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We are here to support your needs. If your questions are related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting, and other swimming related needs, please contact one of the coaches. For all questions related to administrative, such as registration fees & account balances, please contact our office swim@richmondrapids.com |
| Coaching Staff |
Head Coach and Director of Swimming Robert Pettifer has a vision to build the Richmond Rapids into a nationally recognized and prominent team, from both a developmental and competitive standpoint. A focus on consistently exceptional technique, peak physical capabilities, and poise under pressure are hallmarks of Rob's training.
Rob is an NCCP Level 3 certified coach, and has been Head Coach of the Rapids for six years.
Started her swimming career in Richmond with the Aquanauts. She swam competitively for 15 years and reached the National and International Levels. The highlights of her career include competiting for Canada at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria and 1994 World Championships in Rome. She swam for UBC for one year and then transfered to the University of Nevada Las Vegas where she ended her career. She is very excited to come back to the sport that she loves so much and share her passion of swimming with young children. She has her NCCP Level 1 Certification.
Dennis grew up in Richmond and swam for the Aquanauts. He began his coaching career with the Aquanaut Swim Club in 1998 and it has continued to through to today with the Rapids. Over the years Dennis has coached groups at every level in the club and is a fully certified NCCP level 2 coach. For questions related to billing and your Rapids account please contact Dennis.
Alex Pettifer is the current coach of the PAG 2 & PD 1 groups. Alex has been coaching for 9 years, all with the RAPIDS. Alex's believes that through committment to the team and by gaining experience at competition our athletes will swim fast and have fun too!
Alex swam competively for 13 years with the Richmond Racers and the Rapids. During her career Alex was a Junior National level swimer in Backstroke and Freestyle. She is NCCP Level 2 Trained and has a history degree from UBC.
Drew started swimming in Paducah, Kentucky as a kid and went on to work as an assistant coach for Paducah for two summers. He earned his BA from the University of Louisville, double majoring in English and Art. After coaching for three other teams in Kentucky, he moved to Vancouver with his wife. Drew believes that passion, purpose and hard work are the keys to being successful.
He is an NCCP Level 2 Trained coach. This is Drew's third year as a coach for the Rapids.
Michelle swam competitively for twelve years with the Richmond Racers and the Rapids.
During her swimming career she competed at the Age Group National and Western Canadian level. She began coaching for the Rapids after she stopped swimming in 2009, as she wanted to "give back" to the swim club. This is her third year coaching.
My name is Brandon Cowling and I am currently a part time student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University studying business. I was a competitive swimmer for 11 years until I had to quite swimming competitively due to a sports injury. After the injury I became a Richmond Rapids Swim Coach; this is my fourth year coaching for the Richmond Rapids.
Chris is in his 3rd season coaching with the Rapids and currently attends BCIT.
I was a competitive swimmer for 9 years and I have been with the Richmond Rapids since the beginning. This year will be my 21st year of coaching and I enjoy teaching children to to swim. During the day, I am an educational assistant at Steveston-London Secondary School.
I swam with the Richmond Rapids for 9 years and I made it to the provincial level. I started coaching because I had to stop swimming and I wanted to continue with the Rapids. This is my third season of coaching with the Rapids.
My name is Cristina Tejero and I used to be a swimmer with the Richmond Rapids for about 9 years. I qualified in Nationals and have a great passion for swimming. I love to teach kids at a younger age, and hope to continue to do so for the years to come. I can be seen as a very outgoing and positive person, and I like to keep that up while coaching. This is my second year coaching with the Rapids.
Liora Gonchar swam competitively with the Richmond Rapids for 6 years and made it to the provincial level. I volunteered with the Richmond Rapids for some time, and now this will be my second year coaching. I am also a lifeguard and instructor with the City of Richmond.
I swam for the Richmond Rapids Swim Club for 3 years. Some of my hobbies include playing soccer, and recreational swimming with my friends and family. I started as a volunteer with Rapids, and decided to become a coach because it is exciting to see the kids improve day by day. My goal in Aquatics is to not only teach kids how to swim, but to also increase my knowledge as a swim coach. This is my second year of coaching with the Rapids.
I started coaching this year because I want to make a positive impact on the swimmers and give back to the club. I've been swimming with the Rapids for almost ten years and I won several races at the BC provincial championships. I still swim and compete with the National Development Elite group at Watermania the days I'm not at Minoru.
My name is Madison McCord and I teach Rpaids Swim School Level 3. I am in Grade 12 at McMath Secondary and this is my first year teaching with the Rapids. However, I've swam for the Rapids for 12 years. My favourite stroke is freestyle and I love teaching all the strokes. Next year, I hope to attend the University of Ottawa. I look forward to teaching as many Rapids as I can.
