Coaches
Your experienced team of swim coaches are here to support your needs. We are committed to offering a fun competitive environment for all swimmers, of all ages. If your questions are related to workouts, meets, events, goal setting and other swimming related needs please contact one of the coaches. We would be more than happy to assist you. On behalf of all the Hyack Swim Coaches, we look forward to serving your swim needs.
Andrew Lennstrom 
Head Coach, Director of Swimming
Andrew Lennstrom or " Lenny", as everyone knows him, is returning to Hyack for his 23rd season and first as Director of Swimming.
His swimming career started in Thunder Bay with the Thunder Bay Thunderbolts before heading out west to Swim for Simon Fraser University.
After a few seasons of coaching with summer clubs and other local swim teams after University, he finally joined Hyack in the 1999/2000 season.
He has been the assistant Head Coach since 2001 and has enjoyed tremendous success at the Age group level He has coached swimmers to Hundreds of Provincial medals and numerous National titles.
Over the last 10 years his swimmers have broken nearly 60 Provincial Records along with 22 national Age Group Records. He was selected as a coach for the Canada Games Team in 2022 as well as awarded BC Male Coach of the Year for the 2021/22 season. He has always found himself fortunate to work with a great group of swimmers and is looking forward to the challenge of performing on the National and International Stage.
Although we are still going through the challenges created by Covid and a pool closure, he feels we have a lot of great swimming to look forward to as we look to build on the successes of last season.
"It is great to look back on the positives of last year but honestly I think we have so much more to look forward to and am excited to see, not just how this season develops, but the next several years".
Frici Laszlo 
CCAC Head Coach
Frici has been a professional swim coach since 1984. During his coaching career he has produced numerous Age Group and Provincial Champions and trained provincial record holder swimmers. He was born in Budapest, Hungary where he attended the Hungarian University for Physical Education and graduated with a Master's Degree. As a young athlete, Frici was a four-time Hungarian Senior Nationals Champion, Hungarian Age Group Nationals Champion, and member of the Hungarian National Team from 1974-1980. From 1989-2005 he was the head coach of Sopron Swim Club in Hungary. After coming to Canada, he completed his NCCP's Level 3 Certificate.
Frici started his Canadian career in Manitoba with the Selkirk Dolphins as Head Coach and later with the Manitoba Marlins as Assistant Head Coach. Since 2008 Frici has been the CCAC Head Coach for Hyack. He believes that with the habit of regular and passionate work, improvement and success will not stay long behind. He is motivating, compassionate, and demanding, bringing his extensive background to Hyack.
Over the years, Frici has received multiple awards:
- 2014: Age Group Coach of the Year 13 & Under Award from the British Columbia Swim Coaches Association (BCSCA)
- 2016, 2017: Age Group Coach of the Year 11 & Under Award from BCSCA
- 2017, 2020: Development Staff of the Year for all Hyack coaches. This recognition was based on Hyack's outstanding performance at the BC AA Championships.
- 2019: Junior & Youth Development Staff of the Year (with all Hyack coaches) at the 2019 BC Swimming Awards
- 2019: Frici's swimmers (current and former) were part of the Hyack 12 & Under boys relay team that set the new Canadian and Provincial Age Group Record
- 2020: Member of Hyack coaching staff BC 2020 Winter Age Group Champions Team, and Development Staff of the Year (with Hyack coaches) at the 2020 BC Swimming Awards
- 2024: Swim BC Coach of the Year for the 2023-2024 season
Carleen Gao 
13+ Provincial, Regional, OW White, Grassroots
Carleen has been part of the Hyack Swim Club since the age of 10, starting off in the Regional group and advancing to the High Performance group as a national level swimmer.
She continued her competitive swimming journey as a member of the University of Toronto Varsity Swim Team, there she gained insight into high-level training and competition.
Driven by a passion for the sport and a desire to inspire the next generation of swimmers, Carleen returns to Hyack as a coach.
She holds certification in Standard First Aid & CPR/AED Level C and Fundamentals Coach in training.
Nikita Slivinski 
OW Black, LMR
Email: nikita.slivinski@gmail.com
Heading into his fourth season of coaching, Nikita has had the opportunity to coach athletes of all different age ranges and skill sets. Nikita started as a swimmer with Hyack Swim Club and developed into a coaching role during the 2021-2022 season. Since then, Nikita has made it his goal to encourage a passion for the sport of swimming with every athlete he interacts with, whether he’s coached them for three years or a few months. As the bridge between development and competitive groups, Nikita strives to aid all swimmers in their transition into competitive swimming and equip them with skill sets that they can carry throughout their swimming careers. Nikita is NCCP 101 certified.
David Canales
AGD, 13+ Provincial
David is excited for his first season coaching at Hyack. He is a NCCP Level 2 Coach and completed his Master of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, specializing in performance and coaching.
This will be his 11th year coaching competitive swimming, most recently as Head Coach at the Coquitlam Sharks (BCSSA), and at Swordfish Sprint Club (MSABC). He looks forward to sharing his passion for swimming with the athletes and helping them fulfill their goals and aspirations.
Outside of swimming, David is part of the performance staff at Vancouver Whitecaps FC and is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (NSCA). He was previously a graduate strength and conditioning coach with UBC Performance. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, working out, and competes at masters swim meets.
