…The Duke Blue Devils combined men’s and women’s programs will see their roster expand next season, as they’re hiring another assistant coach. Coach Dan Colella has turned the program around in the last few seasons, along with diving coach Drew Johansen. This included two qualifiers for the men’s NCAA Championship last year, Ben Tuben and Piotr Safromczyk which are their first swimming scorers at that meet in more than 30 years. The expanded roster is a recognition of the quality job that has already been done in Durham. Colella already has an outstanding staff, including Dan Carrington and Dawn Kane, who CollegeSwimming.com named an honorable mention for Assistant Coach of the Year this season…
…Tennessee will also be adding to their newly-expanded staff, as they’ve hired Ashley Jahn out of Idaho. This is a bit of a homecoming for Jahn, who was a Graduate Assistant at Tennessee from 2008-2010. During that two-year run, she obviously made enough of an impression on head coach Matt Kredich that he brought her back to the program again. Jahn also has a brief coaching stop at UNLV. Jahn is a 2003 graduate of the Air Force Academy, where she was a three-year swimmer and four-year water polo player…
…A big group of Australians are globe-trotting this May to avoid the winter cold down under. As the altitude training group in Mexico heads home, another group that includes Olympians Brittany Elmslie and Emily Seebohm are in the midst of a four-week training session in Tucson at the University of Arizona. This is an annual trip for the crew from the Nudgee Brothers’ club in Brisbane, that this season will lead up to the Santa Clara Grand Prix beginning May 31st. In Santa Clara, they’ll meet another group that is beginning a stay in Hawaii – one that includes Meagan Nay and Kylie Palmer…
Great news for Duke! It’s amazing what they’ve done with just two full time swim coaches. Plus, it gives me another person to talk to at ACCs next year.