OTTAWA – Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is pleased to announce that Lúcás Ó’Ceallacháin will join the organization to fill the High Performance Director position in an interim capacity.

Lúcás holds several academic qualifications, including a Master of Science degree in Sport and Exercise Management and a Diploma in Sport Psychology. He has also completed several professional courses and programs that contribute to his experience in high performance sport, in addition to his previous roles at United World Wrestling and most recently at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to work with WCL. I have been a long-time admirer of the excellent work that WCL do from grassroots all the way up to the elite level,” said Ó’Ceallacháin. “There are talented athletes at all levels of wrestling in Canada and I look forward to helping them reach their full potential.”

At this critical point in the quadrennial, Executive Director Tamara Medwidsky, spoke of WCL’s opportunity in hiring Ó’Ceallacháin.

“Lúcás’s combined experience in high performance sport, as an athlete, coach and program leader, has given him the critical insight needed to gain an understanding of all the factors necessary to produce podium results,” said Medwidsky. “We were faced with a significant gap that had to be filled with the right individual to continue leading WCL’s 2020 high performance vision and plan. The opportunity to bring Lúcás to WCL to fill this role is well-timed and we look forward to him providing the leadership to champion the vision, build trust and collaborative relationships to continue driving WCL towards podium success.”

In his role, Ó’Ceallacháin will be responsible for the leadership of WCL’s high performance program, including men’s and women’s freestyle. This includes overseeing the development, implementation and monitoring of all technical aspects of WCL’s High Performance (HP) program and associated HP development (NextGen) programs, grounded on Long-Term-Athlete-Development (LTAD) principles. Working closely with international team coaches, sport science & medicine staff and HP staff, Lúcás will continue to monitor the system, plans and accountabilities necessary for Canada’s continued success at upcoming Olympic and World Championships.

“It became clear through the hiring process that WCL will be well positioned with someone of Lucas’s skillset; someone who has the ability to inform strategy by exercising evidence-based decision making,” said Medwidsky. “We are excited to have someone with Lucas’s world-class skills join our team, especially at this critical juncture of the quadrennial.”

Ó’Ceallacháin will begin his high-performance duties effective immediately and can be reached via email at [email protected]. He will be based at the National Office in Ottawa and will travel as required.

Please join us in welcoming Lúcás to Wrestling Canada Lutte.