Ajax Competitive Coaching Staff

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 Tom McLoughlin started his coaching career in Ajax in the late 1960’s, where he coached summers in the original Memorial Outdoor Pool. Upon completion of the Ajax Community Center in 1972, Tom started the Ajax Aquatic Club, which became a Swim Ontario affiliated club in 1973.  Tom began his career as a Teacher in the late 1970’s, but that did not interfere with his passion for swimming and his contribution to growing the sport in Durham Region. In addition to building the team in Ajax as Head Coach, McLoughlin formed the Whitby Iroquois Swim Club in 1976, where a talented young swimmer, Anne Ottenbrite got her start. This was the original swim team in the Town of Whitby where Tom coached for 8 years.  Upon his return to the Ajax Aquatic Club, Tom worked alongside Olympic Coach Paul Meronen, who had coached a Gold, Silver and Bronze Olympic Medalist at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles (Anne Ottenbrite).  Tom’s next stop was the Pickering Swim Club, where he worked for 5 seasons with Nick Baker, Coach of 1988 and 1992 Olympian Lisa Flood. During that time, Tom also worked with co-owner Coach, Cathy Gerroir.  In the early 1990’s, Tom started as the Head Coach of a small local team called the Durham Aquatic Club, which produced a number of Provincial and Senior level medalists during its’ 8 year successful run.  By the late 2000’s, Tom had returned to the Pickering Swim Club as an Assistant Coach with Bob Boadway, Lucy Hewitt-Henderson and recently Anne Ottenbrite-Muylaert.  With the closure of the highly successful club in Ajax, Tom and Coach Cathy Gerroir took ownership of the new Ajax Aquatic Club and resumed competitive swimming in Ajax at the beginning of the 2016 – 2017 season.

 Kendra Papple has been coaching swimming since before graduating from Phys Ed at Laurentian University. Her coaching has covered learn to swim all the way to Masters swimmers. Kendra has been part of placing over 5 people on international teams. Her swimmers have set almost 20 Canadian National records. 

Most recently Kendra was the head coach of the Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club . The team placed 3rd at Provincial Championships. 

Kendra knows the value of dryland and being well rounded athletes and swimmers. Her focus is on technique and basics so that when swimmers choose to commit to pursuing their goals they have the foundation and tools needed to get there. 

Focusing on team culture is important, trying to provide a place where excellence is normal and it is a safe place to fail on your way to your challenging goals. She believes that excellence takes consistency and is not always a straight line to the top. Learning to work, focus on details and sticking with the process is key to getting where your trying to go