Tulane Tabs Former Assistant Lena Guarriello as Head Coach

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, June 19. TULANE University Director of Athletics Rick Dickson has named former Green Wave assistant Lena Guarriello as the new head coach for the TU swimming & diving program, which will return to competition in 2009-10.

Guarriello, 29, becomes the third coach hired by Tulane to restart a suspended program, joining women's golf head coach John Thomas Horton and women's tennis head coach Terri Sisk, who were hired last summer. TU will add three more coaches, including a men's tennis coach this summer, and a women's soccer and women's bowling coach a year from now, giving the Green Wave 16 total varsity sports programs and returning the athletic department to full strength for the first time since 2006.

"I am very excited to be a part of the rebuilding process at both the University and Athletic Department levels at Tulane," Guarriello said. "I have a personal attachment with the Tulane swimming & diving program because of Hurricane Katrina, so it is an honor to come back and restart the program."

Guarriello is just the second head coach in the brief history of the TU women's swimming & diving program (2003-06). The former Lena Darnell was the top assistant coach for the Tulane swimming and diving program from 2004-06. She helped TU to the Conference USA title during her rookie season of 2004-05. During her time at Tulane, her responsibilities included coordinating recruiting, on-deck swimming duties, dryland design and administrative support for the swimming and diving programs, as well as all home meet management.

"We're pleased with the selection of Lena to lead the reinstatement effort for our swimming & diving program," Dickson said. "She was an integral part of our Conference USA Championship success and brings proven qualities in recruiting and student-athlete development with a great blend of enthusiasm, familiarity and love for Tulane. We welcome her and her entire family."

The program was one of eight varsity sport programs suspended by the University in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2006. Since then, Guarriello has served as the head boy's and girl's swimming coach at Keller High School in Keller, Texas.

Guarriello, who swam for former Green Wave head coach Daniella Irle from 1997-2001 at Fresno State, was reunited with her coach when she came to Tulane in 2004 after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant at former Conference USA rival TCU, where she coached both the men's and women's teams on the pool deck as well as in the weight room. She helped the men's squad win its third consecutive C-USA Championship, was instrumental in leading the women's team to its first league title, and also assisted in the training of four NCAA provisional qualifiers.

Prior to her stint at TCU, Guarriello was the head women's swimming and water polo coach during the 2001-02 academic year at Clovis East High School in Clovis, Calif. While at Clovis East, she helped the varsity swim team attain 91 percent lifetime best times at the Tri-River Athletic Conference and Valley Championship swim meets. In addition, every team record was broken several times throughout the season.

A standout student-athlete at Fresno State from 1997-2001, Guarriello helped set a school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 2000, as well as breaking team weightlifting standards in the bench press and the squat. She was also named Western Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete and WAC All-Academic Team all four years, and received the Bulldogs' "Flex Award" for leadership in the weight room.

In addition to her background as a swim coach, Guarriello served as an intern in the Fresno State strength and conditioning center in Spring 2001, where she primarily worked with the football team.

A certified U.S. Swim Coach, Guarriello completed her degree in kinesiology from Fresno State in 2001, and is currently working toward completing a master's degree in kinesiology from TCU.

A native of Spring Valley, Calif., Guarriello and her husband, Jason, have twin daughters: Isabella and Olivia.

Special thanks to Tulane for contributing this report.

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