Dustin Heise 0:00

Suzanne, thanks so much for taking some time today. I know that with so many moving parts right now, especially for you with swimming and summer sport and you know, head competition right in front of us, the 2028 games right in front of you, just getting any time together and and knowing that, you know, you and I as colleagues, as co-chairs on the winter respectively, and summer caucus on your side, you know, we get to spend more and more time together. So I'm super grateful for this and thank you for that.

Suzanne Paulins 0:27

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Dustin Heise 0:28

Yeah, I really appreciate it. Today's guest is Suzanne Pollen, CEO of Swimming Canada, where she's helping shape the future of one of the country's most successful Olympic sports, from grassroots swimming to national leadership. She's built a career focused on athlete development, community, creating stronger sports systems across Canada and far beyond. Thanks so much, Suzanne. Looking forward to a great chat today.

Suzanne Paulins 0:49

Yeah, me too.

Dustin Heise 0:50

Well, just to kick it off, I mean, you started swimming and as a parent volunteer and now lead Swimming Canada. And it's been really cool to see your growth, your trajectory, getting to know you as a leader and just the leader that you are and the way that I see you show up. It's so warm and so inviting and you know, just so inclusive. And I'm excited to just hear like swimming's been both deeply individual, obviously, for you, but also it's an individual sport, but it's an incredibly team sport sport as well. Do you mind just sharing a little bit about the culture that comes from that team environment and how you guys continue to build that within the organization, both you know, in the pool, but also in the company itself as well?

Suzanne Paulins 1:33

So I think for me, I think generally we're better and we're stronger when we work together. So whether we think about that in the high performance environment with the way that we work with our athletes, if I think about it the way that I work with our high performance athletes council, the way we work with our provincial sections, it's all part of that team. And we are kind of driving toward that similar goals. We have those shared purpose, really. And so I think it's about that collaboration, it's about communication, meaningful feedback. I'm a big one on feedback, and so creating that feedback-rich environment's really important to me, and giving space to hear and consider other perspectives. And so when I think about all of those groups that I mentioned, it's understanding people come in with a different lived experience, different perspective, and giving space for that, but knowing that we're all going in the same direction, but we all may have different ways of getting there. And using those shared experiences, I think just helps us move forward together faster, better, stronger.

Dustin Heise 2:40

What has been your most uh successful way to garner that feedback? How have you been able to capture that both in person, online, or how have you been able to realize that and get it where you know it's you know good quality, honest feedback, unfiltered?

Suzanne Paulins 2:56

Unfiltered. Yeah. It's a work in progress. I think you know, my previous career, I worked for BMO, Bank of Montreal, for 20 years. And so it's a very different environment coming from corporate into sport. And so I noticed quite a difference when I made that shift nine years ago. And it's funny because high performance sport working with athletes, feedback is always being given to athletes. But it it hasn't been as rich and as flowing back up, like internally within staff, through whether it's performance reviews in the moment, but creating space for it. And so for myself, it's this open door, so to speak, but I'm always asking for feedback. So every meeting, it's okay, what did you like about it? What didn't you like about it? How could we have done this differently? How do you want to engage differently? And always asking that question and always being willing to listen to the answer, I think, is really important. And that's just been the way I've I've kind of built my career is in that space.

Dustin Heise 4:01

Super obvious and evident that you know you've come from really good systems and you're trying to invest and implement those systems. You've spoken a lot about accessibility and infrastructure as well. You know, why do you believe sports systems matter so much beyond elite sport? You know, how do we ensure that we can keep growing that together as an ecosystem? But how are you doing that in swimming as that vehicle?

Suzanne Paulins 4:23

I think it that's such a great question. And when we think about it, and we've heard a lot over the last several weeks with the investment in sport, but without grassroots and accessible sport, there isn't elite performance. We can't have high performance without that grassroot. And so I think I was fortunate to come from a club system. So being able to see that club system and understand and recognize the ability of a local club to impact the community is enormous. And so when we think about accessibility in my community for an indigenous community, for paraathletes to learn, grow, and be part of sport and be part of a club. I come from a community of population about 100,000. And we've had Olympians and Paralympians as part of our club. We've grown and developed not just the athletes, but the coaches and the officials, because that's part of the system. And if you don't also focus on that, it has to be part of the whole. And so I think when you think about it in that way, the systemic part of it, going right down to the club level and the athlete, the coach, the official, the parent volunteers, that base is crucial in order to get to elite. And without it, you can't get there.

