Cal-Berkeley Names Sarah Dunleavy Assistant Women’s Swimming Coach

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

BERKELEY – Sarah Dunleavy, a former swimmer at Purdue who spent last season at Pitt and the previous three years at Kentucky, will join the Cal staff as an assistant women’s swimming coach, head coach Teri McKeever announced Monday.

“Sarah has gained valuable experience at a number of Division I institutions, and I’m excited to add her to our staff at Cal,” McKeever said. “She has earned a reputation as a great young coach with recruiting expertise and a willingness to grow and develop in our profession. I look forward to having Sarah join us in Berkeley.”

A collegiate swimmer at Purdue, Dunleavy’s coaching career has taken her to Illinois State, Kentucky and Pitt, with all three teams setting numerous school records during her tenure.

A native of Bethel Park, Pa., Dunleavy most recently served as director of women’s recruiting and assistant coach at Pitt for the 2016-17 season. During her one campaign, she primarily oversaw workouts for the men’s and women’s breaststrokers. The swimmers broke school records six times and produced an All-American with the highest finish by a Pitt swimmer in a sprint event in 14 years.

Dunleavy spent the previous three seasons at Kentucky as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator where she worked with the breaststroke and individual medley group, which produced seven school records, five NCAA qualifiers and five Olympic Trials qualifiers. Overall, the Wildcats finished among the top 20 at the NCAA Championships three times and placed two swimmers on the U.S. National team.

At Illinois State from 2012-13, Dunleavy assisted with the sprint and IM groups, and helped the squad set 16 school records and two conference marks.

In addition, Dunleavy served as a volunteer assistant at Purdue in the spring of 2012, as a camps counselor at Purdue for three summers and as an athlete representative with Allegheny Mountain Swimming LSC from 2006-08.

While at both Pitt and Kentucky, Dunleavy was the liaison with the team’s academic advisor. Kentucky produced the highest GPA among all Division I women’s swimming teams in the spring of 2014 (3.72) and Danielle Galyer received the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest GPA among all participants at the 2016 NCAA Championships. In 2016-17, the Pitt team GPA ranked among the top 20 nationally at 3.35.

“I am truly honored to become a part of the Golden Bear family,” Dunleavy said. “I would like to thank Coach McKeever and the administration at Cal for giving me this amazing opportunity. Excellence is an expectation at Cal, and I feel that everyone I’ve met on campus shows a sincere concern for the well-being of each student-athlete, helping them achieve at the highest levels in the pool, in the classroom and beyond their athletic careers. Coach McKeever has undeniable experience and knowledge of the sport, and I am eager to get to work with a team that boasts such a great tradition of success.”

As a competitive swimmer, Dunleavy was a team captain and three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection at Purdue from 2008-12. She received the athletic department’s John Wooden Leadership Award as a senior, as well as the swim team’s Cathy Wright-Eger Educational Excellence Award. In high school, Dunleavy competed at various national-level meets and was a 15-time all-state selection.

Dunleavy graduated from Purdue in 2012 with her degree in public relations and rhetorical advocacy, minoring in sociology and law & society.

Press release courtesy of California Intercollegiate Athletics.

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