Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Lance graduated from high school in Nanaimo in 1986. He moved to Vancouver in the late 80s where, still a teenager, he began competing in the sport of triathlon with some success. Triathlon was still in its pioneer years and there were few coaches available. Lance identified an early need for creating a structured training environment and so began coaching during the late 80s.

Lance attended the University of British Columbia in the early 1990s and graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics, all the while being mentored as an Assistant Coach of Track and Cross Country at the University. This early high performance coaching experience helped Lance model a framework for coaching his own triathlon training team, which was having increasing success.

In the mid- to late-90s, Lance independently led his professional athletes on competition tours throughout Europe and Australia and started placing athletes on podiums internationally. Triathlon was included into the Olympic Program for the first time in 2000 so, early that year, Lance moved to Victoria to help found Canada’s National Triathlon Centre. There he was named the Centre’s Head Coach, and co-authored Triathlon's first ever Level IV Coaching Certification Diploma at the National Coaching Institute.

2000 was a milestone year for Lance as he coached Victoria’s Simon Whitfield to capture the first ever Olympic Gold Medal in triathlon. That same year, he coached three different athletes to Ironman victories, including Canadian triathlon legend Lisa Bentley, who went on to win an impressive 11 titles.

Continuing his legacy of excellence within the Victoria community, Lance has coached locally-based triathlete Brent McMahon for his entire career of more than 25 years – a career that includes medals at World Junior Championships, representing Canada at two Olympic Games (Athens 2004, London 2012) and winning four Ironman titles while setting record times. Lance also coached Victoria athlete Matt Sharpe to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

Throughout his career, Lance has placed athletes on podiums at every major Triathlon World Championship including Ironman, Ironman 70.3, and World Triathlon Series (formerly ITU). As of 2022, he has coached Canadian athletes to five Olympic Games and over 50 World Championships.

Lance has coached Canadian National Teams to Gold medals at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. He was Triathlon Canada’s “Coach of the Year” for five consecutive years and was inducted into the Triathlon Canada Hall of Fame in 2015. Lance is one of only four Ironman Master Coaches worldwide. Based in Victoria, he continues to coach world-class athletes while concurrently pursuing his career as a coaching educator through his personal business and as a co-creator of Ironman U, a global coaching education platform for Ironman.

Peter Lawless

Peter Lawless

Peter Lawless

Peter has devoted his life to the Olympic and Paralympic movements, helping athletes realize their potential and achieve their dreams. As an athlete, a Chartered Professional Coach and administrator, Peter believes in the power of sport to change lives.
 
Working with athletes and coaches at every level from grassroots to high performance, Peter is one of the most respected coaches in Canadian sport. He is a four-time winner of the National Coaching Excellence Award, was twice selected BC’s “Coach of the Year” (2012, 2016) and is a recipient of BC’s Medal of Good Citizenship and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
 
Peter’s love for sport began when he learned to sail with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, becoming an instructor and coach in 1985. Moving to Victoria for university, he found a summer job as the Head Instructor of the Disabled Sailing Association. Recruited to be the Provincial Coach for para-athletics, he attended the National Coaching Institute, becoming one of the first two coaches to obtain NCCP level 4 certification in Wheelchair Athletics.
 
A coach with Team BC in the 1990s at both the Western Canada Games and Canada Games, Peter was soon coaching athletes on the national team. The 2002 World Championships began a remarkable streak where Peter’s wheelchair athletes competed at every Paralympic Games and World Championships for 15 consecutive years, winning more than 21 World Championship medals and six Paralympic Games medals (including five Gold). His Victoria-based training group produced several Paralympians including Karen March, Teri Thorson, Alan Bergman and Michelle Stilwell. In addition to winning medals, his athletes broke over 28 World Records.
 
Peter also excels with para-cycling, coaching Mark Ledo to successive Bronze medals at the 2010 and 2011 Para-cycling World Championships and 2012 Paralympic Games, and Karen March to the overall World Cup Championship title in 2011. His athletes have won numerous World Cup medals and national championships. Peter has also coached able-bodied athletes including a World Tour pro.
 
Peter was a member of several Canadian Invictus Games Teams, including being Canada’s Head Coach, and led the bid to bring the Invictus Games to Victoria. He has been deeply engaged in sport at every level for over 30 years, with a decade on the Canadian Olympic Committee Board including six years as Vice President, and serving on the Boards of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Cycling Canada, ViaSport, Cycling BC, Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, and PacificSport. Locally, he was the founding president of the Tripleshot Cycling Club.
 
Professionally, Peter is a highly respected lawyer publishing articles on harassment and morality in sport and teaching post-secondary courses in sport law and ethics in sport. He has acted for organizations, athletes and coaches involved in various sport disputes and argued before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. Peter has served as Ombudsperson for the Canadian Paralympic Team and is an arbitrator for the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.
 
SPONSORED BY PISE (PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR SPORT EXCELLENCE)

saveonABOUT THE GREATER VICTORIA
SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Victoria enjoys a stellar sports history and we celebrate the many athletes, teams and builders who have contributed to that history.  Our displays are seen at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (1925 Blanshard St.)  through Gate Three.

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