2016 – “A” Finalist – Nemanja Colic
- XXXI CCCAN International Swimming Championships – “A” Finalist in the 15-17 y/o category as a 15 y/o – Ethan Dyke – Elliott
- Ontario Junior International competition 2018 – “A” Finalist – Nicholas Bulban
- Canadian Olympic trials 2020 qualifiers
– Matthew
Wittman and Nicholas Bulban
(Due to COVID pandemic Reid Tichy and Kent Goni Aviva couldn’t race at the Trials) - Nicholas
Bulban – 6 times Ontario Provincial
Champion, nine-time Canadian Junior Championship finalist, as
well as a three-time Eastern Canadian Open Medalist.
In 2017 Nicholas was awarded with the Richmond Hill Hall of Fame Sports Award, as well as Nicholas has been identified to the National Development Team for two years consecutively, and was selected to attend the National Team’s training camp and competition in Vancouver in June of 2018. - Ontario Junior International competition 2021 – “A” Finalist – Kent Goni Avila Reid Tichy participant
- 2022 Eastern Champs – “A” Finalist – (3rd place 200 Free – 1st Place 100 Free) Reid Tichy
- Age Group Nationals achievements from 2007 - 2022 (12 Gold – 11 Silver – 10 Bronze medals)
- Eastern Champs achievements from 2007 – 2022 (3 Gold – 8 Silver – 11 Bronze medals)
Coach
Roxana swam competitively for 10 years and attended
National’s for 200m breaststroke. She began her coaching
career with Champion Athletic Club in 1997 and moved to continue
her work with the Richmond Hill Aquatic Club (RHAC) in 2004; and
joined Aurora Ducks Swimming Club in July 2022. While at
RHAC, Coach
Roxana created and supervised the pre-competitive RHAC program with
the help of her young coaching proteges, while simultaneously
coaching all the clubs 13-year-old and under competitive
groups.
Coach
Roxana holds a master’s degree in engineering and is NCCP
Level 3 certified in swimming. Her primary purpose in coaching
is to instill a passion for swimming. She emphasizes that a
mastery of all the technical skills in swimming is the key to
success, and improvement is always the key focus of each
practice.
Practices
are prepared with specific goals in mind and in return Coach
Roxana expects swimmers to show up on time and be mentally
prepared to work hard. These guiding principles have developed
swimmers who eventually reached and won medals at Age Group
Nationals, Eastern Championships and Senior Nationals. She has
successfully coached all levels of swimmers with their distances
and strokes and aided novice swimmers in obtaining their first
Festival times.
Coach
Roxana believes in educating parents on the philosophy of the
program, as well as showing them how they can support their
child’s progress, ultimately fostering a positive environment
for all involved.
Coach Britney is a former competitive swimmer with over 8 years of experience. She was trained under the guidance of Coach Konstantin for over 5 years.
Having competed at the Provincial level, Britney now wants to pass on her swimming experience and skills to the younger and upcoming generation.
Coach Britney is NLS and NCCP level I certified
This is Coach Isabelle's second year coaching development groups at WSSC. She has 8 years of competitive swimming experience, as well as 9 years of being a high performance gymnast.
Coach Isabelle is NLS, first aid, CPR and NCCP level I certified.
Ever since she was young, Coach Isabelle always enjoyed invovling herself in extra curriculars and being present in her sports.
Coach Adrian Martin has been in the coaching industry for over 7 years of competitive experience and 9 years of precompetitive experience. Coach Adrian has been a swimmer for Coach Konstantin and Coach Roxana for most of his adolescent years while honing his skills. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree and has always been involved with the education of youth.
Coach Adrian values hard work, punctuality, and a desire from his swimmers to self improve, progress old times, and ultimately become stronger, self respecting, and disciplined swimmers
Certifications:
· NCCP level 1 – Certified
· NCCP level 2- Trained
· Honour Bachelor of Liberal Arts
· National Lifeguard Certification
· Standard First Aid/CPR-C Certification
· Automated External Defibrillator Certification