Coaches and Directors
Coach Vincent is returning for his 6th season with Chena Swim Club and his 3nd as Head Coach. Prior to joining Chena in 2016, Vincent coached 9 years with the Burnaby Mountain Mantas swim club, including 3 years as Head Coach as well as 2 years as a volunteer assistant coach under Swim BC Technical Director, Cory Beatt.
Vincent is an NCCP Level 3 coach with over 15 years experience in the sport. Vincent was selected as a member of the Swimming Canada Select Coaches group in 2020 and 2021, as well as a coach for the Swim BC Prospects Men and Women Prospets Camps in 2022. He believes in a personal approach centred on building meaningful relationships, developing sustainably over the long term, and exploring and maximizing the potential of each athlete. In the 2021 season, Vincent was selected as a member of the Swimming Canada Select Coaches group. Vincent's goals are to help his swimmers accomplish their goals, to inspire those around him to love the sport as much as he does, and to lead the club to continue a tradition of community, positivity, and performance.
Roger brings over a decade of coaching experience and a proven record of developing athletes from grassroots to national level and beyond. Before joining Chena, Roger spent eight years coaching in Alberta, most recently working at the varsity and national level with the University of Alberta Golden Bears & Pandas and the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club. Prior to that, he was the Senior Lead Coach for six years with the Calgary Patriots, ran grassroots development programming in Ottawa with GO Kingfish, and spent years coaching masters and summer swimming alongside his club roles, driven largely by his love for the sport.
Roger has had the privilege of coaching and working with numerous national and U SPORTS medalists, provincial and national record holders, as well as Olympians and Paralympic medalists. In 2022, he was
appointed to Team Alberta’s coaching staff for the 2022 Canada Games.
As a former varsity swimmer and lifelong athlete, Roger combines a deep technical understanding of the sport with a practical, athlete-centered approach. He is committed to developing resilient, well-rounded athletes who thrive both in and out of the pool. He values collaboration with coaches, parents, and staff to ensure each swimmer has the resources, skills, and opportunities they need to succeed, and believes that great athletes make great swimmers, and that the most successful swimmers are those who grow into well-rounded athletes and people.
When not on deck, Roger can often be found swimming for fun, running, climbing, or cycling and is ecstatic to be living in the Lonsdale area and is embracing the north shore lifestyle!
Roger is thrilled to have the opportunity to help lead Chena into a new era and is eager to work with all our athletes, coaches, parents, and volunteers!
Emmy is excited to return to Chena for a 4th season and lead the Youth Green and Senior Provincial groups! Emmy grew up in Kelowna in a family full of swimmers. Both of her parents were swim coaches (a long time ago) who started her in swim club at age 4. Breaststroke was her best (and favorite) stroke and she was a provincial level swimmer for the majority of her time competing in the sport. She eventually achieved her national qualifying time which she considers to be one of her highlights, along with discovering her passion for coaching. She has now been involved in the sport for almost 25 years as a swimmer and coach. Over the last 12 years, she has coached swimmer’s of all ages (babies to age 84!) and has been the Head Coach of two summer clubs (Richmond Kigoos: 2015-2020 and Kelowna Ogopogo: 2013-2014.)
Coach Emmy is currently working on her Level 2 Coaching Certification and holds a degree in psychology from UBC. Emmy is passionate about creating a fun and positive training environment where swimmer’s support each other, develop confidence in their abilities, and love swimming. She believes in teaching the importance of good technique to help swimmers understand the “why” behind what they are doing to build well-rounded, purposeful swimmers. She thinks that swimmers thrive when they feel supported by their coaches and believes in using positive feedback and encouragement to support each swimmer on their journey to their goals.
Nolan joined Chena to begin his swimming career in 2008. He swam with Chena for 10 years and began coaching with Chena Skills in 2014. Over the next 4 years he developed his coaching and teaching skills with the Chena Skills program as well as teaching swim lessons and lifesaving courses with North Vancouver Rec. Nolan's last coaching with Chena was as a Skills coach and an assistant coach to Junior Blue and Junior Green in the 2017-2018 season. After his time with Chena, Nolan attended Western University where he studied computer science. While at Western, Nolan continued his swimming career as a Western Mustang for 5 years earning recognition from the coaches and teammates as a standout member of the team. He was awarded Rookie of the Year in his inaugural season and eventually earned the role of team captain in his final year at Western. He retired from competition in April of 2023 and is excited to return to coaching with his first club, Chena.
Coach Caroline started coaching with Chena as a Skills coach all the way back in Grade 10. This will be her 8th year coaching with Chena, and 3rd year with her own groups. She is experienced in the world of swimming; she swam with Chena for almost 10 years before she started coaching. Coach Caroline also spent the summer of 2022 Coaching for the North Shore Winter Club Marlins, and even competed herself! She was able to make it to Provincials with her swimmers and fellow Marlin’s coaches.
Coach Caroline just graduated with an Associate Certificate in Video Production and Editing and a Diploma in Television and Video Production, both with distinction from BCIT. Coach Caroline has worked with swimmers in Chena from Bronze to Youth White. Giving her a wide range of experience with different levels and ages. Coach Caroline wants all her swimmers to improve, gain new skills, meet new friends, and most of all have fun! She is determined to help all her swimmers succeed in their goals and fall in love with the sport of swimming. She can’t wait to see the swimmers and parents on deck this year!
Coach Sage is super excited to start coaching Junior Blue at Chena this season! She swam competitively from 2008 up until 2022 competing at both the club and varsity level. Originally from Ontario, she swam with Uxbridge Swim Club at a Provincial and National level throughout high school and then swam in the NCAA at Simon Fraser University while completing her degree in Geoscience and GIS.
With more than 4 years of developmental coaching experience, Coach Sage has developed extensive knowledge of competitive swimming and focuses on building strong stroke fundamentals and healthy mental habits in her swimmers. Sage is also formally trained in working with children with exceptionalities and disabilities, in and out of the pool, and is able to adapt programming to help each child succeed. Coach Sage is looking forward to helping each swimmer achieve individual excellence this season and can’t wait to see you on deck!
Coach Alex joins us after a successful season with the North Van Cruisers summer program! Originally from Ontario, Alex swam competitively for several years with Vancouver Pacific Swim Club before moving on from swimming. Alex has recently returned to the pool to pass on her love for the sport - she is passionate and patient and is looking forward to working with our future Chena champions.
Coach Gus is going to be back for another awesome year with Chena! He started swimming for Vernon Kokanee Swim Club in grade six, but in grade eight, moved back to North Vancouver to swim with Chena until grade twelve. This is Gus' second year as an assistant junior coach and is excited to return! He is now studying engineering at Simon Fraser University and is a second year student.
Coach Gus wants to be able to help develop and improve all the swimmers' drive to become better whether as a person or in competition. No matter the results from the pool, being in a healthy environment is what Gus loves and he will support the swimmers in the best way possible. Since this is a competitive swim club Coach Gus will give it his all to train up the junior swimmers to be ready to transition into tougher and harder competitions to come.
