Arkansas to Name Sean Schimmel Head Coach; Arkansas Confirms Hire

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas, July 16. SEAN Schimmel, the former Maryland swimming and diving head coach, has been named the head coach at the University of Arkansas. Swimming World originally reported that Arkansas would be announcing later today. Schimmel presided over the Maryland program, before having it cut out from under him this past year.

Schimmel was the head coach for Maryland during a four-year time span, following in the footsteps of Dave Durden, who has gone on to win a pair of NCAA title at the University of California. During his time coaching the Terrapins, Schimmel led the women's squad into the NCAA Top 25 for the first time since 2005 during 2010 and backed that up with a 22nd-place showing in 2011. With the specter of the program being cut, Schimmel still managed to help the women to a 36th-place showing this last year.

Schimmel made an immediate impact on the program when he first took over. During his first year in College Park, the men broke 14 team records, while the women downed 11. Meanwhile, Schimmel continually placed several members of his squads on both the men's and women's CSCAA Scholar All-American Teams throughout his tenure.

Prior to his stop in Maryland, Schimmel served as the associate head coach at LSU as well as the top assistant position at Harvard. During his two years at LSU, Schimmel helped the women's squad to a 17th-place finish in 2007. Before LSU, he spent seven years working for Harvard head coach Tim Murphy. From 1999-2006, Harvard produced seven All-Americans, and 20 honorable mention All-Americans. The men's squad also finished 17th in 2002, with 14 school records falling during Schimmel's time with Harvard.

Schimmel originally cut his teeth as a coach in the YMCA ranks as a head coach at the La Canada Flintridge YMCA in California. As a competitive swimmer, Schimmel swam for Southern California, where he graduated with a B.A. in communications.

Arkansas press release

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sean Schimmel has been named the head women's swimming and diving coach at the University of Arkansas, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long announced Friday.

Schimmel joins the Razorback program after spending the last four seasons as the head coach at the University of Maryland. Prior to his tenure with the Terrapins, he was an assistant coach at LSU and at Harvard.

“We are pleased to announce the selection of Sean Schimmel as the head coach of our swimming and diving program,” Long said. “Sean brings a tremendous wealth of experience to our program including a clear understanding of what is required to build and maintain a competitive swimming and diving program within the Southeastern Conference and nationally.

“He has been an integral part of nationally competitive programs as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach. Throughout his coaching career, he has mentored student-athletes enabling them to achieve at a high level in the pool and in the classroom. I am confident that under Coach Schimmel's leadership our swimming and diving program will continue to succeed athletically and academically while proudly representing the University of Arkansas.”

While the head coach at Maryland, Schimmel led the men's and women's swimming and diving programs for four seasons. It wasn't long into his tenure with Maryland that it became evident the program was on the upswing as Terps swimmers tallied 25 school records — 14 on the men's and 11 on the women's side — in Schimmel's first year.

More recently, in 2011-12, he guided the Terps to a top 25 finish (22nd) at the NCAA Championships on the women's side. In four seasons with the women's team, Schimmel went 37-8 in dual meet action, and Maryland swimmers also totaled 19 All-America nods.

The Terps were no stranger to academic success under Schimmel's tutelage, as Maryland was named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America team for three consecutive seasons, and this season seven Terps received Academic All-ACC honors, with 27 total honors in his four seasons.

Prior to his time at Maryland, he was the associate head coach at LSU from 2007-2009 and served as the top assistant at Harvard from 1999-2006. During his time at LSU and Harvard, Schimmel coached a total of 53 All-Americans.

At Harvard he helped capture four Ivy League conference championships with the Crimson.

He joined the Harvard staff after becoming the head coach at the La Canada Flintridge YMCA in California, where he coached several men and women to the YMCA National Championships. While working with the YMCA, he managed a staff of three coaches and a 115-member swim team.

Schimmel had an impressive collegiate swimming career as a power in the butterfly and freestyle events for the University of Southern California (1987-91). Schimmel competed in the 1988 Olympic trials in the 100 and 200-meter butterfly. In 1992, he graduated from USC with a bachelor's in communications.

Schimmel is married to the former Tricia Starr, and the couple has two daughters, Peyton Lilly and Dillan Rose.

For more information regarding Razorback swimming & diving or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use