Swimming Canada’s board of directors has selected Ahmed El-Awadi to lead the organization as its new CEO after an extensive five-month search.
El-Awadi, a former Olympic water polo coach and executive director of Water Polo Canada since 2008, will join Canada’s national swimming body on Aug. 19. His ties to Canadian aquatic sports also include serving as assistant coach and manager of the women’s national team during the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Montreal.
Prior to making this announcement, Swimming Canada used a combined CEO/national coach leadership model; however, the organization decided to split these roles more than a year ago.
In his new position, El-Awadi, who is fluent in English and French, will work as Swimming Canada’s top executive, while John Atkinson, who was hired as high performance director in January, will oversee the country’s competitive teams.
“We are very pleased by the hire of John (Atkinson) to lead us on the high performance side and Ahmed (El-Awadi) will provide strong leadership on the business side,” says Swimming Canada president, David de Vlieger. “Having capable people in both of these positions should allow us to meet our future goals.”
