James Winchester Announces New Staff At TCU

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

Recently hired TCU head swimming and diving coach James Winchester announced the hiring of his staff, adding Anthony Crowder, Nathan Lavery, Birkir Jonsson, and Jean Madison to the TCU family.

“I’m really excited about the staff we have assembled,” Winchester said. “We had a lot of interest from candidates across the country and coming from all levels. The administration and myself took our time to make sure we found the right fits. In doing so, we found a phenomenal and hungry staff with championship experience at all levels and we’re excited to move forward and put TCU back on the map.”

Crowder comes to TCU after four years at George Washington University where he coached under Winchester as the head diving coach. While at GW, Crowder’s divers reset all of the school diving records. In 2018, three divers finished top 8 at the A10 Championships and qualified for NCAA Zones. Prior to GW, Crowder coached at Wingate University where he coached Lindsey Taylor, the 2012 NCAA D2 one-meter dive national champion. The Eastern Illinois graduate will serve as TCU’s head diving coach.

“It is a pleasure to bring Anthony on board as our new diving coach,” Winchester said. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with him for the last three years and he’s been a key part of our championship success at GW. He’s a passionate coach, very relationship-oriented, and I know he’s going to be a major success here.”

Lavery comes to TCU after serving as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, where he coached during the 2017-2018 season. Prior to Georgia Tech, Lavery coached at Villanova for five seasons. While on staff at Villanova, the Wildcats won four consecutive women’s Big East conference titles. The Port Elizabeth, South Africa native received his collegiate degree from Texas A&M, where he was a three-time All-American.

“Although we had a great pool of candidates, Nathan really stood out to the administration and myself during the process,” Winchester said. “He’s well-articulated, brings Power Five experience from his time at Georgia Tech and championship experience from his time at Villanova. I know he’s excited to be back here in Texas.”

Also making the move from George Washington University, Jonsson coached for the Colonials for six seasons and served as GW’s men’s recruiting coordinator. While at GW, Jonsson worked with NCAA qualifiers Andrea Bolognesi (2016, 2017) and Gustav Hokfelt (2018). He coached Hokfelt into the top 100 world rankings in the 50m and 100m backstroke in 2017 and 2018. The Iceland native swam at the University of New Orleans for two seasons before transferring to Old Dominion where he finished his collegiate career.

“I had the pleasure of working with Birk for many years,” Winchester said. “He swam for me at the University of New Orleans and we worked together for the last three years at GW. He was a big part of our success there, in charge of our men’s recruiting and sprint programs. He’s really grown and developed as a coach these last few years and I’m excited to see what he will do at this level.”

Madison returns to TCU after spending last year’s season at William Jewell University where she served as an assistant coach. Prior to that, she spent two years at TCU as one of the program’s graduate assistants. The Lee’s Summit, Mo. product graduated from Florida International University in 2015 where she served as a team captain for the swim team.

“Jean is going to be a tremendous asset to our program right from the start,” Winchester said. “Her technical knowledge is pretty high, especially swimming in the 3s system down at FIU under Randy Horner, the same system we will use here at TCU. As a young coach, she has definitely shown her grasp of the sport, is a relentless recruiter, and already has key experience here at TCU. She’s one of the bright young coaches in our profession and I’m excited to see what she can do here.

“As we build a culture of success here at TCU, it was important to me to bring in a staff that has had Championship level success, and also a staff with high standards and a keen eye for people development. My staff and I will provide our student athletes with the tools needed to be successful in the classroom, pool, but most importantly in life as well. We are here to do something special, and I look forward to taking the journey together with this staff.”

The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with TCU Swimming and Diving. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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Pro Women Fitness

5 years ago

Well then!

Maureen Ferguson Goodwin

5 years ago

TCU is very lucky to have Nate Lavery as a coach.