The Greenwood Dolphins Swim Club, a competitive youth swim club at 14 Wing Greenwood, is proud to announce their head coach, Amanda Bond, has been selected as one of only two coaches in Nova Scotia to participate in Swim Nova Scotia’s New Coach Mentorship Program.
Bond, born and raised in Glace Bay, is a mom of two, a military spouse of 18 years, and is currently on her third posting to Greenwood.
Bond first became seriously interested in the sport of swimming while cheering on her daughter in a local swim team during a posting to Adelaide, Australia. Upon her return to Canada, she began coaching and, in 2020, Bond became the head coach of the Greenwood Dolphins. This past year, Bond was selected to be a coach for Team Nova Scotia’s contingent of athletes who competed at a championship meet in Maine. This is where Bond, as part of Team Nova Scotia’s coaching staff, won the prestigious Coach of the Meet award.
Recently, Bond was selected to be mentored by Lance Cansdale, Swim Nova Scotia’s director of swimming and head coach of the Dalhousie University Tigers swim team for the 2023/ 2024 season. Cansdale has been coaching swimming for over 30 years and is looking forward to working closely with Bond to help improve her skills as a coach, and help create great opportunities for Dolphins swimmers. Bond will be spending time on deck with Cansdale at Dalhousie team practices, observing and participating, and learning new drills and skills to expand her education and improve swimmer abilities. Additionally, Bond is working towards her Level 2 coaching certification and achieving her NLS Lifeguard certification.
Under Bond’s guidance, Dolphin swimmers have broken many club records, won countless medals at age group meets, including relay medals, high point awards, and a team spirit award. Bond has also had the pleasure of mentoring her own club members, seeing some of the swimmers grow from Novice level to become Junior coaches themselves.
Bond’s hope is to grow the club and help every individual become a more confident swimmer. As a coach, she incorporates proven techniques to enable individuals to swim to their full potential in a relaxed atmosphere, while learning to compete in the sport and improve their swimming skills and physical fitness.
Swimming as a sport in Nova Scotia is overseen by Swim NS. When a swimmer joins a club, they begin at a participation level. Once able to complete all four strokes in the time required, they advance to the Nova Tech program, where they begin to compete at local swim meets. From there, they progress through levels one and two and finally into Age Group, where they will compete at AA or AAA meets with opportunities outside of the province, and even the country.
If you have a swimmer between the ages of nine and 17 who would like to try out for the Greenwood Dolphins, contact Bond at gwddolphinscoach@gmail.com, or club president Sharon Bond at gdscpresident@gmail.com. Tryouts will be held September 9, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the 14 Wing Greenwood outdoor pool. Come prepared to swim!
