By Tom Peters

Mikayla Tyrrell didn’t really see herself with a career in coaching. But the 29-year-old wasn’t long in turning a part-time job into a full-time head coaching position with the Dartmouth Crusaders Swim Club.  

Her initial move to coaching was prompted by some volunteer work with swim teams and during her first year at Dalhousie University (kinesiology), “I was looking for a part-time job. I looked into the Halifax Trojans and they had space available so I started coaching from there. I didn’t really see it as my career but I just enjoyed it,” she said. 

Mikayla took her enjoyment of coaching to her hometown of Barrie, Ont., where she served as a registered kinesiologist, simultaneously coaching senior athletes with the Barrie Trojans. While in Ontario, she played a pivotal role in advancing para swimming, orchestrating regional and provincial training camps. 

Now in her second year as the Dartmouth Crusaders head coach, she has added to her growing portfolio having been chosen by Swimming Canada in 2024, along with four other female coaches, to attend the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary. According to the national body, the initiative was aimed at elevating “coaching strategies through mentorship, race analysis and immersive learning.” 

Her selection by Swimming Canada to be involved in this high-level program came as a “pleasant surprise,” Tyrrell said.  

“It was the first time I had an opportunity of that magnitude. I am still quite young to be a head coach so to be given the opportunity was a really big deal.” 

It was a big deal for the Crusaders as well. 

“The Crusaders are very proud of Mikayla being named as one of just five female coaches across Canada for Swimming Canada’s Women in Coaching Project,” said Crusaders president Jody Crowther. 

“Since she took over as head coach at the start of the 2023-2024 season, she has brought lots of energy and new ideas implementing her vision for the club. She is actively engaged with swimmers from all levels of the club and her strong kinesiology background emphasizes long-term athletic development, pushing our swimmers to attain the highest levels of performance but making certain it is done in a measured way protecting against injury. We look forward to what her experience with the Swimming Canada initiative will bring to the Crusaders.” 

There were many highs for Tyrrell at the world championships. Six world records were broken on her first day plus she witnessed a swimmer go under 20 seconds in the 50-metre freestyle “which was the first time it ever happened. That was pretty crazy,” she said. 

“In terms of learning, I was there with a group of women and we had a couple of mentor coaches. We shadowed Team Canada and other teams, like Team Australia,” she said, which gave her the opportunity to talk to other coaches.  

It was also an opportunity to see how the athletes prepared for the largest competitions from when they arrived on deck to how they interacted with their support staff, their warmups and going into the competition. 

Tyrrell explained that the top athletes do similar preparations as her swimmers but on a much larger scale noting how the top performers hit their peak speeds in warmups. 

However, she feels younger athletes shy away from that to save their energy for their race. “But it is important to know you are able to race that speed on (race) day,” she said. 

Coaching young athletes can be a delecate balance, often a combination of competition and enjoyment. 

It is important to remember for most kids they are coming for an extracurricular (activity) and they are there because they want to have fun and that is the underlying message,” said Tyrrell.  

However, she said her “ultimate goal as a coach when working with swimmers is to encourage them to be active for life. I hope to facilitate longevity not just within the sport of swimming but an active lifestyle. I coach to each individual swimmer and try to understand them as a whole person, not just the aspects that are seen in training and competition.” 

Tyrrell noted that “each athlete has individual goals that I ultimately try to help facilitate. Personally, I would like to see the DCSC become more competitive at a national level and to have swimmers named to international travel teams and represent Team Canada.” 

She has a personal goal of coaching at an international level. 

But, she says, it is very satisfying as a coach when an athlete realizes they have attained a goal within their training. She calls it “the light bulb effect moment,” or an athlete’s moment of achievement.