A third Olympian is set to join the coaching staff at Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club.
Hendrik van der Merwe of South Africa, who competed in several world swimming championships including the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, will officially become part of the team in September.
He was on hand for this past Saturday’s Guelph Splash event hosted by the Marlins at the University of Guelph.
“It’s a big family vibe here, a community. I love that aspect the most,” said Merwe. “The structure in here is so good. The kids are very hard-working and receptive, welcoming. It’s a great bunch of people here.
“Canadians are super friendly.”
In addition to his competitive experience, 33-year-old Merwe – known to many as "Coach Legs" – has 12 years of coaching under his belt.
“I’m very excited about Hendrik coming in,” said Laura Nicholls, the Marlins’ director of age group development. “He’s calm. He’s confident. He speaks swimming. He knows swimming. He lives swimming. He brings an additional layer of personal expertise and accomplishment to it.”
The Marlins have been searching for a new coach for quite some time. Team officials thought they had someone lined up last year, but that fell through and the search was relaunched in January.
“It’s been a long journey. I see lots of organizations across the country short staffed. Coaching is not something everybody wants to do these days because of the long hours,” said Nicholls. “It’s been a long journey to find somebody and I think we’ve finally found the right person.
“He’s going to help uplift this team and he’s going to make it stronger. He’s going to make it more of a family.”
Merwe hasn’t had an opportunity to check out much of the city, or county, just yet, though he’s looking forward to doing so once he’s officially immigrated.
He’d been to Canada once before, competing in the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships in Montreal. However, the nature of competition doesn’t allow for much in the way of sightseeing.
“Sport in general really helps you grow, keeps you down to earth. I’m a really big fan of the personal development aspect that sports brings to the world,” said Merwe. “I feel like sport really prepares you for life well.”
Fellow Olympians on the coaching staff include Nicholls, who competed in the 1996 Games in Atlanta and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and Pavlo Illichov who represented Ukraine during the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
For more information about the Marlins, check out its website.
