Ryan Clouston enters his second year as the head coach of the Vikes swimming program in 2025-26 following 14 seasons as the Vikes' assistant coach.
Over the past decade, Clouston has been instrumental in the program's growth and, in 2020, took on the primary responsibility for the Vikes' day-to-day programming. Together with former head coach Peter Vizsolyi, the Vikes have won 56 medals at the U SPORTS championships, and have finished as high as fourth place as a team on both the men's and women's sides since Clouston joined the coaching staff in 2010.
Beginning his swim career at the age of 10, the Winnipeg, Man. native continued to swim competitively until the age of 18 when he joined the Vikes swim team. Clouston's varsity swimming career spanned five years at UVic, and he posted his best finish at the 2008 CIS (now U SPORTS) Championships, where he finished 7th in the 400 IM. Following his career as a student-athlete, Clouston retired from competitive swimming.
Clouston has worked closely with Ron Jacks of Pacific Coast Swimming as an assistant coach and is a qualified NCCP Fundamentals coach. In 2013, Clouston received a grant from the Canadian Swimming Coaches & Teachers Association (CSCTA) that enabled him to coach at various international open-water swim competitions during the summer.
Clouston has also coached Canada's open water team for the past two years at the World Aquatics Championships, most recently coaching Team Canada at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Clouston holds a Bachelor of Physics and Master of Ocean Science, both from the University of Victoria.
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