Eric Laitinen
Head Coach
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Eric Laitinen spent a
great deal of time at the Canby Swim Center as a child. He
joined the Canby Gators swim team when he was 12 years-old and
continued to participate until he was 25.
Eric also was a
member of the Canby High School team for three years and he went on
to be the first Canby Gator to swim in college. He swam at
Portland Community College for one year and Linfield College for 3
years.
Eric and his wife Heidi live in
Canby with their six boys &
a girl (Leif, Hans, Bjorn, Thor, Kai, Mara & Ari). The five older boys are equally at home on land as they
are in their pool, give Mara and Ari a couple more
years.
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 Eric
works full time at the Canby Swim Center, and has been the
Aquatic Program Manager since 1991. (Eric’s first job was as
a swim instructor at the Canby Swim Center when he was 14
years-old).
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| Eric Laitinen’s Coaching
Career
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Canby Swim Club - 1987
North Marion High School
Coach 1991-1997
Canby High School Coach 01-02 and
05-08
Canby Gators assistant coach
1995-1998
Canby Gators Head Coach
1998-Present
Gator Team Accomplishments include:
Annual Top 10
finisher at state meets
Annually place swimmers on
all-star and zone teams
State Champions and State Record
Holders
Zone Qualifiers and Zone
Champions
Age Group top 16 swimmers
US Open qualifiers
Age group Sectional
Champions
Sr. Regional/sectional
finalists
10+ swimmers have gone on to swim at college
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David Biskar
Assistant Coach
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David Biskar has been
involved with swimming for most of his life, from a stint with
his local swim team in Maryland to several years on the triathlon
circuit including the Ironman championship in Kona. He
coached the Canby High School team from 1988-2005 and has been on
the Gator staff since 2000.
David is the Facility Manager at the Canby Swim Center and he
lives in Mulino with his wife Carole and two dogs. His son
Jake attends Oregon State University.
Nathan Templeman
Assistant Coach
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Nathan has been working in Aquatics since 1988 and coaching
since 1991. He has coached athletes across a wide range of
age and competitive levels from novice youth to NCAA conference
champions to USAT Age-Group
All-Americans. He is certified ASCA Level 3
and has completed coursework through level
5.
Nathan lives in Portland
with his wife Melanie and two kids Rose and Terron.
Karri-ann E Benthin
Assistant Coach
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Karri-Ann swam for the Canby Gators for ten years and then swam
for Oregon State University for two years. After her
sophomore year of college she came back to coach with the Gators
for a summer. In September 2009, she started coaching with
the Corvallis Aquatic Team and coached there for two years.
Karri-Ann graduated from Oregon State with a degree in Early
Childhood Education.
In addition to coaching, she is the owner and head teacher at
Colton Community Preschool. She loves to swim, run, compete in
triathlons and spend time outdoors.
