(604) 333-3640 | info@bcartisticswimming.ca
Mandy became involved with the Kamloops Sunrays in 2013 when her daughter joined their recreational program. A year later, she volunteered for Club President. She went on to achieve her Level 2 judge’s certification and has recently been nominated for the national officials' program. During her tenure, the Kamloops Sunrays executive team has worked hard to stabilize the club and create a foundation of programming for recreation, provincial and the newly established national stream programs.
Anne-Marie has a passion for our sport that shines through in all the artistic swimming activities in which she participates. She values the important role artistic swimming has in the lives of swimmers of all ages and abilities.
Anne-Marie joined the artistic swimming community 20 years ago, initially as a parent of an athlete and shortly thereafter as a Masters’ athlete in her daughter’s club. She soon got involved as a deck volunteer and Club Board member. Twelve years ago, Anne-Marie extended her participation to include the role of official. In more recent years Anne-Marie has included Educator of Officials in her activities and has facilitated the certification of 30 Officials in the last 6 years. Anne-Marie has served on the BCAS Board since 2015.
When Anne-Marie is not in the pool or on deck, she is enjoying retirement after a lengthy career in a senior leadership role in Supply Chain Management in the consumer products industry. Her skills in this capacity are readily transferable to the role of a Director. As always, Anne-Marie’s passion for our sport continues to shine in all her roles. In December 2021, Anne-Marie was appointed as Vice-President of BC Artistic Swimming.
Ann has had a long involvement with the sport of artistic swimming, beginning as an athlete in her youth and then as a parent to two daughters who competed as national stream athletes with Pacific Wave Synchronized Swim Club and who are now both coaching in the sport. Her volunteer activities in artistic swimming have included serving as a club treasurer, as a meet volunteer (including at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George) and as a Level 1 judge. All of these experiences, together with watching her daughters and their teammates develop into confident and capable young women thanks to their participation in artistic swimming, inspired me to contribute towards promoting the accessibility, growth and excellence of the sport at all levels.
Ann is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA) and has held senior financial management roles mainly in the forest products industry. Her focus has been in the areas of accounting, budgeting, financial analysis, and reporting. In addition, she has participated in a number of large-scale financial systems implementation and business transformation projects. As a volunteer, Ann served as a director of Pacific Wave Synchro for eight years (2011 – 2019), primarily in the role of treasurer, and recently joined Canada Artistic Swimming’s Finance Committee. Other recent volunteer roles include serving as Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair for The University Women’s Club of Vancouver (2016 – 2018) and, she currently sits on their Constitution and Bylaws Committee.
Cybil currently teaches Kindergarten at a community school in New Westminster. She recently finished post graduate work in math and science and was on the dean’s list throughout the entire program. She has been teaching for over 18 years, and have taught most grades from kindergarten to grade 7. Sport has always been a major part of my life; physical literacy is a pretty big deal in my classroom.
Before life as a teacher, Cybil was a professional cyclist racing with Team Diet Rite, Elita as well as Team Canada. She raced World Cups, the Tour de France, and most international tours and World Championship events. Early in her career, she was nurtured by coaches through the BC Cycling Federation. Her love of cycling was fueled by positive experiences at the BC Summer Games, the Western Games and the Canada Games. Cybil recognizes the importance of these games, and how they helped to shape the athlete she was. It was her springboard onto the national team, which led to signing a pro contract at 18 years old and racing throughout Europe and North America. Today, some of her fondest and worst memories come from sport. She won the Premier’s Athletic Award and was lucky enough to represent cycling in the BC Hall of Fame. For many years of her career, Cybil was Team Captain. She attributes this selection to being able to put her teams’ goals ahead of her own dreams and desires which is not something all athletes can do. She is strategic by nature which is a skill set that has served her well as a teacher.
Cybil's volunteer experience ranges from helping with used uniform collection, bake sales, and helping her children’s classroom teachers as class parent. She mentors new teachers entering the profession, and one spring season was a volunteer soccer coach for her sons’ team. Last year, she volunteered during artistic swimming competitions as a runner, a scorer, and a panel referee. She also has experience developing grants for her daughter’s club.
