Meng Chen has been named the new head coach of the Greek national artistic swimming team, as announced by the Hellenic Swimming Federation (KOE) on October 15.

Meng Chen comes into the position with over 20 years of experience as a coach, most notably in Canada. She was part of the Canadian national team coaching staff from 2008 to 2017, starting in the junior team before moving on to the senior squad.

Chen was one of Canada’s three coaches at the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2011 Pan American Games, as well as the 2009 and 2011 World Championships. In October 2012, she was named the new senior national team head coach, succeeding the late Julie Sauvé in the role.

 

Chen worked through the following Olympic cycle, leading Canada’s duet to a seventh-place finish at the Rio Games in 2016. She also coached the team to first place at the 2015 Pan American Games, a year after overseeing a gold medal in the figure event and a silver medal in solo for Jacqueline Simoneau at the 2014 World Junior Championships.

Since 2018, she had been working at the Pacific Wave Artistic Swim Club in Richmond, near Vancouver, as head coach and technical director. Over the last few years, she also occasionally collaborated with the Spanish national team, participating in the development of acrobatics.

Born in China, Chen was a member of the Chinese national team at the 2001 World Championships. Before coming to Canada, she was head coach of the Malaysian national team for four years.

In Greece, she replaces Anastasia Goutseva, who left after three years in the role to return to Singapore as national artistic swimming high-performance director.

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET

Cover photo: Pacific Wave Artistic Swim Club

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