Alexandra Kouzas (She/Her) 

Alex grew up in South Africa and swam competitively for 13 years. In 2013, she moved to Canada to continue swimming, while attending the University of British Columbia. Alex’s best stroke has always been Freestyle (sprints), with the 50m Free being her favourite event. She competed at the National and International level for South Africa and, in 2012, qualified for the South African Olympic Trials.

Her proudest swimming moment, however, was after she took a year off swimming in 2015 and then returned and qualified for the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials. Shortly after the Trials, Alex partially tore her bicep tendon and supraspinatus. She attempted to make a return to the pool, but soon after decided that it was time to hang up her goggles.

Alex has coached on and off with UBC Masters since 2017. In 2021, Alex stepped into the head coach position while still continuing to coach Summer age-group swimmers at the Vancouver Vikings Swim Club. She likes the variety and working with swimmers of all ages and abilities. When Alex is not at the pool, she is either working as an elementary school teacher, riding her bike, or exploring new coffee shops and restaurants. 

Alex prides herself on being a technical coach, who is passionate about creating a fun and supportive environment for all her swimmers.

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Zoey Johnson (She/Hers)

Zoey Johnson started coaching the club in September 2025. This will be Zoey’s first season coaching with UBC Masters, though she is no stranger to the team, she swam with UBC Masters during her first year at university, four years ago. Zoey just finished her second year with the Vancouver where she closed the summer season as Head Coach. Prior to joining the Vikings, she was Head Coach for her hometown team, the Salt Spring Stingrays, where she also swam competitively for 14 years. In 2019, she made the transition to coaching full-time. She is currently completing her fifth year at UBC, studying Environmental and Sustainable Geography. When she’s not on the pool deck, Zoey enjoys reading, knitting, or spending time at the beach.

Zoey is thrilled to return to the UBC Masters community, this time on the coaching side, and is looking forward to a fantastic season ahead!

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Joel Blanco (He/Him)

Joel started coaching the club in the summer of 2024. Originally from Maple Ridge, BC, he is a UBC Thunderbird varsity swimmer and majoring in Arts.  

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Dima Lim (He/Him)

Dima has been competitively swimming since 2007. He grew up in Kazakhstan and then moved to Canada with his family in 2012. Throughout high school, Dima represented Simon Fraser Aquatics and competed at various national and international competitions.

After graduating, Dima enrolled at UBC to study microbiology and immunology. He also has contributed to winning 4 consecutive national titles for UBC Men’s Swimming and qualified to represent Canada at World University Games in 2019. More recently, he won silver medal in 50m Butterfly at Canadian World Trials in 2022.

Dima has been on and off with UBC Masters since 2019 and coached at UBC Performance Swim Camps. He is very friendly and loves working with people. Dima always welcomes swimming technique questions.

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Kyle Cheng (He/Him)

Kyle started coaching the club in 2023.

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Jess Godfrey (She/Hers)

Jess has been coaching since 2020 and this is her first year with UBC Masters Team. She has been swimming for as long as she can remember but started competitively 10 years ago. Her favourite swimming events are distance free and IM. She is in her fourth year of Kinesiology at UBC, and outside of swimming she enjoys journaling, going to the gym, reading, and recently she has attempted to start baking. Jess is extremely excited to be coaching for you and looks forward to see you all on deck!

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