BATON ROUGE\u00a0–\u00a0The LSU swimming and diving program has added Steve Mellor the staff as an assistant coach, co-head coaches Dave Geyer and Doug Shaffer announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Steve back to the program,\u201d Geyer said. \u201cHe was very much respected during his brief tenure here. Through the brief vacancy period it was an easy decision in my mind to bring back a coach that I can trust and can jump on board with us without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellor returns to the program after serving as an assistant coach for the Tigers during the 2011-12 season. The Chester, Chesire, England native helped lead former Tiger Craig Hamilton distance swimmer to earn NCAA Honorable Mention All-American honors in the mile with a program record time of 14:45.94.<\/p>\n
Hamilton also won a bronze medal in the mile and garnered a sixth place finish in the 500 free at SEC’s. Mellor also coached then freshman Frank Greeff to a bronze medal in the 200 fly and All-SEC Freshman honors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could not be more excited to rejoin the LSU Swimming & Diving program,\u201d Mellor said. \u201cI felt very much at home here during my first spell. I loved the culture that comes with LSU Athletics, and was proud of the work I did. I\u2019m looking forward to helping the program achieve everything it has set out to accomplish this year, while ensuring we continue to build and go from strength-to-strength in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since leaving LSU, Mellor has coached at Creative Aquatics and Nationwide Swim Clinics in England.<\/p>\n
Mellor developed kids of all ages at Creative Aquatics in South West of England. It was recognized as the nation\u2019s best swim school in 2013.<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, Mellor also ran Nationwide Swim with the assistance of three-time Olympic Finalist, James Goddard. The pair visited club teams and also worked with swimmers who were looking to achieve national and international success in the future.<\/p>\n
Prior to his first stint at LSU, Mellor spent two and half seasons as a graduate assistant coach at North Carolina State. Mellor served as head coach of NC State’s club team, the Wolfpack Aquatics, in 2010 and 2011 after serving as assistant coach in the summer of 2009.<\/p>\n
Under Mellor’s two and a half year watch, nine women’s and three men’s school records were broken. He worked closely with 200-breaststroke record holder (2:15.81) Jessica Ward and 200-freestyle record holder (1:47.69) Marifrances Henley.<\/p>\n
The highlight to Mellor’s brief coaching career was swimmer Mason McGee’s vast improvements. Shreveport, La. native McGee achieved two top-eight performances in the 200-meter free and the 800m free at US Nationals in 2009.<\/p>\n
Mellor’s illustrious career began on the international stage with his selections to the British Senior Teams in 2005 and 2007, as well the 2005 Mare Nostrum Grand Prix Tour. He competed in the European Championships is 2007.<\/p>\n
Mellor set two NC State records in the 200 back and the 400 IM. He was elected team captain for three straight seasons from 2005-2008.<\/p>\n
Mellor received All-ACC honors from 2007-2009 and an eight-point ACC scorer. He is a three-time NCAA qualifier and registered a top-18 finish in the 200-back in 2008.<\/p>\n
Mellor was world ranked in the top-50 for the 200-meter backstroke in 2005 and 2008. He went on to be a finalist in the 2008 US Open.<\/p>\n
Mellor is a native of Chester, England and first came over to the US in 2005. His parents are Nigel and Josie Mellor and he has an elder sister, Caroline. He is a huge fan of the Liverpool Football Club.<\/p>\n