Jo-Anne has loved artistic swimming since 1972 when she joined a summer club with her elementary school best friend – they competed together for two years. She was not able to continue with the sport as her family moved frequently (engineering projects) but she and her old friend still do "synchro" together each year during holidays in Osoyoos.
In recent years she discovered West Coast Masters artistic swimming team in her community and joined immediately. Jo-Anne felt strongly connected to the sport and wanted to learn more so she took Competition Introduction and Officials training and has been participating as a Level 1 Judge since 2021. She volunteered to develop printed forms to simply the shadow judging process for participation and assessment.
Jo-Anne became club secretary of West Coast Masters in 2020 and took on the role of COVID Risk Manager during the pandemic. She developed a secure online COVID screening questionnaire that was used by a few artistic swimming clubs in BC and Nova Scotia and created a new website for her club to promote masters artistic swimming in Langley. Since 1999, Jo-Anne has owned La Bohème Consulting and is regularly contracted in web and print design and production; marketing and communications projects; plus special event coordination. She has had clients in Australia, Costa Rica, USA and Canada.
Over the course of my education, whether it has been science, or my legal studies at UBC, I’ve always tried to remain cognizant of my place within the grand scheme of things. Having one eye on the horizon meant that I was able to successfully redirect my efforts from medical school or academia into law school when the former options became unappealing. I’m grateful for this habit of mine, as it has paid off numerous times. More importantly, it has made me into the resilient person I am today.
When I set my sights on law school as an ultimate goal, I sought out governance experience around me, and was chosen from a group of my peers to lead the Science Students’ Council (SSC) at the University of Western Ontario. During my tenure at the SSC, I sat and presided over all council meetings in accordance with Robert’s Rules, chaired significant ad-hoc committees to improve Council’s representative proportionality and accountability to the benefit of council, future councillors, and the Faculty of Science-at-large. As I once again set my eyes on the horizon, I now dream of a career in Finance, Corporate Governance, and Politics as potential ultimate ambitions of mine. To that end, serving on BC Artistic Swimming’s Board of Directors would allow me to serve my community through a meaningful and impactful organization, while gaining exposure to a sophisticated organizational structure and its various stakeholders. In many ways, I’d like to repeat history. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Robin has been a resident of BC since 2011, and Campbell River since 2017. In the last five years she has built a practice providing legal services to the north Island practising primarily litigation. She tries to find collaborative and cooperative resolutions to disputes that can put herclients in a position to move forward in a more positive direction. She regularly deals with difficult personalities and high conflict situations and considers herself a problem solver.
She fell in love with the sport of artistic swimming at the age of 12 years old. She swam competitively for four years in Manitoba until she couldn’t continue high performance training due to injury. She considers these years as formative as she learned teamwork, dedication, hardwork, and self-confidence. She transitioned to the role of official, and briefly as a coach because of her passion for the sport and for supporting young athletes to gain skills which will be useful to them for life, as they have been for her.
Robin took a lengthy break from artistic swimming as her responsibilities as a single mother made it impossible to volunteer her time. Now that she is supported by a wonderful partner, she has been able to return and contribute her experience to the sport. She looks forward to taking on a new role in governance and expects the skills she has gained as a lawyer will be an asset to the board.
Strategic and versatile technology executive who brings a global perspective and vision, focused on helping businesses identify and navigate risk and business transformation challenges in rapidly-changing situations. Extensive legal leadership experience and deep expertise in corporate governance, capital financings and international commercial agreements, as well as identifying and developing intellectual property. Curious and passionate about learning, able to quickly understand and evaluate complex, innovative technology and concepts. Thrives in changing situations that benefit from integrity, courage and diversity of thought. Asks tough questions and provides frank assessments in challenging environments, while helping to manage conflict and disruption. Entrepreneurial spirit, having personally founded, built and sold a small business.
