Danny May Named New Head Coach at University of the Pacific

STOCKTON, CA., Sept. 18. UNIVERSITY of the Pacific (UOP) has named Danny May as head coach for women'sand men's swimming, according to an announcement by
Pacific Director of Athletics Lynn King.

May, who replaces Ray Looze, who has moved on to guide the Indiana men's program, recently finished his third season as head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Northern Iowa University in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The NIU men's and women's teams were cut several months ago, but the wome2n's team was restored whewn a Title IX suit was threatened.

The NIU Panther' men's and women's teams set 83 school records in three years under May, including 33 this past season. Before his position at Northern Iowa, May was an assistant coach at Brigham Young University. While at BYU, the swimmers he worked with broke school records in every event they competed. May coached three All-American swimmers at BYU.

An All-WAC sprinter while at BYU, May spent five years as the head assistant coach during two stints with the Cougars. Between his cycles with the Cougars, he coached high school and USS programs in Southern California.

May first arrived at BYU in 1984 after earning All-America honors in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke at Fullerton College. He swam for the Cougars for two years before serving an LDS mission to Geneva, Switzerland. After completing his mission in 1988, he returned to BYU to anchor four of five relays and help lead BYU to a second-place finish at the WAC conference championships.

May remained with the Cougars for two years as an assistant coach after graduating in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in English. He pursued a masters degree in International Studies at BYU in 1992. He then left to prepare for a doctoral degree in American Studies from the Claremont Graduate School in California.

During his time in California, he spent four years as coach of Hemet High School, where he led his team to an undefeated record in league competition and coached the CIF Southern Section Athlete of the Year in 1995.

On a club level, he coached several Junior National and Top 16 qualifiers.

May had total responsibility for the sprint program at BYU. During his second stint with the Cougars, the team placed 24th and 26th in the nation. During his tenure at BYU, the swim teams consistently placed in the top 10 academically in the nation among swim teams.

"I am honored and excited to join Pacific as the new men's and women's head swimming coach," said May.
"This is a dream job with a team that is talented, dedicated, and committed not only to swimming, but to academics and to each other. I have said for several years that I believe that the Pacific job is the best collegiate coaching position in the state of
California. It combines a great academic institution, with a great swim program, and a great place to live. I truly and fully believe that coaching at Pacific is the opportunity of a lifetime. My family and I are looking forward to a long and exciting experience at Pacific."

"We had a tremendous pool of candidates for this position, and Danny surfaced as the right choice," said King. "We are pleased to have someone of Danny’s skill and experience taking the reigns of an already successful program and to continue their development."

UOP ended UCSB's nearly quarter-century reign as Big West kingpins on the men's side last February during the championships at Belmont Plaza, and also won the women's title too.

Both Tiger teams are well stocked with returning veterans this season and UOP will be primed to make anotehbr run at the title under May.

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