In Memoriam: Kevin Thorburn

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we inform the swim community of the sudden passing of Etobicoke Swim Club Head Coach Kevin Thorburn.

Kevin was regarded as one of Canada’s best developers of international swimmers from the club and age group ranks. His career spans over 5 decades as a competitive swimmer and coach successfully nurturing swimmers to 600 provincial records, 300 national age group records and 30 national records from four different provinces Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba  and British Columbia, as well as multiple swimmers on Olympic teams.

During his 20 plus years with the Etobicoke Swim Club he instilled a belief that ‘swimming should be an adventure not an ordeal’. Kevin mentored many coaches with the belief in three pillars: Character Development Complete; Event Exploration before Specialization; and General Physical Development.

“For those who knew Kevin, I believe you will agree, his smile was his logo, his personality was his business card, and how he left others feeling after an interaction was his trademark. This was true for coaches, swimmers, officials and the many families who were grateful of his contribution in lives of their children” said Dean Boles, CEO Swim Ontario and fellow coach.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Coach Thorburn’s family and friends as well the ESWIM family, he will be deeply missed.

Two Presentations by Kevin Thorburn during the 2019 Quebec Coaches’ Conference: https://www.fnq.qc.ca/federation/federation-congres-de-la-natation/