Woodstock coach wins Artistic Swimming awards
When Margie McGuire, head coach of Riptide Artistic Swimming in Woodstock, first became involved with the team, she never thought she would be nominated, let alone win some of its more prestigious accolades.
McGuire has always been at the forefront of the sport, being involved since the Riptides’ inception in 1995, soon after the pool at the AYR Motor Centre was built.
“When I started out, there were three or four of us, actually probably six ladies because there was another coach at the time,” recollected McGuire. “I actually started off as a judge so that the coach that was coaching could learn more about what they expected from swimmers… then, about 23 years ago, I took over as coach,” she explained.
Throughout her years, McGuire has seen many changes in the sport, from its name changing from Synchronized Swimming to Artistic Swimming in 2018, to the clubs changing membership over the years.
“The club has been as big as 30 swimmers, and it has been as few as five,” said McGuire. “It’s nice though that it’s always remained a smaller club because there’s more individualization, coaching and helping the kids,” she concluded.
She went on to say that coaches and other clubs were often envious of these small group sizes, and partially credited them to the group’s high performance.
Notably, novice athletes from Riptide, under McGuire’s guidance, have been honoured as New Brunswick Artistic Swimming (NBAS) Novice Athletes of the Year in both 2024 and 2025.
She also credits this high performance to the Riptides being the only volunteer-coach-run team in the province.
“The pressure is not there because the parents aren’t paying me… and because there’s no expectation they do well, because [again] there’s no pressure,” explained McGuire.
McGuire received her first award, the 2026 Provincial Stream Coach of the Year, in April, and the second, the 2026 Atlantic Regional Provincial Stream Coach of the Year Award, in May.
“It was a shock; I was on the pool deck with my kids… because it was the end of the meet and they were all getting their ribbons,” said McGuire. “The first time when it was New Brunswick I actually started crying…everybody from all over the province congratulating me was pretty awesome!”
“Eventually I hope someone will step up,” said McGuire when asked about plans for the future.
She hopes that the club can keep going the way it has with potentially one of the past participants helping lead the way.
For now, however, she seems more than content to continue doing the work she loves with the Riptides.
“I wouldn’t change anything in the world… I like the small provincial camaraderie, I guess,” said McGuire.
