Canadian Olympian Nadine Rolland, Joni Maerten-Sanders Win Clifford Barry Award
Canadian Olympic swimmer Nadine Rolland and Joni Maerten-Sanders were the two coaches named the 2023 recipients of the Clifford Barry Follow Your Heart Excellence Project award.
The award recognizes “individuals who demonstrate love and passion for the sport with emphasis on the development of swimmers, from grassroots to national and international levels.” Both coaches will receive $5,000 to support their professional development.
Rolland swam for Canada at the 2000 Olympics. She coaches for Club Sportif Les Loutres de Granby in Quebec. She retired from swimming in 2005, at which point she founded the club. She’s also recently taken on responsibility as an assistant coach at Swimming Canada’s Quebec High Performance Centre.
“When we founded the club in 2005, we took the challenge that we would created our dream job,” Rolland told Swimming Canada. “I like to be the first one to do something. I like to break records, I like to be creative, I like to think outside the box. We’re really leaders in Quebec, the way we do things. We do a lot of development. We do Para swimming; that’s something that enriches the club.
“When I was young a lot of people asked, are you going to be coaching later on in your life? And I was like, No way! For me, it was crazy hours and not having a salary. A lot of people were volunteers. I never thought it would become my job.”
Rolland continues to compete in Masters swimming.
Maerten-Sanders coaches at the Wilmont Aces Swim Club in New Hamburg, Ontario. The club is a 45-minute drive from her home in Tillsonburg. Her son, Zach, coaches with her at Wilmont.
“I think what kept me going was just the passion you can pass on to other kids,” noted Maerten-Sanders, who has been coaching for over 30 years. “I think it’s a fantastic sport for mental health, for physical development and it’s a sport you can do for your whole life. You can start young and you can swim until the day you die basically.”
Clifford Barry was a two-time Olympic water polo player from Montreal. He died in 2021. He was three times named Swimming Canada’s coach of the year and spent a decade as a head or assistant coach for Canadian national teams at the Olympics, Pan Am, Commonwealth Games and World Championships. He’s a member of the Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence, the Canadian Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Ontario Aquatics Hall of Fame and the Canadian Water Polo Hall of Fame.
Clifford Barry Follow Your Heart Excellence Project award was devised by his wife Susan and daughter Carling in partnership with Swim Ontario and Swimming Canada to keep his legacy alive.