HIGH ACHIEVERS: Pierre Lafontaine’s latest pursuit: coaching Chinese swimmers at Paris Olympics

By Martin Cleary

Energetic, passionate and driven by new challenges, Pierre Lafontaine is a man in constant motion.

During his 50 years as a high-profile swimming coach or a top-level national sports administrator, the Chelsea, PQ, resident has touched a multitude of bases in the Canadian amateur sports system.

As a sports leader, Lafontaine has been the chief executive officer for Swimming Canada, Cross Country Canada (now Nordiq Canada), Cycling Canada and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports). He also has served as national team director for Swimming Canada.

As for coaching, he has been a head coach or assistant at Pointe-Claire and CAMO swim clubs in Montreal, Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta, Phoenix Swim Club, the Australian Institute of Sport, Swim P.E.I., Carleton University and Swim Ottawa.

“(I’m) always trying to reach for bigger challenges, goals and performances,” Lafontaine wrote in an email interview from his latest project halfway around the world.

If you wanted to track down Lafontaine, you’d have to go to China, specifically Beijing.

Eighteen months ago, he was hired by the Chinese swimming federation to coach at the national team training centre in Beijing and work specifically with breaststroke swimmers. He occasionally coaches in Shanghai.

“I was approached about considering a position there in late 2022,” Lafontaine added. “They approached me via a World Aquatic board member. I believe that my experience from many levels was interesting to them, i.e. CEO work, high-performance coaching, high-performance results, my international experience.

“I was still very interested at working at the international level. Life is a sum of experiences, so I was ready for a new one.”

If you wanted to see Lafontaine today, you’d have to visit Paris, specifically the Summer Olympic Games.

Lafontaine is the coach for Tan Qianting and Yang Chang, who are competing in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke, and Dong Zhihao, who is racing the men’s 200-metre breaststroke.

But Lafontaine doesn’t coach Qin Haiyang, the world record holder in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke, because he has a personal coach.

Qianting, 20, swam the fourth fastest time (one minute, 4.39 seconds) in the world this season at the 2024 Chinese championships. She was the women’s 100-metre breaststroke champion at the 2024 world championships in Doha and was the silver medallist over 50 metres.

Chinese swimmers, however, are expected to be under the microscope at the Paris Olympics, considering 23 swimmers tested positive for the same banned substance (endurance-booster Trimetazidine) at a Chinese national meet before the Tokyo Olympics, three years ago.

When no action was taken to sanction the swimmers and they were allowed to compete in the Games, the swimming world was shocked and frustrated. China won six medals, including three gold, at the Tokyo Games.

The China Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency said the swimmers were inadvertently exposed to the substance and had “extremely low concentrations” of Trimetazidine.

The Chinese Olympic swimming roster for Paris includes 11 swimmers who tested positive before the Tokyo Olympics.

Lafontaine, who arrived in China about 18 months after the Tokyo Olympics, is well aware of the doping scandal, but is confident the country has learned an important lesson.

“The new leadership of Chinese swimming is doing more than I’ve ever seen any country do to educate, test, and retest and the swimmers that we are working with, I feel, are in the same frame of mind,” Lafontaine explained in his email.

“The swimmers are now focused on Paris and we will do what we train for every day. People are aware of the situation and WADA is doing their work to clarify the 2021 situation.”

Lafontaine also expects China to hold its own as one of the world’s top swimming nations during the races at the Paris La Defense Arena.

“China has had a great 2023 season with world records, improved position at the world championships, etc. But, as you know, it will be a challenge to win at the Olympics. We are going there with the goal of winning individual and relay medals, for sure,” predicted Lafontaine, who attended the 2000 Olympics as a personal coach for the United States, the 2004 Summer Games for Australia as head coach and the 2008 and 2012 Olympics for Canada as high-performance director.

He’s uncertain if he will remain in China after the Olympics, but he has found his latest assignment challenging, rewarding and, at times, lonely.

