Our 2020-21 Executive

Clara Peyre, President

I moved to Calgary from Bordeaux in 2013. I started swimming and racing when I was a kiddo. I had most of the fun on 400 freestyle and 100 backstroke, however I played on 800m and 1500m freestyle when I explored triathlon. I did participate to the France championship then move on to my work life …. I like open water swimming, gives another dimension and challenges. But find the lakes a bit too cold around here … you’ll see me mostly Friday early am and Saturday am for my 2nd season with CMSC. I’d like to get back at competing, master my organization skills between work, swimming and mom life. I have a 3 yo daughter who loves swimming and water too, and for fun I work as a Project Manager and renovate hotels !

Emanuel Lys, Vice President & Registrar

Like many of us on the team, I’ve swam all my life. I had a great start, failing my level one red cross three times when I was 5. Something finally clicked and instead of climbing the levels, I started chasing my older sisters enrolled in UCSC. I didn’t miss a season for the next 16 years, until my final year at the U of C. I’m into my 4^th year with CMSC now. When I’m not in the pool, I’m probably on my bike. If I knew a way to do both at once, you’d see me doing it.

I’ve “raced” my mountain bike a bit. Heavy quotations around race, because my sole goal is to not finish last. I still love every second of it. It’s less about times and order. To me it’s about seeing what you’ve got and putting it out there. I encourage everyone to come out to a swim meet. What better way is there to get to know your teammates. Hang out for the day. Swim a few relays. Swim your slowest event. Swim your fastest event. Whatever encourages you to come out and race, I look forward to seeing you there.

Andrea Pember, Secretary

Andrea started out as a competitive artistic swimmer in Calgary and she continued to compete throughout University starting the very first artistic swimming team at the University of Calgary. Andrea lived in Sydney, Australia for a number of years and was a very active open water swimmer and triathlete. This is where she confirmed her love for the water. Since returning home to Calgary she finds herself back in the pool mainly during the early bird practices with an amazing group of people at CMSC. Andrea is a professional accountant by day and is an avid skier on the weekends.

Allison Prime, Communications

Allison started swimming at a young age for a small team in Toronto called Lakeshore Swim Club. She left swimming at age 16 and always missed being in the pool. Twenty years later, shortly after she moved to Calgary, she joined CMSC and is now starting her fifth season with the team. Like when she was 16, Allison loves butterfly and IM. When Allison is not in the pool, she works as a family counsellor and spends time exploring local forests, camping, and cross-country skiing. Allison swims in the evening cohort and looks forward to meeting you on deck.

Jaya Wang, Treasurer

Jaya has been swimming at the Repsol Centre for 10+ years and considers it her second home. Jaya moved around a lot growing up, so she did not swim competitively. She enjoys competing in masters swimming, open water and triathlon events. Her favorite strokes are freestyle and butterfly (50m, no stamina), her least favorite strokes are backstroke and breaststroke. Jaya moved to Alberta because she loves the cold and snow, she loves to snowboard and you can find her flying off the box in the terrain park. While Jaya has a degree in accounting, she’s not a practicing accountant and actually works as a Business Analyst in systems development. Jaya has been taking French lessons for over 5 years now and has a passion for French movies.

Kar Mei Lee, Meet Manager

Coming from a family of competitive swimmers, Mei was the family’s black sheep in competitive swimming as a child.  Entering teenage years, she found other interests which required less training time and more international opportunities hence stopped competitive swimming. That stop lasted 36 years until she was encouraged by her sister to join Masters and compete again. In Mei’s second season with CMSC, she is taking up the volunteer position of Meet Manager. She endeavors to continue her predecessor’s excellent execution of meet planning and management as well as further build relationships with other clubs in meet organization.

Lisa-marie Spivak, Member-at-Large

Swimming competitively has been a part of Lisa-marie’s life since she was a kid, starting in Saskatoon with the Goldfins and Laser Swim Club and eventually moving to Alberta and swimming with the Leduc Otters. Top favorite events are the 100/200m Back and the 100m Fly/IM. Her swim path ended with only swimming one year with the University of Alberta swim team and taking a 20 year break to have a family.

One day, Lisa-marie decided to challenge herself with taking up triathlon to try and stay fit which led her back to swimming (all drains lead to the ocean) due to multiple running injuries. She found her way to swim with the Calgary Masters Swim Club for over 6 years with last year volunteer coaching with the Patriots and Coach Chad.

Outside of swimming, Lisa-marie is a IT Project Manager independent contractor with two amazing kids who don’t understand Mom’s swimming passion.