Coach Spotlight Series

You may have heard people refer to the phrase “do a few things very well, instead of doing a lot poorly”.

At the COBRA Swim Club in Brampton they don’t have to be concerned about that expression.

That’s because veteran coaches Kim Inglis-Clarke and Ian Roopnarine have developed a technique that breeds success, improvement and a discipline of learning that extends beyond the pool. In short, the multitude of things they are doing have accrued accomplishments.

Very much different in many ways, there is no separation between Inglis-Clarke and Roopnarine when the focus is on working with young swimmers, educating them about the fun and fundamentals of competitive swimming, as well as developing a pattern for progress and success.

While that may be a challenge for many, Inglis-Clarke and Roopnarine have become a recipe for prosperity and triumph at a club that has been around for half a century.

The pair have known each other for two decades. While a lot has happened in that time frame, including the growth of a swim club that has 220 competitors and 350 more in a junior club. Inglis-Clarke and Roopnarine, along with other coaches, staff and with the support of the club’s Board, are rebuilding a dormant Masters program and highlighting a concept of swimming for a lifetime.

While leadership has come from COBRA head coach Ulf Ornhjelm, a person responsible for getting both Inglis-Clarke and Roopnarine on the COBRA scene is a former coach. Bill O’Toole was at COBRA for 17 years before he left to become Head Coach at the Toronto Swim Club. O’Toole liked what he saw of Roopnarine and Inglis as coaches and sound communicators. Adding them to the COBRA team would be a bonus.

“Together, they’re a great team, work well, are caring, experienced and talented,” said O’Toole. “Kim was coaching in Sudbury when I met her at a Swim Ontario Conference and she was great with people, had this positive attitude, and I told her that I had a job for her if she ever wanted to move south.

“Ian is a phenomenal teacher and an inspiring coach. I approached him twice to join COBRA and I got the impression that he felt he wasn’t ready at the time. As a pair, they have done wonders for COBRA, run a great program and that club would be hard pressed to find others as great as them.”

Roopnarine, born in the dual island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, came to Canada, with his family as an eight-year-old. He did swim at Bramalea Secondary, but the coaching element was triggered when he was a lifeguard. O’Toole spotted his ability to excel.

In 2000, Roopnarine, at the age of 19, changed his mind and made his coaching debut at COBRA.

Inglis-Clarke, a former high school Athlete of the Year in North Bay, has been swimming since the days her family briefly lived in Michigan. Her parents got her involved in a club program. Coaching for her started at age 16, accepting a part time job with the North Bay Y Titans.

She would later meet Roopnarine at the Balmoral and Earnscliffe Recreation Centre pools in the Region of Peel.

“Multiple coaches in any program have differences and disagreements,” said Inglis-Clarke, who is also COBRA’s Operations Manager while Roopnarine, along with coaching, is the club’s Office Manager. “Ian and I always talk things over, and we’re a united front. One of our goals is to make people feel special and give everyone an opportunity to achieve their best.”

There is something to be said about teamwork. Just examine their coaching effort from Inglis-Clarke and Roopnarine as it relates to Matthew Cabraja, a Blind swimmer. When Cabraja started with COBRA, he had high expectations chasing success.

Cabraja served notice in 2018 with medal performances at the Pan Pacific Para championships in 2018. A year later, at the World Para Championships, he set personal best times in two events. In 2021, he made his debut at the Paralympics in four events, finishing with a fifth, 7th and two 9th places against the best on the planet.

“We thought he would do well – and he did,” said Roopnarine, who recalls Cabraja coming to him at age 10 wanting to be a competitive swimmer. “I told him that I would do my best to coach him, put him on the COBRA team if he promised to one day make the (Paralympic) team. It was his first time at these Games, and his accomplishments, were definitely not disappointing.”

There has always been much camaraderie between Roopnarine and Inglis-Clarke, a dynamic coaching duo in an innovative organization focussed on delivering high-performance and para swim programs. Discipline and hard work along with enhancing the esteem of swimmers, has raised the profile and image of COBRA as one of the premier swim clubs in the country.

While swimmers have preferences, turning to Inglis-Clarke, an innovator and builder, they see an individual who is creative, knowledgeable, and is always looking to make the swim experience packed with enjoyment.

Roopnarine, the 2021 Swim Ontario Male Para Coach of the Year, is more than the listener, but the inspirer for a youngster learning the sport and wanting to take it to the next level.

“There is a circle of trust that can’t be broken,” said Inglis-Clarke. “As coaches, and as two with the same club for such an extended period of time, we support and elevate each other and leave our swimmers confident and energized.”

David Grossman is a multi, award-winning communicator and storyteller with a distinguished career in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations in Sport and Government Relations.