Kira Toussaint Moves to Spain to Work with Ben Titley at National Training Center

Kira Toussaint has moved to Spain to join coach Ben Titley’s growing pro group at the National Training Center in Sant Cugat.

Toussaint has been training with the University of Tennessee’s pro group since September while also serving as a volunteer assistant for the Volunteers, who she swam for from 2015-17. The 28-year-old Dutch Olympian told SwimSwam she made the switch to Spain be closer to home in North Holland.

“I didn’t realize how homesick I would get,” said Toussaint, who had previously trained with Dutch National Team coach Mark Faber back home in the Netherlands for about five years.

Titley spent nearly 10 years coaching in Canada before taking the head coaching position with the National Training Center last March as a part of the Spanish Swimming and Spanish Sport Council’s “Team-Spain Elite.” In less than a year, he has already attracted international talents such as Canadian backstroke ace Kylie Masse and Danish sprinter Signe Bro ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Toussaint is coming off a solid year in the pool, though she was unable to match her career-best performances from 2021.

She won a bronze medal as a member of Netherlands’ 200 freestyle relay at Short Course Worlds in December, adding to the bronze she collected with the Dutch mixed 400 medley relay at the World Championships in June. She also made a pair of individual finals at Worlds, placing sixth in the women’s 100 backstroke and eighth in the 50 back. Less than two months later at the European Championships in August, the Amstelveen native won bronze in the women’s 100 back, placed fourth in the 50 back, and added a pair of relay medals, including a gold on the mixed 400 medley.

During her time training under Faber in the Netherlands, Toussaint evolved into one of the best female backstrokers in the world, including breaking the world record in the SCM 50 back during the 2020 International Swimming League (ISL) season. She was also a finalist at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, placing seventh in the women’s 100 back. That was her second Olympic appearance, having represented the Netherlands in 2016, where she finished 18th in the 100 back.

Collegiately, Toussaint swam her first two seasons in the NCAA at Florida Gulf Coast, becoming an All-American and resetting numerous program records. Following the 2014-15 campaign, she transferred to Tennessee, where she earned eight more All-America honors while winning a trio of SEC titles.