Marshall’s Ian Walsh Named California Women’s Assistant Coach

2016.03.19 2016 Womens NCAA Swimming Championships_California Trophy

Photo Courtesy: Reagan Lunn/Georgia Tech Athletics

Ian Walsh, a former swimmer at Duquesne who has spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Marshall, will join the Cal staff as an assistant women’s swimming coach, head coach Teri McKeever announced Monday.

“Ian is a young, enthusiastic coach whose passion for the profession will be an inspiration for all of us,” McKeever said. “While he is still early in his career, he has learned from a strong set of mentors and I hope to continue in that fashion for him. Having been a competitive swimmer and coached at the collegiate and club levels, he brings a diverse set of experiences that will be an asset for our program. We are excited to welcome him and his fiancée, Sarah, to our Golden Bear family.”

During his tenure at Marshall, the Thundering Herd broke women’s swimming school records 28 times, finished a program-best third at the Conference USA Championships this past February and produced four individual conference champions. Walsh primarily worked with the sprinters and middle-distance swimmers and served as the recruiting coordinator at Marshall. In 2015, the program was named one of the top 16 most improved teams at the NCAA Division I level and, in the fall of 2014, sported a fall team GPA of 3.53, which ranked as the fifth-highest in the country among women’s swimming teams.

In addition, Walsh served as head coach of the YMCA Charleston Aquatic Team while in Huntington, West Virginia, from 2013-16.

“I am grateful and honored to join the Cal women’s swimming program,” Walsh said. “I’m excited to work alongside Teri McKeever and build upon Cal’s rich tradition of excellence and success at Berkeley. I look forward to working with the student-athletes and members of this prestigious university. It has been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience here at Marshall University and I want to thank all my colleagues, mentors and friends that have helped me throughout my career.”

Walsh moves into the role filled this past season by Kathie Wickstrand, who has been a longtime advisor for the Bears focusing on team building and group dynamics.

“I want to thank Kathie for stepping into our fulltime assistant role on short notice this past summer,” McKeever said. “She brought continuity and exceptional skill in an important year with Rio on the horizon. Kathie is a big reason that we were able to continue our streak of finishing among the top three at the NCAA national meet for the eighth consecutive year. As we welcome Ian into the fold, I am looking forward to having Kathie return to her previous role as a consultant and leadership expert for our program.”

Walsh spent one year as the head assistant coach at Albright College in Pennsylvania prior to his term at Marshall. Over the course of the season, the men’s and women’s swimmers combined for 13 school records and 19 individual or relay conference championships. Both teams captured the 2013 Middle Atlantic Conference title, and Walsh was part of a staff that received the league’s Coach of the Year award.

Walsh began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bloomsburg University, where he implemented dryland and weight training programs for the sprint and middle-distance groups, as well as managed on-deck coaching responsibilities.

As an undergraduate student, Walsh had a stellar career at Duquesne University, setting school records in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and being a member of two medley relays that set school marks. He won the Atlantic 10 title in the 100 breaststroke in 2009.

Originally from Northeast Pennsylvania, Walsh was a high school All-American at Pocono Mountain West High School and set numerous club records as a youth swimmer at the Pocono Family YMCA.

Wash received his degree in business administration in 2010 from Duquesne and later earned his master’s degree in business education from Bloomsburg University in 2011.

Cal finished third at the 2016 NCAA Championships and has claimed four national team titles since 2009. The Golden Bears are the only program in the country to place among the top three in the nation each of the past eight seasons. Cal swimmers have also claimed a combined 63 individual or relay NCAA crowns.

California Athletics contributed this report.

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Mark Johnson

8 years ago

Congratulations Ian!!!

Mike Wolbert

8 years ago

Very proud of you!