Univ. of Toronto’s Linda Kiefer is Added to Canada’s Olympic Coaching Staff

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

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Jy hj
3 years ago

Byron is doing the announcing fro cbs

Ken
3 years ago

Very well deserved.

Paul Boulding
3 years ago

Congratulations, you were great to coach and have proven over the years to be a great coach from New Market All the best!

Rap
3 years ago

Does Ryan Mallette have any swimmers or just coming along to babysit?

NJones
Reply to  Rap
3 years ago

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…

Canuswim
Reply to  Rap
3 years ago

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.

Rap
Reply to  Canuswim
3 years ago

My apologies to Mr and Mrs Mallette

Canuswim
Reply to  Rap
3 years ago

Thank you for being mature enough to admit you made a mistake.

MIKE IN DALLAS
3 years ago

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.

wow
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
3 years ago

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

Bob
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
3 years ago

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.

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Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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