The University of Minnesota has announced the hiring of Zach Mertens as a new assistant swimming & diving coach. He fills the spot vacated when Jeff Kostoff retired from coaching in July.
Mertens spent the last six seasons on the staff at NCAA Division II power Drury, where he was a full-time assistant for the last five seasons.
“We are excited and fortunate to have Zach join us! He has been an instrumental part of Drury’s success over the past several years,” Director of Swimming and Diving Kelly Kremer said. “Zach is creative and tireless in his approach to recruiting, and he has proven to be a great educator and coach with the Panthers. We are looking forward to Zach’s positive impact with our student-athletes and with our entire Golden Gopher Swimming and Diving Program.”
Mertens also spent time working as an assistant with Springfield Aquatics Swim Club, the local club program in Springfield where Drury is located, and the Columbia Swim Club in his hometown. He was also the head coach for four high schools in the Columbia Public Schools district.
A native of Columbia, Missouri, Mertens swam collegiately at another strong Division II program, Ouachita Baptist, where he was primarily a breaststroker and IM’er.
In 2022-23 he helped guide the men’s swimming and diving team to an NCAA Division II runner-up finish as well as national championships in five events. The Drury women’s team finished fourth in the country and won the GLVC Championship.
Mertens guided the Panthers’ men’s and women’s teams to GLVC Championships and runner-up finishes in 2021. That men’s team featured Karol Ostrowski, who was named GLVC Freshman of the Year and competed for Poland in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. The men’s team had to vacate their title and their NCAA runner-up finish from 2021 because of compliance issues.
Mertens was also a Jean K. Freeman Scholar with the CSCAA in 2022. The Jean Freeman Scholarship is given annually by the CSCAA to six collegiate assistant coaches whose exceptional contributions have brought recognition to their institution, and whose leadership, integrity, honesty, competitive attitude and personal graciousness epitomize those characteristics reflected by Jean Freeman. The University of Minnesota’s pool is also named after Jean Freeman.
The Minnesota men finished 5th out of 8 teams at the 2023 Big Ten Championships, while the women’s team was 5th out of 12.
The women’s team returns their top scorer from last year’s Big Ten Championships Megan Van Berkom, who as a freshman finished 3rd in the Big Ten in the 200 IM, 2nd in the 400 IM, and 3rd in the 200 fly.
The men, meanwhile, graduate their top performer from last season, Max McHugh, who is a four-time NCAA Champions in breaststroke events. He was the lone All-American for the Gophers last year, scoring 36 points for 21st place in the team standings, though Minnesota returns the rest of their NCAA qualifiers on the men’s side.
A recent Minnesota staff restructuring, which didn’t include any changes to contracts, saw promotions for Mike Joyce (men’s team) and Stacy Busack (women’s team) to be head coaches of the respective swimming programs, with Kelly Kremer being named the Director of Swimming and Diving.
But……Kremer is still there. Time for him to leave.
Ok -crimson chin
Watch out Big Ten! A very deserved opportunity for Zach who has proven himself during his time at Drury not only by recruiting big talent but also developing swimmers to big success. And he makes swimming fun 😃 The Gophers are getting one of the best. Big things ahead!
Way to go Zach!! Minnesota is getting a great coach and an even better person with this hire. Better stock up on the coffee in the coaches office!
One of the best in the country! congrats my guy
Top notch hire! The man behind the success of the Drury sprint crew over the last few years — glad to see him taking his talents to Minnesota.