Michael Weston has had 15 years of experience in the aquatics industry in management and learn-to- swim teaching. Weston started his competitive swimming coaching journey as a volunteer in 2018, following a discussion with then partner, now wife, Helena Gasson about her reaching a cross-roads as a swimmer. Weston began voluntarily coaching Gasson after her previous coaches retired or moved to Australia. His impressive start to coaching-life saw Weston recognised as the 2018 NZSCTA Rookie Swim Coach of the Year.

A year later, Weston took up the Head Coach position at Coast Swim Club in 2019. The club has grown significantly in the five years with Weston at the helm, with the club taking out the Top Club Trophy at New Zealand Championships for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, and 2024). In 2023, the club also took out the Duncan Laing Trophy as the top performing club across the 2023 New Zealand Swimming Championships, 2023 New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships and the 2023 New Zealand Short Course Swimming Championships. This was the first time that any club other than North Shore had received this award. As a result, Weston and fellow Coast coach John Gatfield were the joint winners of the 2023 Swimming New Zealand Domestic Coach of the Year award.

During Weston’s time coaching, he has guided his athletes on to multiple pinnacle teams. His first swimmer to qualify for international selection was Gasson, when she met the qualification standard for the 2018 FINA World Championships (25m – Hangzhou, China), however she turned down her spot on the team. Since then, he has guided Gasson to compete at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships (Budapest, Hungary), 2022 Commonwealth Games (Birmingham, England), 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m – Melbourne, Australia) and 2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan) teams. Weston was proud to be the Head Coach for New Zealand at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), where Gasson produced a career-best placing of fifth place in the 100m individual medley.

Weston has also gained experience coaching internationally as part of the International Swimming League (ISL), where has was an assistant coach with LA Current in 2020 and 2021. In both years, LA Current made the ISL finals.

In early 2023, Cameron Gray transferred to Coast Swimming Club to be coached by Weston. In this time, Weston has guided Gray to selection for the 2023 and 2024 World Aquatics Championships. At the latter championships, Gray qualified for his first semi-final at a World Championships, placing 14th in the 100m freestyle.

Upon returning from Doha, Gray lit up the pool in the heats of the 100m freestyle at the 2024 New Zealand Swimming Championships in Hawke’s Bay, breaking his New Zealand Record and qualifying for his first Olympic team.

Weston has been selected on various New Zealand teams over the past three years, attending the past three FINA/World Aquatics Championships (2022, 2023 and 2024) as a team coach, and leading the team as Head Coach at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) team. Following Gray’s selection for Paris, Weston was selected as a team coach for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Over his time coaching, Weston has guided his athletes to over 50 New Zealand open records.

Outside of the pool, Weston has completed a Bachelor of Science (Sports Science) and a Master of Business Administration (Honours).

💥 Selected to first Games campaign

Paris 2024 will mark Weston’s first Olympic Games, with Coast swimmer Cameron Gray resetting the New Zealand record on his way to qualifying for the Games. Eve Thomas, who is based in Australia, will make it a three-strong Coast contingent in Paris.

💥 Guided Cameron Gray to first World Championships semi-final

Coached Cameron Gray (Aquablack #277) to his first semi-final at a World Championships, with Gray placing 14th in the 100m freestyle.

💥 Guided Helena Gasson to career-best finish

Coached Helena Gasson (Aquablack #250) to a career-best finish at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), when Gasson placed fifth in the world in the 100m individual medley.

Weston was also the head coach of the New Zealand team for these championships - his first time fulfilling this role at an international event.

💥 Led Coast Swim Club to win three consecutive Top Club Trophies

Coast Swim Club won the Top Club Trophy at the New Zealand Swimming Championships three years in a row from 2022 to 2024. The club also won the Duncan Laing Trophy in 2023, as the top performing club across all major national championships that year; becoming the only club other than North Shore to have won the award.