NC State swimming and diving head coach Braden Holloway announced on Friday evening the promotion of Gary Taylor to associate head coach. Taylor recently wrapped up his fourth season with the Wolfpack as an assistant coach.
Taylor is primarily responsible for the Pack’s ‘endurance speed’ group and assisting with recruiting responsibilities.
“Gary has made a huge impact on our program since his arrival four seasons ago. His experience in coaching, recruiting and leadership has been a great benefit to our programs,” said head coach Braden Holloway.
“Approaching every day enthused to move forward, our women and men’s programs have continued to improve under this staff and Gary’s contributions have been tremendous. We look forward to having Gary continue with us as we progress toward our next goals.”
As NC State’s men’s and women’s teams have skyrocketed to top-10 programs in the past two seasons, Taylor’s contributions to the program in the endurance area have been a major component of the Pack’s recent success.
During his tenure in Raleigh Taylor has played a vital part in guiding the Wolfpack men to back-to-back ACC Championship titles and top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championship in 2015 and ’16.
He helped to lead sophomore standout Anton Ipsen to ACC titles and All-America honors in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle in 2015 and ‘16, while upperclassmen Adam Linker and Austin Snyder each racked up valuable points at the past two conference championships. Linker additionally earned All-America honors in the 500 and 1,650 free at the 2016 NCAA Championship.
Ipsen recently punched his ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games, as he will represent Denmark in Rio de Janeiro in the 400m and 1,500m free.
Taylor also played a part in the development of recent graduate Christian McCurdy and Justin Ress’s successful rookie season. McCurdy was a three-time ACC Champion and All-American during his career and Ress was named the 2016 ACC Male Freshman of the Year. Ipsen tabbed the mention last season, marking the second-straight year a Wolfpack swimmer earned the honor.
On the women’s side he helped the Pack create program history in the 2015-16 season as the team placed second at the ACC Championship and ninth at NCAAs. This marked the highest conference and national finish since 1982.
In her first semester with the Wolfpack sophomore Hannah Moore earned All-ACC and All-America honors in three events during postseason competition, while senior transfer Shelly Craddock earned the first All-America honor of her career as a member of the 12th-place 800 free relay at NCAAs. She also helped the relay squad place second at ACCs.
Additionally, junior Rachel Muller just wrapped up the most successful season of her career at NC State as she placed third in the 1,650 free at the conference championship and collected four All-America honors from her second trip to NCAAs.
Prior to joining the Pack Taylor served four seasons as the distance coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State, and an additional nine years prior as a club coach. Taylor is a former student-athlete and 2001 graduate of Minnesota, as he was a member of the 1998 Big-10 Championship team.
Swimming news courtesy of NC State Swimming & Diving.
Congrats Gary! You are doing a great job and the Wolfpack is so lucky to have you! Keep up the great work!