Larson Named Assistant Swimming Coach at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, September 28 JON Larson, who has spent the last 10 years as the McCoy Natatorium Pool Coordinator and as the coach of the local club team Big Cat Aquatics, has been named an assistant swimming coach.

Larson will be taking his first collegiate coaching job since his undergraduate days. However, he brings a wealth of experience with him to the Nittany Lions. For the last 10 years, he has been the pool coordinator at McCoy Natatorium. Among his duties were supervising the staff at McCoy, assisting in \scheduling of all events at the Natatorium, supervising all aquatic programs being held at McCoy, acting as facility host for major competitions held at McCoy, and instructing exercise sport science classes as well as at Penn State sports camps.

As the head coach of Big Cat Aquatics, a role that he will continue to assume, he has worked with swimmers from elementary school age up through collegiate swimmers from the local area. Big Cat Aquatics, a USA Swimming club team that serves youth within a 50-mile radius of the Penn State campus, uses McCoy Natatorium for training and has provided a training environment for several current Penn State swimmers during their prep days. Among current Penn State swimmers that Larson has coached through his role with Big Cat are Molly Crispell, Kailey Morris, Jon Cochrane, Alan Erdley and Ben Ryan.

Prior to coming to the State College area, Larson served as head coach and program director of the Coronado Navy Swim Association in Coronado, Calif. from 1989-96. Before that, he was a student assistant coach at Alabama, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Sports and Fitness Management in 1989. He was a member of the swim team at Alabama for two years and also swam at Arizona State for two years prior to that.

Larson was the Middle Atlantic Swimming Coach of the Year in 2005 and the head coach of the Middle Atlantic All-Star team from 1999-2000. He was also named Coach of the Year by the San Diego Swimming Coaches Association in 1992 and served as president of the San Diego Swimming Coaches' Association from 1992-93.

"Jon and I came to Penn State about the same time," Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott said. "Both of us have shared an office suite over the years and complemented each other's roles within Penn State Athletics. Jon's coaching pedigree reads like a who's who of American Swimming. Jon is going to be an excellent collegiate coach and brings our staff and student-athletes a wealth of experience."

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