Role: Men’s Kayak National Team Coach
Hometown: Krakow, Poland
Residence: Dartmouth, NS
First year coaching the Canadian National Team: 2014
Clubs: Banook Canoe Club
Jan Kruk was a decorated National canoe team athlete for Poland. He has coached in the Canadian club system for 26 years, with much of his time being spent at Banook Canoe Club. He joined Canada’s national coaching team in 2014 and brings a wealth of knowledge to the National program.
His first role with Canoe Kayak Canada was coaching the NextGen Training Group for Atlantic Canada, where he focused on supporting potential performers at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. In 2017, he was selected to coach the Women’s Canoe National program and has since transitioned to the Men’s Kayak National team.
Jan has won the Petro Canada Coaching Excellence Award several times as coach of Women’s Canoe powerhouse duo Katie Vincent and Laurence Vincent-Lapointe. He was also a personal coach of Tom Hall when he won the 1999 Junior World Championships and has coached Olympian and World Silver medalist Jason McCoombs.
