MEET OUR COACHES
Sunnyside Paddling Club has many diverse coaches with ample dragon boat and paddling experience. Check them out!
ANDREW LIEW
Hi! My name is Andrew Liew. I have been coaching dragon boat for over 14 years. I started off paddling at York Mills Collegiate, started a team at the U of T Scarborough and joined, then managed and coached a team of my graduates on a team called the Water Vipers. The last 3 years, in addition to paddling on my mixed team, I joined the Outer Harbor Warriors, the climax of which was paddling at the 2018 Club Crew World Championships where we medaled in 2 of 3 distances.
I love dragon boating because of the camaraderie of 20+ paddlers training towards a common goal. I love racing, but I love training even more, specifically that do be a good paddler you need to be strong but light which in general makes you look good, feel good and keeps you healthy. My philosophy as a coach is everything with purpose.
I own Afterburn Fitness a dragon boat centric fitness facility in Scarborough and am the general manager for Sunnyside Paddling Club. My certifications include a Dragon Boat Level II Coaching Certification. My favorite vices are Bubble Tea and All You Can Eat Sushi.
MELVIN SUEN
Hi there! My name is Melvin, and I'm here to help you take it away to victory! I provide a high energy and positive feedback approach to my coaching style and enjoys working with teams to break their personal bests on and off the boat.
I'm an avid dragon boater who first got introduced to the sport in high school, paddling and steering for Eric Hamber Eternal Dragons. Since then, I've paddled for New College and Liquid Premier. I bring over 10 of experience coaching high performance and recreational teams, including Bridgepoint Blazers, Bell Blue Dragons, Elementary Teachers of Toronto and Osler. I started Liquid Assets in 2008, and the team has grown to win multiple gold medals at Nationals and even represent Canada in the 2018 World Championships, bringing home two gold medals.
My qualifications include the DBC Level II certification program with Jim Farintosh in October 2018.
TERENCE YU
Hi! My name is Terence Yu, and I have over 8 years of paddling experience, and have been involved with the sport of dragon boat since 2010. I studied kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario, where I started paddling for the UWO Dragon boat team (Western Mustangs) in my first year. Since then, I developed a passion for the sport and advanced through the ranks, first becoming a dryland coach (2012-2013), then the team’s head strength and conditioning coach (2013-2014), and finally the current head coach since 2014.
Throughout the span of this time, I gained many athletic experiences, racing for the U24 Canadian National Team in Szeged, Hungary (2013) and in Welland, Canada (2015). I have also been paddling with the New Dragons Racing Club since 2013 and represented the club in Ravenna, Italy at the Club Crew World Championships (2014).
As I grew as a dragon boat paddler, I developed a passion for coaching and sharing my love of the sport to fellow paddlers, friends, and teammates. I decided to pursue my Masters degree (2016) at Western University in kinesiology, with a specialization in coaching. I gained hands-on experience with athletes from different sports in a weightroom setting, where I developed techniques to minimize risk of injury, reduce the stress that athletes were experiencing from the nature of their sports, and recovery methods to prevent further injury. As my final assignment, I wrote “Prioritize Long Term Health: Preventative Exercises for Dragon Boat Athletes” as a requirement to obtain my Masters degree.
I continue my love of coaching by sharing my knowledge of dragon boat and strength & conditioning. I have been a coach for multiple community teams, such as Community Wave (2017), University of Toronto Medicine Pacemakers (2017), and P&G (2017). I am currently a strength & conditioning coach at Afterburn Fitness (2016-present), the head coach for the University of Toronto Crimson Tide Dragon Boat Team (2017-present) and the head coach of Team Minekee (2019).
RICHARD SETO
Hey there! My name's Richard Seto, and this will be my second year coaching with Sunnyside. I've been paddling for the past four years and have loved every minute of it. I've paddled with Liquid Assets throughout my sporting career and will be paddling with Liquid Premier this upcoming season. I was fortunate enough to compete with Liquid in the 2018 Club Crew World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, and also had the chance to represent UofT at the 2017 World University Dragon Boat Invitational Race.
I'm always learning new things -both from some amazing mentors in the sport and through my personal growth as a paddler- and am excited to share that with the teams I'll be coaching to help them grow as well. My favorite thing about dragon boat is that I have the opportunity to do something competitive and fun with a bunch of people I consider my extended family. To me, dragon boat is all about building a community, and I have yet to find a sporting culture quite as wonderful as that in dragon boat.
I'm currently a PTS certified personal trainer and completing my second year in Chiropractic College, so I hope to bring some of my knowledge from other aspects of my life into dragon boat! What a lot of people don't know about me is that my primary competitive sport up until two years ago was curling, so if you're ever looking for something fun to do during the winter, hit me up!
MICHELLE NG
Hi! My name is Michelle and I am very excited to be coaching at Sunnyside for a second year. I became involved in dragonboat since last year, where I trained with Rotman Commerce Liquid Assets, and steered for their LAdies team. During that summer, I also served as a coach for teams such as Wild Chicks, OPS UnCivil Dragons, and Bell Blue Dragons. Currently, I am training as a paddler for the upcoming season with Liquid Premier. My qualifications include Level I - Introduction to Safe Steering; Standard First-Aid and CPR B.
In addition to coaching, I am the Assistant Manager at Afterburn Fitness, which is home to many paddlers during the off-season. I am also the Customer Service Representative at Sunnyside Paddling Club, so please bring any feedback, questions, or concerns to me!
Through my experiences as a steer, a paddler, and my positions at Afterburn & Sunnyside, I have developed a huge appreciation for dragonboat and its community. This is a sport that pushes you out of your comfort zone, whether it be in the gym through PRs, or voicing your perscpective to a team of 20 super strong people. The dragonboat community is composed of people from so many different walks of life, and I am truly thankful to be able to work within the midst of it all.
I completed my undergrad at the University of Toronto Scarborough, specializing in Neuroscience, and I am looking forward to attending George Brown this fall for Orthotics and Prosthetics. I love making (and eating) desserts, and experimenting with different bubble tea recipes.
GHINA SEWAIDI
For me, dragonboating started after the Island race in 2007 with a community team. Following that race, I realized that paddling was something that I truly enjoyed. The first paddling team I joined was out of Sunnyside. Today, my home team is CSDC (paddler and steersperson). I took part in Club Crews and Pan Am events over the years. In 2017, I was a member of Team Canada (Senior B Women) in Kunming, China. I also volunteer my time steering at community events and festivals.
It is very important for any team to determine its' goal at the outset and steadily progress towards that goal with a solid and strong foundation, understanding the technical aspects of the stroke, fitness, creating an all-inclusive environment, accommodating different learning styles, learning from experience as well as never hesitating to always go back to basics are all factors that complement each other and lead to success. Each athlete has a quality that they can excel at, and it is very important to develop what one is good at with coaching, guidance and listening. After all, every single seat on a dragon boat is important and no one seat is more important than the other. We must not forget however to always add some fun to any training.
My certifications include the DBC Level I Coaching Certificate.
Pending Profiles:
LOUIS LOW
BILLY KOT
TAYLOR POTTS
MARK JACKSON
TED YUEN
GABRIEL BEAUCHESNE-SEVIGNY