Head coach Teri McKeever of the University of California, Berkeley, announced today that Ian Walsh will join the Cal Women’s Swimming and Diving staff as an assistant women’s swimming coach.
“Ian is a young, enthusiastic coach whose passion for the profession will be an inspiration for all of us,” McKeever said. “While he is still early in his career, he has learned from a strong set of mentors, and I hope to continue in that fashion for him. Having been a competitive swimmer and coached at the collegiate and club levels, he brings a diverse set of experiences that will be an asset for our program. We are excited to welcome him and his fiancée, Sarah, to our Golden Bear family.”
For the past three seasons, Walsh has been an assistant coach at the Division I Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The team finished a program-best third place at this year’s Conference USA Championships, with four individual conference championships. It has also recently been named one of the top 16 most improved Division I teams. In his capacity as assistant coach, Walsh was the recruiting coordinator and he worked on the women’s team with sprinters and middle distance swimmers.
Walsh also served as the head coach of the YMCA Charleston Aquatic Team from 2013-2016.
Before coaching at Marshall, Walsh was the head assistant coach at Albright College in Pennsylvania and a graduate assistant at Bloomsburg University. Walsh swam at Dusquesne University as an undergraduate, winning the Atlantic 10 title in the 100 breast in 2009 and setting four school records.
Walsh will be replacing Kathie Wickstrand, who moved into the assistant role this season but has been a longtime advisor for the Bears on team building.
“I want to thank Kathie for stepping into our fulltime assistant role on short notice this past summer,” McKeever said. “She brought continuity and exceptional skill in an important year with Rio on the horizon. Kathie is a big reason that we were able to continue our streak of finishing among the top three at the NCAA national meet for the eighth consecutive year. As we welcome Ian into the fold, I am looking forward to having Kathie return to her previous role as a consultant and leadership expert for our program.”
The Cal team finished third this year at the NCAA Championships.
MARSHALL IN IS WEST VIRGINIA
MARSHALL PRESS RELEASE
http://www.herdzone.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/042016aaa.html
Congratulations Ian!! Wishing you all the best!! I will miss you and thanks for everything!!
Ian is an extremely motivated person who has always proven to exceed anyone’s expectations. We are very proud of him and wish him and Cal the best!
Great coach! Serious, motivated, and proven. My daughter had her biggest time drops in several events with Coach Ian at AAC. Cal scored a solid young coach with a big future. Congrats Ian!
It’s West Virginia, not Virginia.
Cal needs a fresh face, hope he does good work with the women’s team!
Congratulations Ian! Good young coach who knows how to motivate athletes and gain their respect. Awesome opportunity for him and great pickup for the Golden Bear!