Swimming Canada exec Hahto named director of summer sport for Own the Podium

OTTAWA – It will be a busy spring for Own the Podium’s new director of summer sport.

Mark Hahto has just three months to get up to speed on his new position before the start of the London Olympics. Hahto, who spent the last five years as Swimming Canada’s chief operating officer, was named to the position Monday by OTP.

“I think that my learning curve and the amount of research that I’ve got to do in the next little while is going to be really quite high but I’m ecstatic about the opportunity,” Hahto said in an interview.

Hahto, who begins his new position June 1, will fill a vacancy that was created last January when Anne Merklinger was named OTP’s chief executive officer.

He plans to immerse himself in the summer high-performance culture while working with OTP advisers, technical specialists, Sport Canada and national sport governing bodies. While plans for London are essentially already in place, Hahto will soak up everything he can this year with an eye to the 2016 Games in Rio.

“I’m really trying to develop some great relations and trust amongst the various sports so that when we actually leave London, we’re actually leaving running and we know exactly what we need to do,” Hahto said. “I think that if I can accelerate that process, it’s only going to lead us to better performances by the time we get to Rio.”

Hahto will also bring funding recommendations to the senior management team, lead annual reviews, and develop new policies and programs designed to achieve excellence at the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.

Before joining Swimming Canada, he served as executive director of Swim B.C. after spending over 20 years in a variety of coaching roles with swimmers from across the country.

“Mark is an exceptional talent whose background in working with elite athletes, business acumen and strategic leadership skills bring immense value to Own the Podium as we continue to deliver the resources Canadian athletes need to excel against the world’s best,” Merklinger said in a release.

“Mark will be counted on to play an integral role in developing the critical relationships required for Canada’s summer sport organizations, coaches and athletes, to develop more podium performers.”

OTP oversees many aspects of an elite athlete’s life in between Olympic Games and works in concert with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Hahto played a lead role in Swimming Canada’s development and implementation of its Vision 2020 strategic plan. Its mandate is to be among the top-six medal producing swimming nations at both the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We are very excited for Mark in his new venture. He will be dearly missed at Swimming Canada, but our loss is a tremendous gain to the whole sporting community,” said Swimming Canada CEO Pierre Lafontaine. “When Canada wins, swimming wins.”

OTP was established five years out from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. It was a $117-million plan designed to help Canadian athletes win more medals than any other country at their own Games.

Canada finished third in the overall medal count but won the most gold at 14, which was a record for a single Winter Games. Canada also won 19 medals, including 10 gold, in the Paralympic Games.

Not so strong in summer sport, Canada’s goal for London is more modest. It is to finish among the top-12 countries in overall medals and among the top eight in the gold medals at the Paralympics.

Merklinger was OTP’s director of summer sport under former CEO Alex Baumann, who stepped down Oct. 1 to take a similar position in the New Zealand sport system.