NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Tom Eickelberg, who most recently served as an assistant coach at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., has been named the head swimming coach at the State University of New York at New Paltz, as announced Tuesday by Director of Athletics, Wellness & Recreation Stuart Robinson.
“New Paltz has had a long history of young, innovative coaches who have always been willing to think outside the box,” Robinson said. “Tom seems to fit that mold of not limiting himself to doing things simply because other coaches have done it. I look forward to Tom continuing this important part of our swim program tradition, and I am confident that he will maintain the pride and improve upon the results within the New Paltz swimming program.”
Eickelberg spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach at Franklin & Marshall, where he helped coach three conference champions and one All-American in addition to helping the Diplomats set three program records. Serving as the program’s sprint group coach, he led the sprinters to 42 lifetime-best swims. In addition to his coaching duties, Eickelberg served as the College’s aquatics director, overseeing the day-to-day operation of the state-of-the-art Kunkel Aquatics Center. In that role, he was responsible for the operation of several USA Swimming meets, featuring nearly 1,000 athletes, and he coordinated the pool schedule between various user groups.
Prior to Franklin & Marshall, Eickelberg spent three seasons as a graduate assistant coach at SUNY Cortland from 2012-15. During his tenure with the Red Dragons, swimmers within his training groups established 14 program records while winning six individual conference titles and five relay conference championships. In 2013, he was a part of the coaching staff that helped lead Cortland’s men to their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) team title since 1998, breaking SUNY Geneseo’s 14-year streak of conference championships.
Eickelberg began his collegiate coaching career in 2011-12, working as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Adelphi University. During that season, the Panthers combined for 36 lifetime bests and six program records, and he helped lead one individual to a Northeast-10 Conference championship.
An accomplished triathlete, Eickelberg holds the course record at the TOBAY and Montauk Lighthouse triathlons. He placed 16th at the 2012 US Open, posting the 12th-fastest swim time in the field, and has notched 31 professional victories.
As a varsity swimmer at Adelphi from 2008-11, Eickelberg earned 14 All-Metropolitan Conference First-Team honors, set six program records and won four individual Northeast-10 titles. He also competed on Adelphi’s cross country team for four seasons from 2007-10, earning two All-East Coast Conference (ECC) laurels.
“Being in the SUNYAC as a graduate assistant at SUNY Cortland made me fall in love with swimming and being a coach again,” Eickelberg said. “When the New Paltz job opened up, with its rich tradition and academic reputation, I knew I wanted to apply for it and put all my eggs in this basket. I look forward to being a part of the New Paltz Athletics family.”
Eickelberg earned his Bachelor of Science in exercise science from Adelphi in 2011 and his Master of Science in outdoor and environmental education from Cortland in 2015.
Swimming news courtesy of New Paltz Swimming & Diving.