Vlastimil 'Vlastik' Cerny enters his 32nd season as head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons swimming program in 2024-25. He has been the Swim Manitoba Coach of the Year in four different decades and has trained swimmers that have represented Manitoba at every level of major international competition.Â
Cerny’s most recent accolade at the university level came in 2019-20, when he was named the Bisons’ Coach of the Year. Manitoba won seven medals at the Canada West championships that season. He was also the 2020 U SPORTS Coach of the Year in Women’s Swimming after fourth-year Kelsey Wog – a national team member – took home four gold medals at U SPORTS nationals. On the men’s side, Anthony Iliouchetchev claimed a silver in the 50-metre freestyle, his first-ever medal at the event.
Cerny – who’s NCCP Level 4 certified – is a reliable coach and well-respected mentor who has helped numerous athletes reach their Olympic dreams, including Michele Lischinsky and Rhiannon Leier-Blacher, who both represented Manitoba at the 2000 summer games in Australia. Cerny is a national team alum himself, having been a member with the Czech Republic (1977-82) and Canada (1983-89), where he specialized in the butterfly and freestyle. He’s a former national record holder for both countries, was a finalist for the European championships and also claimed silver in the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Games.
Additionally, Cerny is a former head coach of the National Swim Centre and has been a personal coach at the Pan Pacific and Commonwealth Games, as well as the World Championships. He’s also been a staff coach multiple times at the Olympics, including in 2004, where he was selected as the top performing coach.
Native to the Czech Republic, Cerny has spent most of his life around the sport of swimming. He started swimming at the age of seven and continued his competitive career until the age of 30. In 1991, he started coaching full-time as an assistant coach with Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club and in 1993 he began as head coach for UM. His other hobbies include playing ice hockey, as well as following the stock market.
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