The Minnesota Golden Gophers have a new face on their coaching staff, but a familiar one: former volunteer assistant coach Tyler Gerst has been named Minnesota’s new assistant swimming coach.
Gerst spent the last year as the head assistant coach at California State University – Bakersfield. But before that, he was an assistant at Minnesota under the current coaching staff.
From 2011 to 2013, Gerst was a student coach while completing his degree in sport management. The next season, 2013-2014, he was promoted to volunteer assistant coach. He also spent time during those years coaching the Twin Cities Swim Team, which trains out of the University of Minnesota.
“Knowing that Tyler has worked for our team before, we know it will be a great fit,” said Minnesota Head Coach Kelly Kremer. “Everyone that knows him, knows how much he loves Minnesota. We are excited to welcome him and his enthusiasm back to the Gophers.”
Gerst fills the coaching spot vacated by Steve Miller, who resigned back in March to pursue a career away from the pool.
Gerst will work with both the men and women in Minnesota’s combined program. The Gopher women are currently on a streak of four consecutive Big Ten titles that caused state governor Mark Dayton to officially recognize June 1st as a day honoring the team statewide. They return two NCAA champions, 200 breaststroker Kierra Smith and diver Yu Zhou, though Smith will be redshirting the season to prepare for an Olympic run with Canada.