Keith Iwasaki - Run Coach
In 2000, a running friend suggested that, if Keith was looking to do something beyond running marathons, he should give triathlon a try and that the Pacific Spirit Triathlon Club might be a good way for him to ease into the sport. The rest, as they say, is history. Keith has participated in distances from sprint to Ironman, with his favourite race probably being Escape from Alcatraz.
Since joining Pacific Spirit, Keith has served on the Board of Directors as both Run Director and Vice President. He was also a run leader prior to taking on the role of coach for the Tuesday night track sessions. He has also served as Secretary for Triathlon British Columbia since 2005, and currently officiates races at the local, national and international level.
Kevin Eck - Bike Coach
After finishing his basketball career at Queen's University, Kevin was looking for an outlet that didn't require 10 people and a gym for exercise. After watching a friend compete in Kona, Kevin signed up and finished his first Ironman in Canada in 2003. Florida, Arizona (twice), Louisville and Mont Tremblant races followed in subsequent years.
Kevin prefers cycling and swimming to running and can be found leading bike groups and teaching club spin classes with Cendrix Bouchard in the off season. He has been a club member for the past eight years, served on the Board for the past six years and enjoys giving back to triathlon through helping others enjoy this great sport.
Laura Thompson - Swim Coach
Laura grew up in Port Perry, ON, spending her summers racing Kids of Steel triathlons and winters in a swimming pool or on a volleyball court. As she grew up, swimming became her main sport and earned her a scholarship to compete for the UBC Thunderbirds swim team. In total she competed at the national level for eight years and captained the T-birds to three National championship titles. Near the end of her swimming career, she started coaching competitive swimming to adults and children. She was a group and head coach of the Vancouver Vikings summer swim club from 2012-2016 where she completed her NCCP Level 1- Swimming Fundamentals course. Her adult coaching experience has been with Vancouver’s Fastlane swim program, Bjorn Ossenbrink’s Multisport Science club, and several private clients.
Laura incorporates her experiences from triathlon and competitive swimming to write unique practices that work on fundamentals, drills, and interval training. Since retiring from competitive swimming in 2014 she switched back to running, biking and swimming and represented Canada at the 2014 Age Group World Triathlon Championships (Sprint) and finished her first Ironman in 2019
Les Pereira - Swim Coach
Les Pereira knows a thing or two about triathlon! Since 1998, he has completed 4 Ironman and 18 Half Ironman races.
Les has been a swim instructor and lifeguard since 1980 and has studied with and under many swimming luminaries such as Karlyn Pipes and Sheila Taormina. He is also an NCCP Certified Competition Coach. Les is passionate about developing triathletes. He knows what a triathlete needs and designs the training sessions around building for race season and providing skills and practices geared for triathletes.
Les currently serves on the board of Triathlon Canada. He was the President of TriBC from 2008 to 2012 and was the Coaching Director for three years prior to that. He has also helped pilot the TriBC Competition Stream and the Community Coaches program. He has been involved with Pacific Spirit Triathlon Club since 2000. He was a bike leader from 2000 to 2014, was the Bike Director for two years, served as Past President in 2004 and has been a Swim Coach since 2005.