Recognized as one of Canada’s most influential and innovative General Counsel, created and led a highly-skilled team that developed a portfolio of some of the world’s most valuable technology patents, protecting visionary, extremely complex technologies. Key contributor to building an international business that is a first-mover in a rapidly-growing and changing market through to a NYSE public listing, bringing its unique technology to enterprises to help them solve complex business problems and derive business value.
BCAS Board of Directors Communication Guidelines
Board of Directors Position Descriptions
2021-2022
2020-2021
2019-2020
2018-2019
2017-2018
2016-2017
The Executive & Finance Committee is a Standing Committee that addresses governance and operational issues that arise between board meetings and provides financial direction and guidance to the Board and the Executive Director.
Chair: Mandy Curtis, President Members: Anne-Marie North, Vice President | Ann Stirrat, Director of Finance Staff Liaison: Jennifer Keith, Executive Director
The Governance & Nominations Committee is a Special Committee responsible for guiding the Board of Directors to fulfill its legal, ethical, and functional responsibilities to protect the best interests of the Society. It also oversees recruitment and nominations of candidates for the Board as well as periodic Board evaluation.
Chair: Mandy Curtis, President Members: Tanya Rothe, Director-at-Large | Robin Bennu, Director-at-Large | Rhonda Vanderfluit, Member Staff Liaison: Jennifer Keith, Executive Director
Terms of Reference
The Human Resources Committee is a Special Committee that supports the Executive Director to manage staffing and compensation for BC Artistic Swimming employees and contractors.
Chair: Mandy Curtis, President Members: Anne-Marie North, Vice-President | Carol Stewart, Director at Large Staff Liaison: Jennifer Keith, Executive Director
Terms of Reference COMING SOON
The Technical Committee is a representation of technical leaders across the province, including coaches and officials, who would like a voice and influence on programming, program delivery, and technical issues that affect artistic swimming in BC. Any registered coach or official interested in taking part in Technical Committee meetings is welcome to attend. As appropriate, the Technical Committee will be sub-divided into smaller working groups to address specialized topics or issues such as, but not limited to, high performance, sport development, Masters, officiating, etc.
Staff Liaison: Tanya Magee, Director of Sport Members: Registered Coaches & Officials
The Coaches Working Group is a working group of the Technical Committee focused on high-performance. Members are representative of the Club Head Coaches and coaches of clubs who deliver National Stream programs providing expertise to shape BC Artistic Swimming’s Ignite Provincial Programs.
Members: Susan Kemper, BC Aquasonics | Tina Naveri, Kamloops Sunrays | Meng Chen, Pacific Wave | TBD, Victoria Artistic Swimming | Alina Aref'yeva, Caprice Artistic Swimming | Erin Fitchett, Nelson Reflections Staff Liaison: Tanya Magee, Director of Sport
The Official Committee is a Special Committee that oversees the Officials Certification Program and ensures professional development opportunities are available for judges and referees. The committee also creates training materials, tracks statistics, evaluates officials, and trains and oversees deck volunteers.