Aiden Matadeen 
OW Black, LMR, High School
Email: aomatadeen@gmail.com
Aidan has been a part of Hyack since he was ten years old.
He swam for eight years beginning in the Olympic Way White group and working his way up to HP. Aidan began coaching three years ago and strives to excel everywhere he can.
Aidan’s goal is to instill the same love for the sport he found when he swam and to help his swimmers not only succeed in the pool but everywhere in their lives.
Aidan is a second-year student at SFU studying molecular biology and biochemistry. Aidan is certified as an SI instructor and has his NCCP 101.
Demone Tissara .jpg)
Senior Varsity and Masters Coach
Demone Tissira was named head coach at Simon Fraser on June 12, 2021 and he oversees Canada's only NCAA men's and women's swim teams. In his first season on Burnaby Mountain, 2021-22, Tissira led the women's team to eighth-place at NCAA Championships, the school's best-ever finish.
In 2022, Tissira was named to the Canadian coaching staff for the World Championships and the staging camp for the Commonwealth Games.
Prior to joining SFU, Tissira was head coach at the University of Regina for seven years where he led the program to unprecedented success, coaching a small team of elite swimmers to national recognition. The Cougars set 34 of the 38 short-course school records during Tissira's time with the program.
The U of Regina women's team set program records for points scored and overall placing at both the Canada West and U SPORTS meets in 2015-16, and in 2016-17 as the Cougars finished sixth in Canada. The men's team also had a record-breaking 2016-17 campaign, placing fifth at the Canada West meet for the second time in program history and ninth in Canada with the second-highest points total in team history. Within two years of Tissira taking over the program, the men's team won its first individual U SPORTS medal in 13 years and the women's team had its first-ever medalist.
Tissira was also the head coach and general manager of the Regina Optimist Dolphins Swim Club, which had 150 competitive swimmers. He developed a 10-year strategic plan that included a high performance program that regularly produces elite swimmers at the Canadian Junior and Senior championships. Tissira was selected as a mentor for the 2017-18 Canadian Swimming Coaches & Teachers Association Mentorship Program.
Tissira was head coach of the Canadian national distance team virtual camp in January 2021, has been an assistant coach on numerous Canadian teams and part of Swim Canada's Select Coaches Group.
Prior to joining the Cougars program, Tissira was the director of ÉLITE de Longueuil in Quebec. He has also been president of the Swimming Association South Shore, a member of the board of directors for the Quebec Swimming Federation, and head coach for Quebec's provincial age group teams.
A native of Algeria, Tissira received his Bachelor of Physical Education from the National Institute of Education in Sport and Science, Algeria, in 2000. He has been accredited and certified as a high performance and technical coach through UBC, Canadian Sport Institute (Quebec), and the Paris Sports Institute, France.
Samantha (Sam) Thiessen 
OW White, High School and Hyack Swim Academy
Email: sam.
Samantha (Sam) Thiessen began her swimming career in Winnipeg with Manta Swim Club, where she trained for 12 years and competed at the national level. She qualified for Westerns, Canadian Nationals, and represented Manitoba at the 2017 Canada Games. In 2019, she competed at Canadian Trials and was recruited to Oakland University in Michigan, where she continued her career at the NCAA Division I level, specializing in sprint and mid-distance freestyle and becoming a Horizon League Champion.
Sam recently completed her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and has experience as a lifeguard and instructor. She is certified in First Aid and Red Cross.
Sam is excited to begin her coaching journey with Hyack and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion for swimming. She hopes to help young athletes set meaningful goals, build confidence through hard work, and develop a lifelong love for the sport.
Alex-F Shen 
LMR and High School
Alex started his swimming career at the age of 8 and swam with Hyack for five seasons, beginning at age 12. He has coached three seasons of summer swimming, and this will be his third season coaching with Hyack.
His goal as a coach is to bring out the best in every swimmer, regardless of their age or skill level, while making sure they have fun.
Alex is currently studying Dietetics at UBC. Outside of swimming, he enjoys staying active through swimming, biking, and running.
He hopes to complete his first Ironman in the near future.
Bryan Iliscupidez 
Coquitlam Masters
Email: bryani.hyack@gmail.com
Bryan grew up in Alberta where he did most of his swimming from age group to university. An interest in viewing the sport from another perspective led to the beginning of his coaching career. Originally coaching at Red Deer Catalina with the youth groups for 2 years, this sparked an interest in returning to the sport by joining the local Masters Swim club. Eventually, life led Bryan to Vancouver where he would join English Bay Swim Club as swimmer and eventually a coach.
Bryan has a Fundamentals Coach certification, previously coaching age group in Alberta for 2 years, masters swimming for 6 years with English Bay Swim Club, and 2 years with Canadian Dolphins Masters. Also, within the sport Bryan had served 4 years on the board of Masters Swimming BC as Registrar, and 4 years as Co-Director of the English Bay Executive board.
Bryan believes in the benefits of Masters swimming for both mental and physical health. Endurance, intensity & hard work are key factors to improving efficiency and speed in the water, but prioritizing technical growth will create overall longevity in the sport. Focusing on a goal, whether it be completing more metres than previous seasons, reaching a goal time for a competition or even learning the enjoyment of the sport, let us work together and have fun doing it.