Rising collegiate sophomore Chris O’Grady has withdrawn his name from the NCAA Transfer Portal and plans to remain at USC.
In his freshman season, O’Grady made his mark on the Pac-12, taking 2nd in the 100 breast at the conference championships, 5th in the 200 breast, and 22nd in the 200 IM. He then went on to NCAAs, where he qualified for the B final of the 200 breast, finishing 16th overall.
“I respect Coach Lea Maurer and her vision for the USC men’s and women’s swim teams,” O’Grady said.
According to Chris’ dad John, Chris entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 31st – the day before Maurer was announced as the Trojans’ new head coach.
“Everyone thought USC would drag on the head coach search for months, but they didn’t,” John O’Grady said. “Our family believes Lea is a wise choice on USC’s part and we’re glad she secured the role.”
John O’Grady was a collegiate swimmer at Wyoming and is the inventor of the Aqua Knuckles training device.
Chris O’Grady’s personal best times:
- 100 Breast – 51.69
- 200 Breast – 1:51.67
- 200 IM – 1:45.74
O’Grady was the team’s fourth-best scorer last season at the Pac-12 Championships with 31 points. Three of those top four were freshmen, and the team’s top five scorers all return.
He was also one of only two Trojan swimmers to score individual points at the men’s NCAA Championship meet in March along with breaststroke training partner Trent Pellini. USC finished 26th as a team at nationals with 25 points.
Lea Maurer took over as the interim head coach at USC last fall when Jeremy Kipp was put on administrative leave over an incident where student-athletes claimed he kicked a water bottle that struck a swimmer in the face. An investigation by USC did not find evidence to support that claim, but Kipp resigned in early March anyway.
Less than a month later, Maurer was given the job on a full-time basis.
Entering the portal doesn’t mean an athlete has to transfer; rather, it gives them the freedom to communicate with other programs. Entering the NCAA transfer portal is an administrative process that does not involve an athlete’s current coaches. Student-athletes don’t actually have to notify their current coaches that they plan to enter the portal, though once they are in, their current coaches will usually find out shortly anyway.
While the vast majority of swimmers who enter the portal do wind up transferring, occasionally they wind up having a change of heart. Other high profile examples include Alabama breaststroker Liam Bell, who entered and withdrew the portal once before eventually entering again a year later and transferring to Cal; and D2’s fastest-ever sprinter Karol Ostrowski, who entered the portal last year but decided to return to Drury.
Forknight
Sounds like some have the intel on which swimmers were impacted by the cuts including “slow versus faster”.
Ultimately this is a question of culture change and Lea is tasked with changing that culture. Those who get it will remain and those who don’t can enter the transfer portal.
For those here who follow sports other than swimming, USC hired a major league new football coach – Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma. On day one at least 10-12 scholarship players including starters and all Pac-12 players entered the Transfer Portal, soon to be replaced by an equivalent number of starters from major D1 power like Oklahoma, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, Alabama, Auburn, etc. Riley is looking to change the culture… Read more »
I just can’t imagine there was a coincidence that he entered the transfer portal just 20 hours before lea was announced as head coach. Maybe that Matheson kid is for sure transfering and that will free up some money for Ogrady?
I haven’t heard great things about Lea from the women’s team. But it seems as if people are speaking highly of her in the comments
Didn’t know 10 guys got cut either. Wow! She’s cleaning house. Are girls getting cut too?
The information we’ve received is that the number of cuts were directed by the administration, not by Lea.
Braden-
Couple questions:
Is SwimSwam tracking all these cuts (I recall seeing something about Penn State)?
Just wondering if SwimSwam was going to write more about this and track the cuts (not the most pleasant topic, I know)
Also, is there going to be any attempt to track where these athletes end up – wasn’t sure if they will be accounted for in the transfer portal since they’ve been cut.
We’re doing our best. The problem is that a lot of coaches lie about them, so it can be hard to source the details.
We’re working on follow-up reporting on the topic for sure.
All good, know it’s challenging. Appreciate the reply.
Pogchamp
fortnite
It’s not an endorsement on Lea as much as it’s harder to leave your friend group and start over especially this late in the game for next year, There might not have been a comfortable fit either.
Lea will be Lea with her multiple personalities on deck. Her recently cutting ten didn’t make much sense with who she cut and who she kept. She kept kids that were much slower then the ones she cut. Keeping slower swimmers won’t win you any points in conference. Wouldn’t be surprised if USC took donor checks to save spots.. it’s the USC way.
Mr. O’Grady will be fine.
The mens team on the other hand will finish last in the… Read more »
What a sour comment. Did you or your kid or your best friend just get cut? Men’s and women’s teams both swam great this year, O’Grady had massive drops, why would he leave?
Neither Caleb. Swimming is a small circle. Would you like to wager the Trojans don’t take last and lose to Utah? Again….
Wonder where your loyalty lies. Pretty hypocritical to call yourself USC Trojan and wish poorly for the team. It’s one thing to not like a coach but it’s another thing to blatantly not believe in the guys to have a good year.
It’s literally an endorsement on Lea.
“I respect Coach Lea Maurer and her vision for the USC men’s and women’s swim teams,” O’Grady said.
According to Chris’ dad John, Chris entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 31st – the day before Maurer was announced as the Trojans’ new head coach.
“Everyone thought USC would drag on the head coach search for months, but they didn’t,” John O’Grady said. “Our family believes Lea is a wise choice on USC’s part and we’re glad she secured the role.”
Seems like USC made the safe and predictable hire. Guessing many of the top candidates steered clear for interviewing for this position due to the investigation of Kipp and culture on deck and within the program. Just my 2 cents.
I understand that you’re annoyed that they hired Lea as the new head coach.
But when you say nonsense like “this isn’t an endorsement” when it clearly is, it really makes you look petty and makes people not really value your 2 cents.
You can not like the hire without going full-nuclear to convince people you’re right. Not every disagreement has to be an all-guns assault.
Actually keeping slower swimmers could score more points at conference when you keep a cohesive team that buys into a culture and competes for more than themselves. That can make everyone faster and improve overall results while individual faster swimmers who only care about themselves actually can stunt the growth of the rest of the team. Based strictly on your comment, you don’t sound like you would get that and sound like the kind of ‘in it for myself’ swimmer who likely wouldn’t fit with what Lea is claiming to be trying to build.
“claiming” being the operative word here
Oh you definitely had a few swimmers on last year’s team that were ‘in it for themselves’ but I don’t think anyone with any intimate knowledge of the 10 cut would claim that applies to any of them. In fact, a couple of those cut put their own necks on the line to report the abusive behavior of Jeremy Kipp. Some chose to speak out on behalf of their TEAM and teammates, and some who remain were content to turn a blind eye if it didn’t affect them directly. In truth, moral was good last season after the departure of Kipp and the guys were a pretty tight group overall. Lea did not take into consideration team cohesiveness when she… Read more »
Will any of the Lea critics eat their words in this one? That’s a pretty strong endorsement.
Poggers dude