After serving as the interim head coach of the High Performance Centre – Victoria following the passing of long-time Canadian coaching icon Randy Bennett, Ryan Mallette has been named head coach of the centre effective immediately.
Mallette began working with some of the top athletes in Canada such as Ryan Cochrane and Hilary Caldwell at the centre since January while the late Randy Bennett battled cancer.
Mallette told Swimming Canada, “Randy Bennett was a great friend and mentor to me and I’m honoured to accept the challenge of following in his footsteps. I believe Victoria is the ideal place to work because we have a truly world-class integrated support team in place.”
Moving to British Columbia from Montreal in 2012, Mallette began to oversee the Canadian Sport Institude Pacific Talent Development Program in Victoria. That was where he first began working with Bennett.
That was also his first step into working on the West Coast. Prior to his move, Mallette was the head coach at the Point-Claire Swim Club in Quebec. He also has experience as a national coach on Pan Pac teams, World Junior Championship teams, and Pan Am Games teams.
Most recently, Mallette was selected to the coaching staff for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto and the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
Mallette has multiple athletes on the World Championship and Pan Am Games rosters for this summer including Cochrane and Caldwell who are both medal hopefuls at the World Championships.
Cochrane is nearing the end of his career, stating that 2016 would be his last Olympic run. Mallette is dedicated to training these athletes as Rio approaches, “the athletes are dedicated, talented and professional. The work environment is exceptional because everyone works relentlessly to be the best in the world.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to lead this group through their Olympic preparations and into Rio.”