“Language is an issue for sure, but I am getting better at it,” said Lafontaine, who has a full-time interpreter on the pool deck for training sessions. “We live at the training centre in residences, easy life that is focused on performances.”

When he has had his fill of Chinese food, he’ll go in search of hamburgers, pizza and Mexican food “to keep me going.”

“Interesting, but often lonely,” he added. “I love my family, partner, grandkids and I am looking forward to being back home at some point. I love Ottawa. I should start a Blog ‘Why I Love Ottawa’ so much.

“(There’s) culture change relating (to) how athletes respond to coaching, but I also have an assistant coach that helps me explain the day-to-day expectations.

“One of the best things I did as soon as I got there was to buy a bike. It has been a lifeline for me for visiting Beijing on my days off.”

There will be no days off for Lafontaine until the indoor swimming schedule ends on Aug. 4.

If Lafontaine decides to return to the National Capital Region, maybe his next challenge will be with another national sports federation or a swim club. He certainly enjoyed his last head coaching swimming position with Swim Ottawa and Carleton University before heading to Beijing.

“Best achievement at Swim Ottawa (was) getting the kids to believe that they can be great and many of them now are considering swimming at university,” continued Lafontaine, who coached at Swim Ottawa for 18 months.

“I was lucky to have worked with incredible board members and volunteers at Swim Ottawa. I also have to say that the City of Ottawa was incredible at accommodating the team through the COVID (pool) closing and for finding ways to help all the clubs in Ottawa train, when they could, and help the high-performance swimmers continue to train towards their goals.

“You also saw incredible co-operation between the club coaches to help each other. I am proud of all of them and also thank the city staff that made it happen.”

Whatever Lafontaine decides, he will likely direct his energy towards meaningful goals.

Maybe finding a way to have every child in Canada learn to swim to prevent future drownings.

Maybe develop a strategy to make Canada the fittest nation in the world.

Maybe include the future school system as part of “the solution for active living in Canada.”

Maybe have Canadian universities take a role in the high-performance education/sports system for each of their regions.

Maybe develop a plan to help coaches have a more balanced life with pension and medical benefits as well as job protection, since club coaches are considered “the backbones of the high-performance system in Canada.”

“I believe that we are all here to help inspire the next generation and dreaming big starts at the local school, municipal park/pool, through mostly volunteer coaches,” Lafontaine concluded.

But first his energy must be pointed in the direction of the Paris Olympics with his Chinese breaststroke swimmers.

Huge Ottawa contingent powering Team Canada behind the scenes

While Lafontaine will be coaching China, there are a pile of Ottawa coaches and support staff in Paris as part of the Canadian Olympic delegation.

Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert, who is attending his 11th Olympic Games (five as an athlete, six as a coach), is the biggest name of the bunch.

Here are the individuals listed by the Canadian Olympic Committee as part of Canada’s Paris 2024 delegation from Ottawa:

Caroline Sharp (Athletics) – Media Attaché
Kayla Minott (Men’s Basketball) – Operations Coordinator
Jackie Skender (Volleyball) – Media Attaché
Emily MacKeigan (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Team Manager
Ian Mortimer (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Team Leader
LA Schmidt (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Family & Friends Lead
Penny Werthner (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Mental Performance Consultant
James Cartwright (Canoe/Kayak Slalom) – Team Leader
Michal Staniszewski (Canoe/Kayak) – Coach
Shelley Milton (Cycling) – Team Manager
Kris Westwood (Cycling) – Team Leader
Carter Woods (Cycling) – Alternate Athlete
Nancy Brawley (Diving) – Team Manager
Mitch Geller (Diving) – Team Leader
Julien Camus (Fencing) – Men’s Foil Coach
John Atkinson (Swimming) – High Performance Director
Mark Perry (Swimming) – Open Water Coach
Kale Whitton (Wrestling) – Team Leader