Chair: Christina Demiris Staff Liaison & Panel Coordinator: Disa Fladmark, Sport Services Coordinator Members:
Provincial Judge Evaluator: Sharon Devana Statistics Coordinator & Analyst: Jo-Anne Emery Judges Training Coordinator: Anne-Marie North Deck Officials Training Coordinator: Debbie Provencher Island Judge Trainer: Madeleine Ramsay Referees Training Coordinator: Carol Stewart
The Sport Development Working Group supports the growth of artistic swimming in British Columbia and fosters inclusion by creating opportunities for entry-level, recreational, and sport for life level participation. Chair: TBD Members: Brenda Scott, Victoria Synchro | Disa Fladmark, Kamloops Sunrays | Jordan Wuest, Vancouver Masters | Katie Hopp, Vernon Silhouettes | Anne-Marie North, Caprice Artistic Swimming | Jo-Anne Emery, Director-at-Large & West Coast Masters Staff Liaison: Tanya Magee, Sport Development Director
The Awards Committee oversees BC Artistic Swimming’s member recognition awards and bursary programs. Chair: Mandy Curtis, Kamloops Sunrays Member: Debbie Provencher, Ravensong Waterdancers | Tanya Rothe, Director-at-Large Staff Liaison: Jennifer Keith, Executive Director
The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee is a Working Committee mandated to initiate, advise, and activate support for action plans related to equity, diversity and inclusion in artistic swimming in BC, including the recruitment, advancement, and retention of underrepresented groups such as Indigenous, LGBTQI2S+, and Newcomers to Canada communities, as well as Adaptive Artistic Swimming. Chair: TBD Members: TBD Advisor: Staff Liaison: Tanya Magee, Sport Development Director
The Master Committee is an advisory committee that helps develop Masters level artistic swimming programs in BC and ensures Masters athletes have a voice in the development of programming, policies and issues that impact them and their clubs. Chair: Jordan Wuest, Vancouver Masters Synchro Members: Katie Hopp, Vernon Silhouettes | Carly Schmitt, Kelowna Dolphins | Jessica Nemlander, Ravensong Waterdancers | Melinda Markser, Caprice Artistic Swimming | Loretta Pederson, West Coach Masters | Disa Fladmark, Kamloops Sunrays | Jo-Anne Emery, West Coast Masters Staff Liaison: Tanya Magee, Sport Development Director
The Marketing & Communications Committee is an ad hoc Working Committee responsible for engaging a firm or consultant specializing in marketing and communications to develop a provincial strategy to grown and increase the profile of artistic swimming in BC and to effectively brand BCAS programs and services. Chair: N/A Members: Mandy Curtis, Director-at-Large | Jo-Anne Emery, Director-at-Large Advisor: Staff Liaison: Jennifer Keith, Executive Director
The BCAS community is represented on numerous Canada Artistic Swimming Committees and its Board of Directors. Athlete Council Olivia Zawadiuk, Chair
Board of Directors, Governance Committee, Finance & Audit Committee, Policy Working Group Jason Herbert
External Relations Committee No Representative
Finance Committee Ann Stirrat
National Officials Committee No Representative
LTAD Task Force No Representative
BC Artistic Swimming makes every effort to respond to emails within 48hours.
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“I believe that values-based sport makes a difference.”
ATHLETE: Speed skating was my first passion – my father believed that every Canadian kid needs to be able to skate and he thought speed skating was cool so that is where my love of sport began. I competed for many years and was a top ranked athlete in my province but the pressure at a young age to compete and train at a high-performance level was too much pressure for me by the age of 11. Being in a position to make big life decisions turned me off the sport I loved. I played ringette and basketball for many years until I found soccer when I was 16. It seemed to come naturally to me and quickly became my everything. Unfortunately, I blew out my knee just before the start of my first season in university and due to complications with the ensuing surgeries was unable to keep playing at more than a rec level. It was at that point that I discovered that if I was no longer able to play at a high level, I could focus my career in sport.
CAREER: After earning my degree in business and a post-graduate diploma in sports administration, I started working in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators. Glamorous as it sounds, I found I had little interest because it was just big business. I was happy to learn that early and quickly redirected my focus to community sport. My first job in community sport was as a Discipline Administrator in soccer – handing out suspensions and fines was about 95% of my job! Fortunately, my career took off and I have had some incredible experience with Soccer New Brunswick, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, and the True Sport Foundation.
SPORT PHILOSOPHY: As a young person, sport gave me so much. It was my outlet. It’s where I didn’t have to think about anything else that was going on in my life. I was lucky to have some great coaches who were excellent role models and a positive influence on me. I believe that every kid needs role models and the opportunity to do things they love – a place where they feel confident in their abilities and proud of their accomplishments. Community sport can be that for many kids. It is why I believe in values-based sport. I want to help make a difference in kids’ lives through sport because it was an important part of my life and helped shape who I am today.
PRIORITIES: Bringing Club Excellence to BCAS and to our clubs is a key priority for me to help us manage our organizations better. If we have the proper foundation in place at all levels of the sport, we will be able to spend more time focusing on the athletes in the pool, which is what we all hope to accomplish. I’m pretty certain that none of us got into this for the paper work but know that we end up buried in it because of gaps in our operations and governance structures. I hope to help BCAS and its member clubs to bridge these gaps.
