Board of Directors
The Toronto Swim Club is governed by a Board of Directors each of whom is elected for a two year term. The Annual General Meeting takes place in the Fall of each year. Every Board member has a portfolio.
The Board can be reached at: [email protected]
Byron MacDonald (President)
Byron has been Head Coach of the very successful University of Toronto Varsity Team for more than 30 years. In the early 1980’s, Byron saw a need for a high performance swim club in downtown Toronto and formed a club that would eventually become the Toronto Swim Club. A few years later, Byron joined the Board of TSC and has remained an active member ever since.
Byron coaches the senior age swimmers of TSC. His accolades as a coach are many-- including more than 70 swimmers who have been on international teams and Olympic teams. He has coached numerous medal winners, including a 1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist and more recently Kylie Masse’s coach, who won a Bronze Medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and became the world record holder in the 100 Backstroke at the 2017 World Championships.
Byron's coaching draws on his personal international swimming career where he won numerous medals including two Commonwealth Gold Medals, and a 6th place finish in the 100 meter butterfly at the 1972 Olympics Summer Games (Munich). Byron is also the "voice of swimming" having commentated television swim coverage for seven Olympic and other Games --winning two Gemini Awards for his work.
Helena Tigert (Vice President)
Helena has been a TSC swim parent since 2015 and on the TSC board since 2017. She has two swimmers in the club - Leah (National) and Sophie (Senior Provincial). Swimming has made a huge positive impact on her daughters both in and out of the pool, building their confidence and their resilience. The coaching team at TSC is so positive and has helped them see they can achieve more than they ever thought possible.
Helena is a Vice President at Visa. She has over 20 years of business management experience in financial services and consumer packaged goods. Helena has her MBA from the Ivey School of Business and a BA from McGill University. She has her Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She also recently completed the Governance Essentials program with the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management.
Herbert Law (Secretary)
Herbert’s daughter Erica (Jr. Orange) started swimming in TSC’s Academy program in 2019. Herbert believes in the tremendous value provided to kids when they participate in competitive sports. For instance, Erica has gained confidence and skills from competitive swim that can be applied both in and outside of the pool such as resilience, perseverance, and drive. All of this is only possible because of the wonderful and supportive coaches, staff, and fellow swim parents from the TSC community.
Herbert is a Partner at Mathews, Dinsdale, and Clark LLP, a national workplace law firm. Herbert has close to 20 years experience advising and advocating on behalf of employers in labour, employment, and human rights matters. Herbert has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC, a Master of Industrial Relations and Law degree from Queen’s University and has served on several not for profit boards in the Toronto area.
Scott Rattee (Treasurer)
Scott's daughter Zoe is in the National group and has been swimming with TSC since she started in the Academy program in the 2017/2018 swim season.
Scott is a Senior Vice President at DBRS Ltd., a global credit rating agency, covering the telecom/media/technology sectors. Scott has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry in both fixed income and public equities, working in both Toronto and New York, NY. Scott has been a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) member since 2004, and earned his MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University in 1999.
Like many parents in the TSC community, Scott has spent countless hours in the stands at swim practice and meets over the years and witnessed first hand the incredibly positive influence swimming with TSC has had in his daughter's development. Importantly she has learned the value of setting goals and working hard to achieve them with the help of great coaches and a fun team environment. In this role, Scott wants to continue to help build the club's outstanding tradition of enabling swimmers to achieve their potential both in the pool and out.
Jane Brind (Member at Large - Officials)
Jane has been running her own consulting business, ZIF HR, for 9+ years. ZIF HR provides both HR consulting and career/job search coaching services, with the latter being the primary focus in the last few years. Previously, Jane worked in various HR roles in tech companies in Vancouver, then in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley, and finally here in Toronto. She has a diploma in Career & Work Counselling, a diploma in HR Management, and a BA (History) from UBC.
Jane’s roots are in aquatics. She swam in a competitive swim club as a kid and later spent years working as a lifeguard & swim instructor – hence the “pool smell” is very familiar (and strangely comforting!). Joining the TSC board feels like coming back to her swimming journey.
Jane’s younger son, Cooper, specifically asked to join TSC and started in the 2019/2020 season. He’s currently in Junior Provincial.
Ivona Vukasinovic (Member at Large - Communications)
Ivona Vukasinovic has been a swim mom at TSC since 2018 and has had the privilege of watching her son Viktor develop as a swimmer from a young age. Viktor is now in Senior Provincial and has learned about time management, how to persevere when things get tough and overall importance of staying committed to a situation through his swim journey. His brother Luka started with the Academy in 2022 and is loving the pool time with his friends and coaches.
Ivona is the Head of People Analytics in BMO Financial Group. She has over 15 years of experience in the ever growing field of analytics, technology and marketing and is an active advocate of Women in Analytics.
Ivona is a University of Toronto alumni, where she received an Honours Bachelor of Science degree with a specialization in Mathematics.
Krista Koteff (Member at Large - Fundraising)
Krista Koteff is delighted to continue into her second year with TSC Board of Directors in the capacity of Fundraising. She is passionate about the people and the athletes who make up the Toronto Swim Club, and feels excited to support fundraising strategies, which will support the larger Toronto swim community.
Krista has created and supported her own business since 2004, where she has created numerous marketing and gift giving strategies, supplying goods and services to both public and private sectors. She is actively engaged in fundraising committees and continues to work contractually for Corporate Event Planning leaders.
Krista has three children who are all involved in the sport of swim. Her middle son has been a member of TSC since 2021 and is eagerly developing his skills and abilities, feeling supported as he grows in the sport of swim.
Krista is an alumni of McMaster University in Hamilton, ON.
Benjie Levy (Member at Large - Strategic Planning / Athlete Development)
Janet McCausland (Member at Large - Events)
For the Events portfolio, Janet is looking forward to sharing her experience with events big and small, starting her career at one of Canada's leading meeting venues, to overseeing several stops for His Majesty The King on two of his Canadian Royal Tours.
Janet is a seasoned strategic leader with 25 years of building innovative programs, brokering complex partnerships and generating sustainable growth in the social impact sector. She has an MA, a Fundraising Management Certificate and is currently enrolled in a course about ESG reporting.
Janet has been a TSC swim parent since March 2022 and is happy to give back to the community that her daughter Anna (Youth Festival) values so highly. Apart from swimming, her family loves to travel, and they always stay in places with pools!