Dustin Heise 5:41

Absolutely. Now I know you're a massive advocate for ensuring that there's access to, you know, being able to hit water and get into water and access pools and whatnot. What are you guys doing from uh marketing comms, you know, trying to get into communities across the nation on, you know, how to just even come and try, you know, swimming or things of that nature in the competitive stream or learn to participate in swimming?

Suzanne Paulins 6:03

We've had a couple of different campaigns and initiatives that we've done. We've had marketing campaigns, why not swimming, and that we've put out in our communities that are provincial sections then will highlight and push out. The challenge that we have right now is pool infrastructure, and some of our clubs are at capacity, and so they have wait lists. So that's another side of this when we think about the capacity side. But other areas that we've engaged and invested in, we had a campaign that was supported through Bell called uh Swim to Survive, where during our trials, we brought in underserved community population from a school system. We worked in partnership with Life Saving Society, brought these kids in, exposed them to sessions on swim to survive. Like if you fall in, how are you going to survive? And then those kids stayed and watched a session of trials. So that is, you know, from a national perspective, that's one of the things. But then pro provinces and clubs are equally doing things within their communities to do that. In my local community, we'd have a school swim meet every year, grade four to six, and the schools that wanted to participate. The kids would come in, we'd put the big score clock up, they'd race, they'd get an experience, they'd go home with a certificate. And so there are a lot of those pieces that happen within our club system and through our provinces across the country.

Dustin Heise 7:29

That's brilliant. No doubt that's going to save a lot of lives, but also get a lot of lives impacted to be able to learn to swim and just get active in general. And, you know, we both are huge advocates for that.

Suzanne Paulins 7:39

Definitely.

Dustin Heise 7:39

Leadership is often, you know, means balancing athletes, coaches, parents, partners, sponsors. What's been the hardest lesson, you know, in leading through that complexity for you for our colleagues to continue to learn and grow as we as we build each other up?

Suzanne Paulins 7:56

I think leaning into the different perspectives is really so important and ensuring you're giving that time and space to listening. You know, I think the hardest lesson and also the easiest at the same time through a complexity is understanding what's the why. And if you know the why and what you're doing, why you're doing it, it makes complexity and moving through something easier. And when you lose the why, that's when you're really going to have those hard challenges. And for me, I think one of the biggest complexities that we had was in 2024, ahead of our Olympic and Paralympic trials that were scheduled to be in Montreal in early uh April. There was a fire at the pool. Uh it was early May. Fire at the pool, the end of March. They closed the facility, and we still needed to host an Olympic and Paralympic trials six weeks later, actually, less than six weeks later. And so we were initially looking at it. It had obviously was set to be in Montreal. We wanted to try and keep it in Montreal and Quebec because everybody had had booked flights, like flights were booked, hotels were booked, contracts had been signed. And so we were really looking initially and having conversations with the coaches, with our local organizing committee about keeping that event in Montreal. Then I talked to the athletes. And when we met with the athletes, it was the athletes were, no, we can't keep it in Montreal. It has to go to Toronto because we're talking about making an Olympic and a Paralympic team. You need to set us up for the best possible opportunity to make that team, given this the high qualifying standards. Absolutely. We have to be in the best facility to be able to do that. And that's Toronto. And so we made the pivot and we moved an entire trials in six weeks to be in Toronto.

Dustin Heise 9:44

Monumental. Absolutely monumental. And you know, congrats on that. But also thanks for modeling again what it needs to look like when you reach out to the athlete, the stakeholder that matters most in all of this. And then, you know, being able to see, you know, the impact that that has and then build the story and the narrative around what an enormous amount of work that would have been to pull off. But, you know, so worth it in the long run. And then, of course, you know, you guys had incredible success heading into and out of those games as well. So, you know, it's uh speaks for itself.

Suzanne Paulins 10:15

Yeah.

Dustin Heise 10:16

You helped guide Swimming Canada through, you know, those challenges, through ongoing growth, change. How do you keep people connected to that bigger purpose and that why during these pressure-filled moments?