ARTISTIC SWIMMING IN BC: There is so much passion in the BC artistic swimming community and a real desire to work collaboratively to make things better, which is fantastic. That does not happen very often in competitive sport. The board is committed to operating as a governance board and have created a wonderful framework for the staff to ensure that we have the resources and support to do our jobs. This is so important at the PSO level.
FUN FACTS: When I was 9 years old, I presented flowers to the amazing Gaetan Boucher and other world class skaters during the 1982 World Speed Skating Championships. Also, outside of BCAS, people call me Niff or JK. That seems not to have stuck here.
604-333-3640
“Artistic swimming hooks you!”
ATHLETE: I started artistic swimming with the Coquitlam Coralinas when I was 6 years old. I was first selected to Team Canada when I was 15 which was a complete surprise! When I called my mom to tell her, she wanted to speak to my coach because she didn’t believe me! I competed on the National team for 7 years, living in Montreal and training at the Centre of Excellence for three of those years.
COACH: I have been coaching since I was 14 years old. I am a Coach for the BC Aquasonics and I coordinate the recreation programs for the Club. I have also coached for Dollard Synchro in Montreal and was an Apprentice Coach for the National Team in 2008, as well as a Team BC Assistant Coach for the 2011 Canada Winter Games Team.
QUALIFICATIONS: I am a Chartered Professional Coach and have recently obtained my Advanced Coaching Diploma. Additionally, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Coaching. It was while I was working on my degree that I decided to pursue coaching as a profession. It was a chance to combine my two passions in one career: teaching and artistic swimming.
SPORT PHILOSOPHY: I believe that everyone I coach is a person first and foremost. They are not just an athlete that walks onto the pool deck, trains and then does not exist when they leave the building. They are a human being who deserves my respect, honesty, and personal best. Sport has helped shape me to be the person I am today and, for that reason, I strive to do that for my athletes. Sport can teach life skills and, as a coach, my goal for every athlete is for them to grow into confident, successful human beings long after their athletic careers are finished. This philosophy will carry over in to my new role as I work with all the members of this organization.
ARTISTIC SWIMMING IN BC: We have so many successes in BC: our officials at the Olympics, our coaches who make artistic swimming a career, our first athlete with a disability going to national championships, our Masters athletes representing us on the world stage. We have incredible, long-term loyalty from so many passionate people who are willing and wanting to help. Artistic swimming hooks you! We need to tap into that passion to grow our sport.
OUTSIDE ARTISTIC SWIMMING: I am mom to two daughters, Rya and Addisyn. When I am not coaching, you may still find me at the pool taking my kids to their swimming lessons (yes, they love the water!). I am also a T-ball mom, soccer mom, ringette mom and gymnastics mom! I guess you can call me a foodie since I love to cook and sometimes post pictures of my food on social media! My favorite place to unwind is Shuswap Lake where I love to waterski, spend time with family, and enjoy the scenery.
FUN FACTS: You could say that water is in my blood. My mom was an artistic swimmer and won medals at National Championships, my sister is a double bronze medalist at the 2003 Canada Winter Games, and Brent Hayden, Canadian Olympic medalist in swimming, is my cousin (2nd cousin but who is keeping track!).
Disa Fladmark joined the BCAS staff in August 2019 to fill the role of Sport Services Coordinator. She is a long-standing member of the association bringing experience as an athlete, coach, official, and administrator.
Disa began her artistic swimming career in the mid 90’s when she joined her first competitive team, working her way up to the senior level where she swam a senior solo with the Coquitlam Coralinas. Having coached her first recreational team in 1999, she has been coaching for more than 20 years working with athletes of all levels and abilities. Disa has led her teams to many podium performances at provincial championships and nurtured athletes to success at national competitions. She has also continued her journey as an athlete competing in Masters’ events since 2001 and became a Level 2 trained judge in 2018.
