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 five boys
& a girl (Leif, Hans, Bjorn, Thor, Kai &
Mara). All the boys are equally at home on land as
they are in their pool, give Mara 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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I have been working in Aquatics since 1988 and coaching since
1991. My travels have taken me around the world and allowed
me to coach athletes across a wide range of age and competitive
levels from novice youth to NCAA conference champions to USAT
Age-Group All-Americans.
My goal is to create "natural swimmers" by focusing on breath
control, balance, sculling and rhythm. There is no "garbage
yardage" in my program. I want my athletes to develop
technically correct motor pathways without resorting to the
survival swimming that is all too common across the swimming
community.
Nathan lives in Portland
with his wife Melanie and two kids Rose and Terron.
