When he was young, Greg Arkhurst once told his white mother he liked her being close to him so he would feel more accepted by people.
“She cried and laughed at the same time,” said Arkhurst, head coach of Montreal’s CAMO club who is the first Black coach named to a Swimming Canada Olympic team staff.
“She told me people are going to accept you because you have a good education, they are going to accept you because you cooperate. They’re going to accept you because you’re a hard worker.”
Arkhurst has travelled a path from swimming in a lagoon in his native Ivory Coast to competing at two Olympics, emigrating to Canada and being appointed head coach of one of the country’s top swim clubs.
The barriers and discrimination he’s faced have moulded him into the person he is today.
“For me it’s a fuel,” said the 48-year-old. “There are people who don’t like Black people or immigrant people. I don’t care honesty. It shapes you. I’m proud of where I’m from. I’m proud of my history.
“Having the opportunity to go through so many different experiences in life helped me be the man I am and connect with the athletes (to tell them) to be resilient. It shaped me because I never had anything easy.”
Being named to Swimming Canda’s Olympic coaching staff for Paris is both an honor and an acknowledgement of what he’s accomplished.
“Climbing the ladder like I did in my career . . . I’m extremely proud,” he said. “I know just a few coaches who were able to get there. It’s an honor for me.”
He doesn’t feel any pressure to be a role model for other minority coaches.
“Not at all,” Arkhurst said. “If I can inspire people, I’m happy.”
Like most coaches, Arkhurst believes proper communication with his athletes is essential. He also understands each swimmer is different.
“A lot of people talk about style when they talk about swimming,” he said. “For me, style is a synonym for personality. You don’t tell someone to dress this way. I respect your style.”
“I’ve never tried to use the stroke I’ve seen one (person use) and try and stick it on another one. I really respect the way they are built.”
One of Arkhurst’s joys is watching his athletes swim.
“So many coaches are critical about everything,” he said. “I love to watch my swimmers just swim. It’s extraordinary what they do in the water every day.”
He guards against too much repetition and training becoming monotonous.
“Creativity is what is driving me,” said Arkhurst. “Every year I change a lot of stuff. Of course, there is my basic training but I love to renew a lot.
“I love the quote ‘when was the last time you did something for the first time?’ To me that’s really important. Otherwise, it’s boring.”
Arkhurst also keeps his role as a swim coach in perspective.
“It’s just swimming we are doing,” he laughed. “We’re not saving lives. I’m not a fireman or anything. I’m just a guy who loves what I do and tries to help swimmers get better and learn with them as the same time.
“I think it works two directions. Having that humility is really important.”
Mary-Sophie Harvey, who trains at CAMO, credits Arkhurst with rejuvenating her career. The 24-year-old is attending her second Olympics after placing second and swimming lifetime best times in both the 100-metre butterfly and 200-m freestyle at the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials, presented by Bell.
“When I started with Greg I was a little bit lost on what I could still achieve in swimming,” said Harvey. “I thought my good years were behind me. He made me believe I was not done and I could still accomplish stuff I can be proud of.
“It was good I trusted him in that. We have a really good relationship. I have full trust in him and he trusts me. That’s why it’s so great right now. I’m glad I kept swimming because I think the good years are ahead of me.”
Growing up in Ivory Coast, a family friend who used to swim with Arkhurst in a lagoon, convinced him he could be a racer.
He joined a local club and took a bus twice a week to practice. He trained in a 25-m pool and sometimes hotel pools.
His parents divorced when he was 13 and Arkhurst moved to Paris where he continued swimming.
While competing at the Sydney 2000 Olympics for Ivory Coast, Arkhurst boarded a wrong bus and met his future wife Jana Salat, a Slovakian native who played for the Canadian water polo team.
Arkhurst received his coaching degree in France then emigrated to Montreal where he met Claude St-Jean, the former CAMO head coach in 2001. He swam for Ivory Coast at the 2004 Olympics then retired after the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal.
He joined a small club call the Blue Machine in St-Lambert, Que., and moved back to CAMO in 2009.
The group Arkhurst will coach in Paris includes Harvey; Jeremy Bagshaw, a 32-year-old veteran of the Canadian team who will be appearing in his first Olympics; and Patrick Hussey, a 23-year-old who trains at the Point-Claire Swim Club and will be attending his first Olympics.
“Very interesting group,” said Arkhurst. “They are all very different.”
Of the many things that excites Arkhurst about coaching at the Olympics is the chance to observe and learn.
“I love to learn from other coaches,” he said. “I like to put my ego on the side. Even people I dislike, or even people who probably don’t like me, if they have results, I’m going to watch them and observe because I want to learn.
“If I can learn from that and make myself a better coach, I move forward.”