Disa is a certified Competition Development coach and recently completed her Advanced Coaching Diploma with the Canadian Sport Institute. She completed her Masters in Professional Communication in 2015 receiving recognition for research challenging the current framework of sports in Canada and the limitations it places on the female athlete.
In recent years, Disa has been heavily involved with BC Artistic Swimming serving on the Adaptive Synchro, Sport Development and Masters’ Committees, coaching in the Train to Train and Regional Coach programs, facilitating Annual Summit sessions and membership meetings, and most recently serving on the Board of Directors. In 2018, Disa resigned from her position as the Provincial Office Manager of the BC Summer Swimming Association, where she managed its operations and events such as the annual coaches conference and provincial championships.
BCAS Executive Director noted: “Disa brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this new role. We are fortunate to have her join our team and to take on a role that was previously divided among two part-time staff. She is taking on a lot of responsibility, but I have every confidence that she will manage her new responsibilities with tenacity and vigour.”
In her role as Sport Services Coordinator, Disa is responsible for executing all provincial events and competitions as well as supporting the membership with registration, and coordinating coach, official and athlete development initiatives and programs.
The coaching staff for the 2021 Ignite program will be named in the Spring. Check out the Integrated Sport Team (IST) Specialist who will lead the 2021 HP Virtual Training Program.
Biz Price is a former synchronized swimmer from who represented Canada at the international level as a member of the Canadian National team. She turned her attention to coaching in 1984 with her club, Vancouver (BC) Aquasonics and worked with Canada until after the 2000 Olympic Games where Canada won medals at every Games from 1984 to 2000. Since then she has worked with a number of top synchro nations from around the world including Spain and China resulting in Olympic medals.
Biz, a world renowned coach and choreographer, joined British Synchro in 2007. At the 2012 Olympic Games, the team achieved a 6th place - the highest ranking ever achieved for a GM Team in Synchronized Swimming. In 2014, Biz joined the Performance Advisor Team at UK Sports and worked with the Senior Leadership Team to lead as Head of the team until 2020. Biz continues to share her passion for coaching and excellence in leadership and culture.
Inga was born and raised in Donetsk, Ukraine. She has 18 years of professional athletic career and 7+ years coaching background. She was a first Ukrainian synchronized swimmer who qualified to Ukrainian National team at the age of 14 and was representing Ukraine internationally as a member of both Olympic and Junior National teams. Throughout her athletic career she has become multiple time Ukrainian National Champion, European Champion, multiple time European silver and bronze medalist, was ranked 5th at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, 2x NCAA D1 Champion, multiple time American National Champion and multiple time All-American. She has experience working with Olympic level athletes, she’s produced National Champions, State Champions and helped athletes secure their spots on the National teams. Inga is extremely passionate for what she does! Her purpose is to help anybody she works with to achieve their goals and become their best self.
Jermaine John-Archer, Strength & Mobility Coach
"I am a dancer." Jermaine John-Archer is an experienced dancer and exercise physiologist who led the ArtisticSTRONG Program as a Strength & Conditioning coach at Fortius Sport & Health until its recent closure. With a career built on creating longevity in artistic sports and the performing arts and in addition to working with the BCAS provincial program for the last 4 years, Jermaine has worked with many athletes and artists in a wide range of settings: regional (public and private schools, local dance academies, and figure skating clubs), university (McMaster University), provincial and national (Skate BC, Skate Canada, and national level/Olympic high performance artistic athletes), as well as professional (OHL Cheerleading Squads, professional dance schools/teams/artists, and local professional recording artists and musicians across Canada).
Jermaine also has the annual privilege of coaching artistic athletes from all over the world as the head off-ice coach at the international figure skating camp "IceDOME" throughout various locations in Europe. With the closure of Fortius, Jermaine is branching out into his own facility where he will continue to specialize in artistic sports and actively look at ways to reach more artistic athletes. He hopes to encourage mindfulness in load management, body & spatial awareness, and movement competency within a strength and conditioning environment to create longevity in artistic sports.
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