Suzanne Paulins 10:26

Yeah, I think it's the communication and everything that happens before the pressure-filled moments come. So when we think about the why and constantly being centered to that why, I'm always talking about that. And so, you know, when I, you know, with staff with our board, I send out a from Suzanne's desk every couple of months that kind of gives them a theme or a sense of what's on my desk and what am I working on and what does it look like so that they feel more connected to it. So that's one tactic I use. Our athlete council and uh really great engagement with our athletes council is another space. And we have, as part of our high performance athlete council, we're doing a leadership series. So we've contracted with an external vendor to come in and provide our athlete council with leadership training, with kind of building up their scope for what could come next. Because I think everything that you do before you hit the pressure-filled moment allows for better connection, better communication when you're in those pressure-filled moments. You've already built the trust, you've built the communication. And now it's okay, now we're in this pressure cooker, but you've done all the work to be able to manage through it. And when something comes, there's a belief and a trust that you're gonna get through it together because of the work and the groundwork that you've laid.

Dustin Heise 11:48

That's incredible. Can I just bring it back to like how you've used the why within a series of other stakeholder groups as well? Are you tying a consistent why for the entire ecosystem together? Or are you also seeking their why and finding that middle ground and that bridge to a mutual why? Or how are you building that out? Or can I just dig into that a little bit? Because my mind goes in a few different places and I and I love all perspectives of that. I don't think there's a right or wrong. I just seeking what's your version of that?

Suzanne Paulins 12:17

Yeah, that's a really good question. And I would say, you know, the organization is is definitely guided by its strategic plan and the mission, the vision, the values that are are encapsulated in there. And so as a guiding document, that should be the why of the organization. And everything needs to funnel in through that. When I speak about my why with the athletes, with my board, with coaches, with officials, my why has always been my kids. And I'm quite unapologetic about that one. That, you know, I had three swimmers, they all came through the sport. They're my why. And they have been teammates of a lot of the current as well as former team, our national team. And so by extension, my kids, it's all of their teammates, their competitors, their fellow competitors, they're my why. And I have stated that in meetings, world meetings. Everybody knows that one. And so it's likely very much the mom side of me, back to how does this when mom from Brantford end up to be a CEO. But it is a guiding principle for me, and it's my why.

Dustin Heise 13:28

That's so awesome. Hence, you know, the values that are so foundational and the character that you're able to live by. And it's it's evident, I think, that the why for just overlaying that on, you know, some of the day-to-day on our side, you know, certainly it's absolutely about the athletes. And in the day, that's our big difference maker. That's that's what defines us for sure. And how we help make sure that, you know, at each of the provincial territorial snowboard associations or sport organizations, you know, align and how do we support their why through ours and you know, that cascading up. And then each of the stakeholders that you just mentioned, and I definitely resonate with the the uh our family why and uh that deep connection to why you're willing to dig so deep all the time. And uh appreciate that. When you think about the future of Canadian sport, what gives you the most hope right now?

Suzanne Paulins 14:13

I think it's the people. I I mean, I I definitely look at the people, the amazing individuals, and I think, you know, the athletes, coaches, officials, provincial section staff, volunteers, you know, swimming Canada staff, the board, but knowing that that exists in our sport, but in every sport across Canada right now. And, you know, I see it in the interactions I have with you, with all of our NSO colleagues, how much care there is and passion about our sports as a whole in Canada. And I think, you know, this collective belief, and we've heard this language recently, that sport in Canada is nation building. And we can see it in every sporting community right now from coast to coast. And it comes back to the people. And so I think the most hope is about the people, the athletes that are going to be future leaders within the sport, the parents that are working, you know, with their local clubs, the provinces. It's the people that I think is the future. And it is that belief that sport in Canada is nation-building because we live it every day.

Dustin Heise 15:18

Well, and you're spot on, you know what, Suzanne, that's what a better way to wrap it up around it's all about the people. And absolutely, sport is the most nation building opportunity we have here in Canada. And the leadership that you continue to provide with swimming and the enormous impact that you will continue to have, you know, we can't thank you enough. And uh thanks for taking some time today. This was awesome.

Suzanne Paulins 15:41

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. It's been a great chat.