Former Semiahmoo Peninsula resident and longtime Pacific Sea Wolves swim coach Brad Dingey is coming back to the mainland after a few years training high-performance swimmers in Victoria.
Swimming Canada announced last week that Dingey – who had been at the helm of the national swim association’s NextGen program since 2015 – will take over as head coach of the organization’s High Performance Centre in Vancouver. Victoria’s HPC program is set to close this month.
“As we are focusing our investment on two High Performance Centres – one in the eastern part of the country, and one in the west – we wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen the staff with another experienced Canadian coach in Brad Dingey,” said Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi said in a news release.
Before moving to Victoria in 2015, Dingey was the head coach of the Pacific Sea Wolves for more than 11 years. The South Surrey-based club is now under the guidance of Jy Stewart, one of Dingey’s former pupils.
“I really appreciate the confidence Swimming Canada is showing in me and I’m looking forward to this opportunity,” Dingey said.
“The HPC-Vancouver has accomplished some really good things over the years and it’s going to be a great opportunity to be part of that and lead it into the next stage.”
Longtime coach Tom Johnson will also continue at the Vancouver centre, alongside Dingey and Martyn Wilby, who is Swimming Canada’s Senior Coach, Olympic Program. Ben Keast will also remain on the Vancouver staff at the centre, which is located at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre.
“This move gives us a strong succession plan to continue the success of the Vancouver program as part of our long-term strategic goal of remaining a top swimming nation,” said Swimming Canada President Cheryl Gibson.
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