Head Coach of Grande Prairie Piranhas Swim Team Alex Dawson. Photo courtesy Alberta Sport.

By Erika Rolling

Swimming

GP Piranhas coach recognized with prestigious provincial award

Jun 10, 2025 | 12:04 PM

The province has named one of Grande Prairie’s very own with a sought after provincial recognition award.

Grande Prairie Piranhas Head Coach Alex Dawson has been awarded one of three Coach Recognition Awards in the 2024 Alberta Sport Recognition Awards.

In an excerpt on the Alberta Sport website, it says Dawson has had a “tremendous impact on competitive swimming in Northern Alberta.”

It goes on to say how he has been able to grow the local swim club from 60 members to over 120 in a decade, and the Club’s Learn to Swim Program from 100 swimmers in 2015 to well over over 600 participants today.

Dawson was named Head Coach for the maple leaf at the most recent Junior Pan American Swimming Championships, and is a personal coach for son Oliver Dawson, who is a Canadian Junior record holder and current Canadian Men’s 200M Breaststroke champion.

Alberta Sport says; “Alex is creative and dynamic and offers young athletes in Northern Alberta well-structured and engaging ways to compete in the sport of competitive swimming. His work around establishing a developmental swim program has been adopted by the Province, and by many clubs throughout the province.”

To read more on Alex Dawson, and the other award winners of the 2024 Alberta Sport Recognition Awards, click here.