Our Story
Founded in 2014 by professional coach and dad, the Pacific Swim Academy (“PSA”) began as a family program dedicated to helping his three children receive quality coaching to grow as athletes and people.
The program grew significantly over the last ten years, expanding its mandate – operating in Vancouver while serving children and families across BC/Canada. In 2020, the Academy launched Pacific Lifesaving Club (“PLC”), the first community-based Lifesaving Sport Club in BC. It’s a community of like-minded families seeking a supportive environment for children to stay healthy, happy, learn, and grow.
Our values
We believe all children are worthy of our time and attention. By striving for excellence in a challenging but supportive environment we can all learn valuable life lessons. It’s about saving lives … in more ways than one!
“With all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength”. But also, “Treat all children as your own”!
These are our guiding principles.
Our approach
At PSA, we don’t just put a set on the board and tell you when to go - we teach you how to swim.
Our coaching philosophy is grounded in skill-based, supported learning. Our sessions follows our model of understand, practice, and master. We break down technique, give swimmers space to apply it, and support them in building lasting, effective habits in the water. This hands-on approach helps swimmers become not only faster - but smarter, stronger, and more confident athletes and individuals.
We begin with foundational technique and training skills, ensuring every swimmer understands how and why they move through the water the way they do. But PSA goes far beyond traditional competitive swimming.
At PSA, we believe swimming is a lifelong skill with real-world impact. That’s why we encourage all swimmers to pursue lifeguarding and to explore lifesaving sport, the only humanitarian sport recognized worldwide. Lifesaving combines athleticism with rescue skills, empowering swimmers to protect others and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Through this well-rounded approach we aim to develop not just athletes, but leaders. At PSA, swimming is about more than just medals. It’s about building confidence, resilience, and a sense of purpose in and out of the water.