Coaches

Competitive swimming has been Marc Spackman's personal and professional passion since he was young.  As an athlete, he swam for Great Britain at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and won two major games medals at World Championships in Hong Kong (1999) and Athens (2000).  He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from Nottingham Trent University in 2006 and, while enrolled, started coaching with the Lincoln Vulcans Swimming Club.  He was promoted to Head Coach, and subsequently moved to the Borough of Harrow Swimming Club, the Maxwell Swim Club, and in 2014 as Head Coach of the Royal School Wolverhampton.  Marc has served as a Coach for Great Britain at Major Games, as Head Coach on England Talent Camps, and was a British Olympic Association Mentor at the London Olympics.  He was selected as a coach on the New York Breakers team in the International Swimming League (ISL) for two seasons:  Hungary (2020) and Naples (2021).  Across these experiences, he developed and maintained a coaching philosophy grounded in cultivating each athlete's sense of purpose and personal standard of excellence. 

 Coach Spackman's record of success at the highest levels of competitive swimming are impressive;  specifically, he has coached Robert Welbourn (Paralympic gold medalist, World, European and British record holder); Sophie Allen ( Olympian, European Junior silver medalist, British age-group record holder); Elizabeth Simmonds (Olympian, World Championship and European medalist, European Junior Champion, British and European record holder); Alice Dearing (Olympian, European Junior bronze medalist, Senior World and European Championship qualifier); Tom Derbyshire (Commonwealth Youth Champion, European Junior Champion and European Junior silver medalist, British age group record holder); and, Matthew Richards (Olympic Champion, European Junior Champion, European Junior silver medalist, British and Welsh record holder).   He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the BSCA Youth Coach of the Year Award, and the Terry Dennison Award for Coaching Excellence

 For over seven decades, ESWIM has served as a consistent, reliable pipeline for exceptional swimming talent in Canada.  Coach Spackman is excited to build on that legacy, noting that he "is incredibly proud to be joining ESWIM, a club renowned for its commitment to excellence." He added that, "I believe that there are no limits, and that with the right mindset, your capacity to improve is infinite. I'm looking forward to meeting ESWIM's exceptional athletes and working together to achieve their goals."

Darren is a highly experienced Coach and swimmer, being involved in the sport for most of his life.

Darren’s swimming achievements are numerous, including competing for Canada in the 1987 Pan American Games, where he won a silver and bronze medal as part of Canada’s relay Teams. Darren also represented Canada at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, and in 1991 was a medal winner at the Commonwealth games in New Zealand. Darren’s career highlight was winning the 1992 World Cup, where he broke the Canadian record in both the 100 IM and 200IM events, enroute to being ranked number #1 in the world in the both the short course 200IM and 400IM.

Darren began his coaching career in 1995 with the Red Deer Catalina swim club in Alberta, as an assistant coach. Since then, Darren has held several Head Coach positions, at the Saskatoon Lasers, the Scarborough Swim Club, the Markham Aquatic Club and, most recently, as the Performance Coach at Toronto Olympian Swim Team.

Darren’s coaching has been influenced by the many world class coaches that he swam under, including the legendary Deryk Snelling, who was Head Coach at Etobicoke in the early years of the club. Darren believes that individual swimming success can be achieved through personal accountability to one’s goals and an unrelenting desire to be the best you can be. Darren is looking forward to being part of the amazing history and commitment to excellence that ESWIM represents.

Alexey Is an experienced coach who embarked on his competitive swimming journey from a young age, and ever since, has remained dedicated to the sport. He firmly believes that every swimmer deserves the opportunity to thrive and progress. By creating a positive and competitive environment, he fosters growth for everyone under his guidance. Throughout his coaching career, he has achieved numerous successes, helping many swimmers qualify for Festival Championships and other high-caliber meets.

Petra began her swimming career with ESWIM in the Intro program at the age of 8. Entering the competitive program, she worked her way through the groups over the following years. Having developed an interest in coaching, she transitioned out of the pool and onto the deck in 2011, when she joined the ESWIM coaching staff, and has remained as an important member ever since. Petra has coached various groups within the club, ranging from the Intro program up to the Provincial group. She has also spent many of her summers coaching the ESWIM Camp which has allowed her to train swimmers from around the world.

Having felt first hand the positive effects that competitive swimming can have, Petra is keen to pass on both her knowledge and love for the sport. She believes that sport plays a crucial role in teaching both dedication and discipline, which are important fundamentals that every young athlete should have and are valuable lessons they can take with them into their futures.

With each new season, Petra is looking forward to the next chapter in her coaching career, as she continues to learn alongside the swimmers she coaches.

Elizabeth Skuriat is joining the ESWIM family as the new coach of our Junior A. Elizabeth swam competitively before for the Halton Hills Blue Fins for 10 years as a distance specialist before moving to the east coast to swim for Acadia University while studying kinesiology. During her time at Acadia, Elizabeth was captain of the varsity team for two years and swam at the USports level. She coached for the Halifax Trojans Swim Club for two years while working on her Master's of Science before moving back to Ontario. Elizabeth now works as a research coordinator at Hamilton Health Sciences on cardiology trials. 

Bianca is yet another ESWIM alumnus who started swimming in Top B at the very young age of 4, working her way through the groups, competing at the National level until she was 17. She began coaching Intro in 2016 where she continues to be an integral member of the Intro coaching staff. Bianca also had opportunities to assist coaching the Top B, Top A and Provincial groups in the past. She is currently embarking on her fourth year at York University majoring in Children, Childhood and Youth Studies with a minor in Psychology as well as being in the Concurrent Bachelor of Education program. Bianca is excited for the upcoming season so that she can utilize her coaching skills, swim experience and her education to support and engage young swimmers in Top B at ESWIM!