Coaching Summary

Meet the Staff

Stewart McLean - Head Coach and Director of Swimming

The 2011/2012 season marks Stewart's 6th year as the Thunderbolt’s Head Coach and Director of Swimming. Stewart is a fully certified NCCP Level 2 and continues to work towards his Level 3 swim coach. Previous to the Thunderbolts, Stewart served as Head Age Group Coach for the Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club for five years and was Head Coach/Owner for Forest City Swimming in London for 4 years. Stewart is also a very active member of the swimming community in Ontario and Canada. Serving as a board member for both Swim Ontario and Ontario Swim Coaches Association, he also serves as a Skills Assessor. During his career, Stewart has worked with every level of athlete from the beginner to international level athletes and believes that focusing on basic skills and race pace training are the keys to building a strong athlete.

Email Head Coach - headcoach@thunderbolts.ca

Assistant Head Coach:

Program Coordinator: Jennifer Kivi

This is Jennifer's first year as the Program Coordinator for the Thunderbolts. Jennifer has both her Recreation Therapy and Social Service Worker Diploma's from Confederation College. 

Coach: Greg Togtema

Greg coincidentally followed Stu from London, ON, albeit a few years later, and was driven to join the Bolts on account of the head coach's great reputation.  Recently completing a 14 year competitive swimming career, he competed at the age group national level, achieved podium finishes at the Ontario Provincial Championships, and was a member of the provincial championship winning Varsity Blues (Univ. of Toronto).  He is currently pursuing his masters degree in electrical engineering and is thrilled to impart his experiences on the Age Group I / II team.  Very soon, he will obtain his NCCP level 1 coaching certification.

Coach: Rebecca Snyder

The 2011/2012 season will be Rebecca's 4th year coaching with the Thunder Bolts and this will be her second year as a competitive coach with the Development program. When She was in high school, She swam competitively for 6 years, during that time, She also coached the pre-competitive program in Kenora. This season will mark her 6th year of coaching swimming and teaching swimming lessons with the Red Cross and Lifesaving program. Rebecca is certified with NLS and Level 1 Skills Coach.

Coach: Chloe Forsyth

Chloe has been swimming since her dad took her to her first Parent and Tot class and achieved has never looked back. Chloe's been through all the levels and have so far acheived her NLS, Advance Instructors and plan to do more. Chloe has been instructing for almost 8 years and her experiences in swimming made her choose the path of teaching. Chloe continually thinks outside of the box and try's new ways to help swimmers do their best!

Coach: Alyssa Parsons

Alyssa has been a part of the Thunderbolts Swim Club since she was 5 years old. She started off in the pre-competitive stream and quickly found her love for the sport and jumped over to the competitive stream when she was 7 years old. She has recently finished a 9 nine year competitive swimming career and began to coach so she could share her knowledge of the sport from over the years. Alyssa is currently qualified with NLS and Lifesaving Society Instructors and plans to get her level one coaching certification soon.

Coach: Alexandra Naroski

Both Alexandra's passion for athletics as well as her part-time employment as a lifeguard and swimming instructor have Honors recently brought her to joining the Bolts coaching staff. She is currently pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Arts (French)/Bachelor of Education at Lakehead University, and is one day looking forward to becoming years French teacher. Alexandra has been teaching swimming lessons with the Lifesaving Society for 4 yers and has been coaching for the Thunderbolts for almost 3 years. Before teaching lessons, Alexandra volunteered for 4 years at various pools around Thunder Bay. Alexandra's current qualifications include NLS, Lifesaving Society Instructor, Aquatic Supervisory Training, and she is working towards her NCCP level 1 coaching certificate.

Coach: Meagen Uchtenhagen

Meagen has been swimming since she was 3 months old in the Parent and Tot class, and have loved the water then and still loves it now. Meagen was in the Thunderbolts Pre-Competitive program for 3 years and began coaching for the Thunderbolts last March. Meagen is certified with NLS, Lifesaving Society Instructor, Aquatic Supervisory Training and her Level 1 Skills Coach. Meagen is currently in her grade 12 year at St. Ignatius.

Coach: Lindsay Grzelewski

Lindsay has been coaching for six years, She began volunteering and helping out with coaching throughout her early years in high school and slowly began coaching her own groups in 2006. Lindsay had swam for the Thunderbolts since the age of 5 until 2010. She began in the Pre-Competitive program and vastly moved into the Competitive program. Lindsay is currently studying her Bachelor of English and Concurrent Education Program at Lakehead University. Lindsay is certified with NLS, Lifesaving Society Instructor and is currently working on her Skills and Level 1 Coaching.

Questions Regarding Coaching

Any questions with respect to coaching matters should be referred directly to your child’s coach. In general, the coaches are available for questions before or after practices. If you are unable to speak to the coach personally during these times, you may leave a message on the office phone (807-344-9802) or email the coaches at: info@thunderbolts.ca to arrange a meeting. Please ensure you are not disturbing any classes when speaking to the coaching staff. Parents are not allowed on pool deck.