Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Lance graduated from high school in Nanaimo in 1986. He moved to Vancouver in the late 80s where, still a teenager, he began competing in the sport of triathlon with some success. Triathlon was still in its pioneer years and there were few coaches available. Lance identified an early need for creating a structured training environment and so began coaching during the late 80s.

Lance attended the University of British Columbia in the early 1990s and graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics, all the while being mentored as an Assistant Coach of Track and Cross Country at the University. This early high performance coaching experience helped Lance model a framework for coaching his own triathlon training team, which was having increasing success.

In the mid- to late-90s, Lance independently led his professional athletes on competition tours throughout Europe and Australia and started placing athletes on podiums internationally. Triathlon was included into the Olympic Program for the first time in 2000 so, early that year, Lance moved to Victoria to help found Canada’s National Triathlon Centre. There he was named the Centre’s Head Coach, and co-authored Triathlon's first ever Level IV Coaching Certification Diploma at the National Coaching Institute.

2000 was a milestone year for Lance as he coached Victoria’s Simon Whitfield to capture the first ever Olympic Gold Medal in triathlon. That same year, he coached three different athletes to Ironman victories, including Canadian triathlon legend Lisa Bentley, who went on to win an impressive 11 titles.

Continuing his legacy of excellence within the Victoria community, Lance has coached locally-based triathlete Brent McMahon for his entire career of more than 25 years – a career that includes medals at World Junior Championships, representing Canada at two Olympic Games (Athens 2004, London 2012) and winning four Ironman titles while setting record times. Lance also coached Victoria athlete Matt Sharpe to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

Throughout his career, Lance has placed athletes on podiums at every major Triathlon World Championship including Ironman, Ironman 70.3, and World Triathlon Series (formerly ITU). As of 2022, he has coached Canadian athletes to five Olympic Games and over 50 World Championships.

Lance has coached Canadian National Teams to Gold medals at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. He was Triathlon Canada’s “Coach of the Year” for five consecutive years and was inducted into the Triathlon Canada Hall of Fame in 2015. Lance is one of only four Ironman Master Coaches worldwide. Based in Victoria, he continues to coach world-class athletes while concurrently pursuing his career as a coaching educator through his personal business and as a co-creator of Ironman U, a global coaching education platform for Ironman.

Jim was introduced to golf at age 10 and soon proved himself a natural at the game. He played his early days at Cedar Hill Golf Course with Pros Bill Goldsworthy and Bruce Rands and remembers that they were always getting the youngsters out on the course and made sure they were practising. A couple of years later, Jim became a member at Uplands where Don Billsborough was the Pro. Jim credits having access to both courses as crucial to the development of his golf skills, competitiveness and friendships.

By the age of 17, Jim was having success in the Junior ranks, winning the Canadian Junior Championships in 1975 and again in 1977 and even giving the pros a run at such competitions as the Island Open and Cowichan Open. In 1978, at just 18, Jim turned professional himself, attending the Canadian Tour School in Toronto (accompanied by his mother as he was too young to book a hotel or rent a car on his own). By age 19, he had his first important victory when he won the title at the 1979 BC Open at Glen Meadows. In the five-year period from 1978 to 1982, he captured that title two more times, along with three second place finishes.

Jim was introduced to the Asian Tour in 1982 and, for the next eight years, spent 10 weeks in spring in Asia and his summers on the Canadian Tour. In 1984, the Canadian Professional Golf Association Championship led to an invitation to the European Tour. Jim was able to gain exempt status for a period of five years and, with wife Jill and 6-month-old son Ryan, moved to Europe for the duration.

In 1993, Jim returned to the Asian Tour for another eight years, capturing the Indian Open in 1995. He again spent summers on the Canadian Tour where he has six career victories and is second on the all-time money list. Jim qualified for the Nationwide Tour of the PGA in 2000 and his victory at the New Zealand Open in 2006 gained him a card for a season on the American PGA Tour in 2007.

Jim’s successes through the 90s and 00s led to his inclusion in 1993 and 1996 on the three-man Canadian team to the famous Dunhill Cup, billed as the “World Team Championships” and contested by a field of 16 teams on the historic Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. He also represented Canada at two World Cup competitions for two-man teams, playing with Rick Gibson in China in 1995 and with Mike Weir in Barbados in 2006.

2011 saw Jim join the Champions Tour for golfers over 50 years of age. With his wife often caddying for him, he continued with the Champions Tour until 2019. Jim has many good memories of time spent with great players and says his many years as a successful golf professional have been a wonderful experience.