Penn State Swimming and Diving Adds Two to Coaching Staff

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, September 12. TIM Murphy’s coaching staff at Penn State grew by two this week, as the school hired a new head diving coach, as well as an assistant swimming coach.

Dennis Ceppa stepped in as diving coach on Tuesday, replacing 28-year head coach Craig Brown. Ceppa comes to Penn State after four seasons at George Mason University, where he guided Derrick Butts to the NCAA championships in 2012, the first time a George Mason diver made it to the Big Dance.

He’s also the coach of record for Amanda Burke, who recently competed at the world championships. Penn State has not taken a diver to the NCAA championships since 2006, when Adam Pierce got the nod to participate in Atlanta that year.

Steve Barnes will join Murphy’s coaching squad on deck as one of three assistant coaches. He and Doak Finch will mark their first seasons as Penn State coaches, while Liz McMillan is starting her sixth season in University Park.

Barnes makes his NCAA Division I debut with this hire. He spent his collegiate swimming and coaching time in Division III, first as a student-athlete at Ithaca College, where he still holds the school records in distance freestyle. His first coaching job was at Kalamazoo College, where he worked as assistant coach before moving to Wabash College to be head swimming coach there.

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