Lloyd Swindells was an avid track and field athlete who enjoyed the sprints, long distance races, and high jump. Later, he turned to coaching and founded the Vancouver Olympic Club. Swindells had a positive influence on the many athletes he coached over the years, and it was as a tribute to his dedication that the “Lloyd Swindells Relays” were created after his death in 1980.

Swindells started coaching at the Vancouver Boy’s Club in 1947. He became director of the newly formed Canadian Track and Field Association and president of the BC Branch of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1951.

He served as a member of the National Track and Field Records Committee and as chairman of public relations for the BC Branch of the AAU from 1951-75.

A founding member of the Vancouver Olympic Club in 1953, Swindells coached at the club from its’ 1953 inception until 1958. He served as chairman of the Athletes Seeding Committee for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver and the 1967 Pan American Gaems in Winnipeg. Swindells was also a member of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Track and Field Committee.

Swindells acted as head track coach for the Canadian Pan American Games track & field teams in 1955 at Mexico City and in 1963 at Sao Paulo. He also managed the 1959 Canadian team in Chicago.

Swindells moved up to manage the Canadian Olympic track team at the 1968 Olympics Games in Mexico City and coached Canadian track athletes to the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games in Munich and Montreal respectively.

Voted “Coach of the Year” in 1957 by the Pacific Northwest Association, that same year Swindells joined the Canadian Olympic Association representing track and field.

Swindells was a member of the Canadian Track and Field Association’s selection committee from 1964-70 and represented Canada on the Pacific Conference Games committee from 1967-69. He was a director for the Canadian Track and Field Association from 1967-74.