Dollard Synchro             

Soon after the opening of the Civic Center Pool in 1977, the town of Dollard des Ormeaux began its first swimming programs. Founded in this period, the Dollard Synchro Club has continued to evolve ever since. It is now known as one of the largest and most successful clubs in Quebec and Canada.

Diane Lachapelle, coach of Olympic Champion Carolyn Waldo, developed the club from its early years all the way until 1995. Diane, along with her co-coaches produced a number of high-caliber athletes and successful teams.

In the mid 1980’s, coaches Diane Lachapelle, Anne Lockwell and Nancy Reed dedicated themselves to a group of young athletes who contributed to the club for, in many cases, up to ten years. Tina Ackermans and Kathy Kusel were two of these athletes who became legendary for their success in the figures, solo, duet and team events. They also qualified for National Teams on numerous occasions and were very close to qualifying for the team that represented Canada at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

In the late 1980’s, Lyne Piche joined the coaching staff and made an enormous mark with her innovative and cutting edge choreographies. She coached numerous routines to victory swims and was an enormous asset to the club. Desta Klemm and Isabelle McCann enjoyed their first place finish in the duet routine at the 15 – 17 Nationals under her direction. Around this same time period the club was fortunate to have had the help of coach Heather Grey from California. Heather gave many of the clubs swimmers a strong start in the 15 and under age category.

In the early 1990’s, Isabelle Taillon retired as a Dollard swimmer and joined Diane, Anne and Lyne to develop another wave of talented athletes. Valerie Boucher, Suzanne Jacquart, Catherine Garceau, Fanny Letourneau and many others were part of this successful group. They enjoyed many successes in the figures, solo, duet and team events under her direction. Since her early start with Dollard, Isabelle has worked with the Montreal Synchro Club and was hired as the Olympic Coach for Athens.

In the mid 1990’s, Diane Lachapelle moved to a position with the Synchro Quebec Federation and FINA. Lyne Piche became Head Coach of the Club. At this time, Lyne produced Dollard’s first team to win a gold medal at the National Championships. Catherine Garceau, Jessica Chase, Jacinthe Taillon, Desta Klemm, Jennifer Defoy, Cindy Robinson, Jacinthe Brown and Sherry Walters were part of this winning team. Lyne also helped athletes such as Catherine Garceau, Jessica Chase and Jacinthe Taillon rise to the podium in their solo and/or duet events. Eventually she would help them qualify for the team that would compete at the Sydney Olympics.

Claire Carver, Fanny Letourneau, Catherine Garceau. Jessica Chase and Jacinthe Taillon were all former athletes at Dollard and eventually qualified to swim with the Sydney Olympic Team. Fanny and Jessica continued on to swim at the games in Athens as well. Former Dollard athlete, Jennifer Langlois, was hired as the team manager and physiotherapist for Athens. Isabelle Taillon took on the Olympic Team’s Head Coach position.

After Dollard’s senior athletes retired/or moved onto their Olympic training, Lyne felt the club needed to redevelop. In 1997 she handed over her Head Coach position to Desta Klemm. Desta and club president Gail Jacquart, formed the more recent "Get in Spirit, Get in Synch" programs and revamped the recreational development and elite programs from the base up. The launching of the new programs was a huge success. Participation in the club tripled in one year.

In 2001, the new John Rennie Sport Etude Program made its mark in the club’s history. This program helped open many doors of opportunity. It allowed individual athletes to be at the pool for 2:00 p.m. on weekdays. This permitted them to finish their homework early, put in extra hours of good quality training at the pool, gain access to additional private coaching opportunities and benefit from the school’s morning tutoring set up. During this season, Desta Klemm and Anne Lockwell helped develop the skills of the Sport Etude athletes as well as the other athletes in the club. The teams were suddenly starting to receive medals and ribbons at their championship competitions. The Sport Etude program played a large role in this comeback.

Another highlight of the 2001 season was the sudden success of a talented and hard working athlete named Tracy Little. Desta Klemm and Anne Lockwell recognized her potential as an athlete and devoted countless hours into helping her achieve top ten results in the figures, solo, duet and team events at 15 – 18 Nationals. They geared her toward competing at National Team Trials. She was named to the National Youth Team for two seasons and then jumped onto the National B Team. She recently attended the 2004 National A Team trials and placed two spots away from making what could be the next Olympic Team.

The Elite program was suddenly becoming very successful, but equally successful at this time was the club’s Development Program. The club had grown so large that the Head Coach decided that it would benefit from having a supervisor for each individual program to ensure its needs would be fully met. Lianne Macrae would be responsible for the developing athletes and Desta Klemm would overlook the elite athletes. Since that time, our development program has been excelling in numerous areas and winning most championship competitions.

Coaches like Lianne Macrae, Anne Marie Goyette, Kelly Sauve, Heather Acton, Sophy Hurtubise, Vanessa Haywood and Christiane Callary have helped raise the level of performance in development. Until recent years, Dollard Synchro was recognized as an elite club. The strength and success of the development program has recently changed this perception and shown people that we offer something for all ages and skill levels.

In 2002, Head Coach Desta Klemm, won a trophy at the National Championships for most promising coach of the year. This same award was won by her coaching partner Anne Lockwell in the late 1980’s making the distinction extra special. Desta has put a lot of time and effort into rebuilding the club, but attributes its success to her talented team of coaches. Aside from the above mentioned development coaches, Anne Lockwell, Jennifer Monk, Vanessa Haywood, Rachelle Deitcher, Karin Vleeschhouwer, Jaimie Earley and countless other NCCP level three coaches deserve recognition for the clubs most recent success. Lyne Piche is also back on board with the club as of 2003 and has already made some remarkable differences in the athletes level of training and performance.

Lyne Piché returned to Dollard Synchro in 2003 and made some remarkable differences in the athletes’ level of training and performance.  Lyne and Anne worked closely with developing elite athletes such as Camille Bowness, Marie-Lou Morin, Lisa Mikelberg and Catherine Powell.

In 2005, Lillian Leal, a two-time Olympian representing Mexico, joined Dollard Synchro to assist with the Elite program.  After Desta’s decision to step down as Head Coach of the Elite program, Lillian took over the position of Head Coach for the Dollard Synchro Club.

As well in 2005, Jennifer Defoy a former National Team Athlete, and National Team Coach returned to Montreal to help assist in leading the Elite program.

Also, in 2005 Camille Bowness and Marie-Lou Morin represented Canada on the 13-15 National Team at the COMEN Cup in Greece. In 2008 they competed on the Canadian Junior National Team at the Junior World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 2006, with the growth of the Development club to 8 competitive teams and 3 lesson groups, Christiane Callary, a former elite coach, returned to coach developing athletes and take over the Development program.

Many former Dollard Synchro elite athletes have joined the Development and Elite coaching staff in recent years, including Laura Swift, Jessica Pinto, Sarah Milton, Jackie Easey, Michelle Larocque, Heather Birenbaum and Megan Glendon.

In 2007, Johana Vasquez joined the Elite coaching staff from the Montreal Synchro Club

In 2008, Dollard Synchro welcomed additional experienced Elite coaches to their staff, including Karine Beaulieu, Geneviève Beauregard and Jessica Young.

Coaches and athletes may come and go, but Dollard Synchro certainly leaves a lasting and irreplaceable impression on those who have had the opportunity to be part of its history and success. We welcome new members to come and enjoy the experience with us as a club. Lets build the club's future together.