Peter Johnston has been a swimmer since he was a toddler and he is still competing at the ripe ‘old’ age of 34.

He balances his own swimming aspirations with his career and as a new dad and this meant that he couldn’t be present to receive his award for winning the Masters Coach of the Year at the recent Masters Nationals and the ASCTA Presentation Night. He and his wife Alison were preparing for the arrival of their first son, William.

His lifelong passion for swimming led him into coaching and he is the Head coach at Merrylands Swim Centre in NSW, which is a "One Club" catering for juniors and masters swimmers and providing a seamless pathway for swimming for life.

Masters Swimming NSW secretly gathered background information for Peter’s nomination about the impact that he has had on the Club since he became the Head Coach and more particularly on the adult swimmers in his group.

At Merrylands, all his swimmers follow his training programs and are achieving great results under the coaching staff of five. The younger swimmers, under his charge, have competed at Area, Metropolitan, State and National levels; and his older swimmers still compete in Masters’ competition with the enthusiasm and zeal of their younger years.

Club President, Ian Wilson said the Masters squad is motivated by different things; some are competitive, but the bigger part of being involved is about friendship and swimming to reach your personal best, no matter your age.

The Masters National Coaching Committee assess the nominees for MSA and they were particularly impressed with Peter’s demonstrated success in encouraging swimmers to compete at a national and branch level and the annual program developed around these events.

To affiliate your Club as a masters club when you are an existing swimming club affiliated with Swimming Australia Limited (SAL), the swimming club will need to affiliate with the Masters State/Territory organisation. There are “New Club Kits” available in all States and Territories to assist you and provide the required forms to be completed. Each Branch will have different affiliation requirements but on average a minimum of 5 swimmers will need to affiliate for the club to be accepted.
Peter Johnston
Peter Johnston has been named the 2013 Masters Swimming Australia Coach of the Year.
Peter Johnston
Peter Johnston has been named the 2013 Masters Swimming Australia Coach of the Year.