Peter Vizsolyi

Title

Technical Coach

One of the longest tenured head coaches in the country, Peter Vizsolyi enters his 41st year as the head coach of the Vikes men’s and women’s swim teams in 2023-24. Vizsolyi was first tabbed to lead the Vikes prior to the 1983-84 season.

His wealth of experience at the U SPORTS and club level has led to two U SPORTS Coach of the Year awards, 237 medals at the U SPORTS Championships by UVic swimmers, and 10 Olympians.

Since 1983, the Vikes have won 76 gold, 81 silver and 80 bronze at the U SPORTS Championships. The Vikes have also had two U SPORTS Outstanding Swimmer of the Year awards, and Vizsolyi himself was recognized by the U SPORTS (formely CIAU and CIS) as Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1998.

The Vikes' best result at the U SPORTS championships came via the women's team in 2000 with a second-place finish. The men's team has finished third overall four times (1987, '88, '00, '02), with the women’s side also picking up third-place finishes in ’94 and ’98.

In international competition, 13 Vikes have competed at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and have won a total of 37 medals. Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Dixon is responsible for 19 of those medals, and she is the only athlete to ever break a world record at a U SPORTS Championship. An additional 21 swimmers have competed at various international meets and have won 25 international medals.

A native of Budapest, Hungary, Vizsolyi is extremely active throughout the swimming community. He is currently the Technical Director for Pacific Coast Swimming and the Pacific Sport National Swim Centre, as well as being an active member of the Swim B.C’s Technical Committee. In 1994, he served as Chairman of Swimming for the Commonwealth Games Society. He is a Nationally Certified Master Coach and is a professor at both UVic and UBC. Furthermore, Vizsolyi has served as team physician for various national teams and sport groups.

As a swimmer, Vizsolyi competed at the club level for nine years, as well competing for UBC, where he was a finalist for four straight years at the CIAU (now U SPORTS) Championships (1974-77).

Vizsolyi holds a Fellowship in the College of Family Practise, the CASM Diploma of Sport Medicine, is a fully certified NCCP Level III swimming coach and an NCI Master Coach.

MAJOR AWARDS:

CIS COACH OF THE YEAR (2): 1988 • 1998

COACH VIZSOLYI'S RESULTS AT THE U SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year	Location	Men	Women
1984	Toronto, ON	9th	13th
1985	St. Catharines, ON	4th	4th
1986	Quebec City, QC	4th	-
1987	Halifax, NS	3rd	-
1988	Toronto, ON	3rd	-
1989	Vancouver, BC	5th	-
1990	Sherbrooke, QC	7th	10th
1991	Halifax, NS	12th	12th
1992	Montreal, QC	-	4th
1993	Toronto, ON	n/a	n/a
1994	Victoria, BC	8th	3rd
1995	Quebec City, QC	n/a	n/a
1996	Guelph, ON	n/a	n/a
1997	St. Catharines, ON	11th	6th
1998	Sherbrooke, QC	8th	3rd
1999	Guelph, ON	4th	4th
2000	Guelph, ON	3rd	2nd
2001	Guelph, ON	5th	4th
2002	Vancouver, BC	3rd	5th
2003	Victoria, BC	4th	7th
2004	Toronto, ON	11th	8th
2005	Edmonton, AB	13th	6th
2006	Quebec City, QC	8th	8th
2007	Halifax, NS	12th	6th
2008	Vancouver, BC	9th	4th
2009	Vancouver, BC	8th	8th
2010	Toronto, ON	8th	11th
2011	Calgary, AB	5th	4th
2012	Montreal, QC	13th	15th
2013	Calgary, AB	4th	12th
2014	Toronto, ON	7th	13th
2015	Victoria, BC	8th	11th
2016	Quebec City, QC	8th	11th
2017	Sherbrooke, QC	7th	14th
2018	Toronto, ON	4th	5th
2019	Vancouver, BC	5th	5th
2020	Victoria, BC	6th	4th
2021	Cancelled due to COVID-19	-	-
2022	Quebec City, QC	6th	6th
2023	Victoria, BC	7th	6th