Olympian Nadine Rolland Joins HPC-Quebec as Assistant Coach

Preliminary session 1 of Day 2 of the 2021 Swimming Canada Olympic Trials in Toronto, ON on Sunday, June 20, 2021. All images were taken while following social distancing protocols. Michael P. Hall/michaelphall.ca

Photo Courtesy: Michael P. Hall/Swimming Canada

Olympian Nadine Rolland Joins HPC-Quebec as Assistant Coach

Canadian Olympian Nadine Rolland has joined Swimming Canada’s High Performance Centre Quebec as an assistant coach.

Rolland has been the lead coach at Club Sportif Les Loutres since 2005 when she retired from swimming. She is one of Canada’s top coaches of paraswimmers. She was awarded a Para Swimming CanAm Female Coach Development Program scholarship in 2021 from Swimming Canada, which included a trip to the CanAm International Swim Meet in Greensboro, N.C. She will work with head coach Jean-Michel Lavalliere with a focus on developing NextGen swimmers.

“I dove into that Para swimming world more intensely and learned more about the international level,” she said in a press release. “When I saw the athletes at the CanAms, I was like, ‘Wow they’re professional.’ They’re amazing athletes, and the centre in Montreal is well organized and doing an amazing job.”

Rolland, a sprinter, represented Canada at the 2000 Olympics and the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The native of Montreal swam in the 50 freestyle at the Sydney Games, falling short of finals.

She has coached at the provincial level, for Richelieu-Yamaska at the Jeux du Quebec as the head coach since 2014 and for Team Quebec in the Ken Demchuk International Invitational last year. She also did a six-month stint at the Race Club in Florida.

She and husband Fred Asselin, a former national team rugby player, have long been at the helm of Les Loutres. Their work to expand access to the club has led to a group of four Para swimmers working there. Rolland also competes in masters swimming, where she has set world records.

“I am looking forward to sharing the pool deck with her,” Lavalliere said. “One of Nadine’s greatest strengths is her ability to connect with people, coaches and athletes. Her love of swimming is contagious, and she is exactly who we needed to help develop a strong group of NextGen athletes preparing for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games and beyond.”

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