Courtesy: La Salle Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach Kerry Smith announced the addition of Matthew Salig to the staff as an assistant coach.
“I’m excited to welcome Matt back home to the Philly area and to 20th & Olney for the first time,” said Smith. “Matt brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on how to be successful in both the classroom and the pool. His attention to detail, thoughtfulness, and passion for the sport and his athletes will help to elevate this team and make him a great addition to the staff.”
A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Salig joins the Explorer family from Amherst where he served as an assistant coach. He helped to lead the Mammoth men’s and women’s programs to a third-place finish at the NESCAC Championships. Salig also coached the women to a 12th-place finish at the 2022 DIII NCAA Championships.
“I’m very excited to be returning to the Philly area,” said Salig. “Growing up I have many memories of YMCA and high school district meets at Kirk Pool and I can’t wait to be back on deck with an opportunity to influence some incredible student-athletes. In our conversations, Kerry completely sold me on the direction of the program. Her passion for the sports and the swimmers here was evident immediately. I am thrilled to be a part of her and La Salle’s vision of the future.”
Prior to his time at Amherst, Salig served as a volunteer assistant with Penn State where he worked closely with a booming sprint group that set the men’s 200-yard freestyle record. The squad also has to of the top three Penn State 50-yard freestylers of all time.
Salig graduated from Penn State in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering. He also owns a Professional Master’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Medical Product Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Salig was the record-holder in the 200-yard butterfly at Penn State for over a decade. He boasts 17 YMCA Swimming National Championship titles and qualified for both the 2012 NCAA Division I Championships and the 2012 US Olympic Swimming Trials in the 200-yard fly. He also owns the fourth-fastest 200 IM and sixth-fastest 400 IM of all-time at Penn State.
His impact in the classroom was just as impressive having been named the Robert Kimmel Academic Achievement Award winner for holding the highest GPA in men’s swimming from 2012 to 2014. Salig was also the 2014 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipient.
Congrats & have fun! 🙂
Where did Billy Gordon go?
Bryant University