Swimming Canada has added Linda Kiefer as the 6th and final assistant coach for the Olympic swimming team ahead of this summer’s Tokyo 2020 Games.
She joins a staff led by head pool coach Martyn Wilby that will lead a 26 athlete team this summer.
Kiefer is the assistant head coach at the University of Toronto, where she has worked for 31 years. That includes coaching Canadian backstroker Kylie Masse to a bronze medal in the 100 backstroke at the 2016 Olympic Games and to a World Record in that event a year later.
Masse is the two-time defending World Champion in the 100 backstroke in long course.
After training resumed last summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, only national centers were allowed to reopen. That means that for the last 14 months, Masse has trained at the High Performance Center based out of the University of Toronto pool under Ben Titley. Kiefer and Byron MacDonald, who is not on staff, currently coach Gabe Mastromatteo, who is also on this summer’s Olympic Team.
Kiefer is the lone female coach added to a group of 5 male assistants named at the conclusion of the Olympic Trials. Via her joint work with Mastromatteo, she is the only female coach-of-record among the 26 athletes to have qualified for the Olympic Team.
She joins a staff that includes Ben Titley, who coaches 10 members of the team at the Toronto High Performance Center; Kelsey Wog’s coach at the University of Manitoba Vlastimil Cerny; Dave Johnson who coaches Cole Pratt in Calgar; Tom Johnson, who is the coach of Brent Hayden and Markus Thormeyer at the High Performance Center-Vancouver; and Ryan Mallette, who is now at the High Performance Center in Ontario but previously led the center in Victoria.
Swimming Canada – Final Tokyo 2020 Olympic Staff
| TEAM LEADER – CHEF D’ÉQUIPE | John Atkinson |
| ASSISTANT TEAM LEADER / OPEN WATER TEAM MANAGER – CHEF D’ÉQUIPE ADJOINT / GÉRANT D’ÉQUIPE (EAU LIBRE) | Iain McDonald |
| TEAM MANAGER – GÉRANT D’ÉQUIPE | Janice Hanan |
| HEAD COACH (POOL) – ENTRAINEUR-CHEF (PISCINE) | Martyn Wilby |
| HEAD COACH (OPEN WATER) – ENTRAINEUR-CHEF (EAU LIBRE) | Mark Perry |
| COACH 1 – ENTRAINEUR 1 | Ben Titley |
| COACH 2 – ENTRAINEUR 2 | Tom Johnson |
| COACH 3 – ENTRAINEUR 3 | Ryan Mallette |
| COACH 4 – ENTRAINEUR 4 | Dave Johnson |
| COACH 5 – ENTRAINEUR 5 | Vlastimil Cerny |
| COACH 6 – ENTRAINEUR 6 | Linda Kiefer |
| Athletic therapist – Thérapeute du sport | Johnny Fuller |
| PHYSIOTHERAPIST – Physiothérapeute | Ron Mattison |
| massage Therapist – Massothérapeute | Rick Pelletier |
| massage Therapist – Massothérapeute | Leanne Fuhr |
| massage Therapist – Massothérapeute | Nathan Skirrow (pool & ow) |
| Physician – Médecin | Dr. Steve Keeler |
| Physician (OPEN WATER) – Médecin (EAU LIBRE) | Dr. Rob Brunelle |
| Mental performance – Performance mentale | Dr. Carla Edwards |
| RACE ANALYSIS – ANALYSE DE COURSE | Graham Olson |
| TEAM MEDIA – MÉDIA | Nathan White |
Byron is doing the announcing fro cbs
Very well deserved.
Congratulations, you were great to coach and have proven over the years to be a great coach from New Market All the best!
Does Ryan Mallette have any swimmers or just coming along to babysit?
Not a polite comment tbh. If there are 10 TNC athletes that is alot for Ben on his own so very logical for Ryan for those ratios. Not uncommon to Tom + Steve Price in the 10 to 12 swimmer Pacific Dolphin heydays…
You obviously have no clue, so your comment is a reflection of your jealousy….ugly. Ryan plays a very active role of one of the most successful coaching teams in the world, across multiple strokes/IM and distances.
My apologies to Mr and Mrs Mallette
Thank you for being mature enough to admit you made a mistake.
Kiefer is a much decorated and admired figure in the Canadian swimming community; she’s certainly earned it! However, I’m not sure that she can do much to lift the Canadian swimming squad any higher in their medal count than that of Rio 2016. For Tokyo, I predict 4 medals for the women [individual] and 1 relay medal; on the men’s side, perhaps a couple of finalists.
Top Medal Possibilities
Sydney Pickrem – 200 IM
Penelope Oleksiak – 100 Free
Kylie Masse – 100 Back
Kylie Masse – 200 Back
Maggie Macneil – 100 Fly
Summer McIntosh – 400 Free
I think you could be underestimating women’s relays.Canada had the worst lockdowns of anybody.The girls are young and Rusk and Sanchez are coming back from injuries, getting stronger every month.There,s depth.Wondering what Summer can do in a 100 free relay?The men are young and improving but not ready to medal.Women,s medley, you have Masse-back,Macneil-fly,Penny -free and Kelsey Wog ,who might surprise.We,ll see.