Sources tell SwimSwam that Michigan diving coach Mike Hilde is leaving the Wolverines after nine seasons leading the program.
Last week, Michigan head coach Mike Bottom announced his retirement following a 15-year tenure in Ann Arbor.
Two Wolverine divers — sophomore Cameron Gammage (men’s) and freshman Kiarra Milligan (women’s) — have now entered the transfer portal. The portal closed last month for men’s and women’s swimming and diving, but there’s an exception in situations where there was a recent coaching change.
Gammage is the school record holder on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 406.30 at February’s Big Ten Championships, where he placed fourth. He also placed fourth on the 3-meter (409.85) and 11th on the 10-meter (312.55). Gammage advanced to the 2023 NCAA Championships in all three events, with his best finish coming at 19th on the 3-meter (360.45). A native of Stockbridge, England, he was one of just two male divers in Michigan’s program last season along with fellow sophomore Kameron Liberman.
Milligan received All-Big Ten Second Team honors in her first NCAA campaign, earning a runner-up finish on the 1-meter (314.85), an 11th-place showing on the 3-meter (329.90), and a 25th-place finish on the 10-meter (208.05) at this year’s Big Ten Championships. A native of Brisbane, Australia, she was one of three Wolverine divers on the women’s roster last season along with sophomores Chrismon Clark and Evie Johnson.
Michigan hadn’t scored diving points at the NCAA Championships since the COVID-19 pandemic, but a Wolverine diver did score at NCAAs in three of Hilde’s first four years in Ann Arbor (2015, 2017, and 2018). During his first year as Michigan’s diving coach, Hilde helped Carey Chen become the program’s first finalist at NCAAs in any of the three diving events in 19 years.
Hilde took over the Wolverines’ diving program in the fall of 2014, coming from a stint as the National/International Team Director and an assistant coach with the Mission Viejo Nadadores. He has an accomplished resume in the sport of diving stretching back to the mid-2000s, when he dove for the University of Southern California, making NCAAs in all four seasons and scoring nine times. He’s also served as head diving coach at the University of San Diego.
Hilde told people he was leaving before Mike Bottom announced. His wife got a new job and they are moving West. He is leaving coaching altogether.
Wow. It’s been a really rough go in Ann Arbor the past couple of years.
Whomever is the next head coach does have one thing going for them – a full reboot/rebuild will be needed (and expected). That is not necessarily a bad thing, as “starting over” has some advantages.
Michigan in Shambles ⁉️⁉️