Matt Bell
Head Coach & Director of Swimming
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Matt Bell is entering his 9th season on the
AAC staff, and his 4th season as Head Coach. Matt was a
top-ranked age group swimmer with several teams in Durham where he
trained for 18 years. Matt was a member of the University of
Toronto Varsity Blues, where he was an OUA and CIS Finalist. Matt
has an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto, is certified at
NCCP Level 3, and is also a certified Ski Instructor. Matt is an
active member of the community, and sits on the Town of Ajax
Recreation and Culture Advisory Committee.
In just three seasons as Head Coach, Matt’s athletes
have been named to 21 National and Provincial Teams, and
have won Gold at Age Group Nationals a total of 23
times. He has doubled the team’s number of Senior
National qualifiers, and took a team of 8 athletes to the 2008
Beijing Olympic Trials. During the 2008-2009 season, 13 of
Matt’s athletes achieved a Senior National Standard, only two
of whom were over 18 years of age.
Matt has twice represented Ontario as a Coach at the SNC
Tri-Meet, and has coached athletes to 2 Provincial
Records. Matt has received the CSCA Award for Domestic Excellence
in three consecutive seasons, and since his inception as Head
Coach, over 90 club records have been broken. Matt uses
realism and logic to promote goal setting and systematic
improvement. Matt’s athletes receive individualized stroke
correction on a daily basis, and his athletes are encouraged to
expect excellence in a variety of strokes and distances. Matt is
committed to working with the AAC Staff and Executive in order to
take the AAC to new heights at every level of the club
structure.
Mischa Sommerville
Head Age Group Coach
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Mischa Sommerville enters 2nd
season as Age Group Coach of the Ajax Aquatic Club after 7 seasons
of successful coaching a both the North York Aquatic Club (NYAC)
and the City of Brampton Aquatic Club (COBRA).
As a swimmer, Mischa spent the majority of his career swimming at
the Ajax Aquatic Club, where he became a Senior National Qualifier
and Finalist, as well as a Club Record holder in numerous events-
many of which still stand today. After high school, Mischa accepted
a scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he holds 2
individual and 4 relay records.
Mischa is excited to build on the immense progress achieved in his
groups last season, which included several club records and medal
winning performances at Junior Provincial Championships.
Jen Porenta
Head Development Coach
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Jennifer
Porenta comes to the AAC Staff after 3 seasons working with the
Milton Marlins. Porenta takes over the role of Head Development
Coach, a position that will coincide with another expansion of the
club's membership base. Porenta will work with a number of squads
within this role, and will oversee the addition of 40-50 new
athletes to the club structure.
Porenta
brings a strong coaching resume, in addition to an excellent
swimming career in which she broke Provincial and National Age
Group records in sprint freestyle and relay events. As a student
and member of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Porenta was
also the CIS Rookie of the Year in 2004, was a member of the
National Team from 2003-2008, attended the FISU Games in 2003 and
2005 and still holds the current record in the OUA for the 200m
Freestyle. Porenta holds a Bachelor of Physical Education
degree from the University of Toronto.
