Ukiah, CA – Former Auburn and Cal swimmer, Tony Cox, has joined the Ukiah Dolphins team as Head Coach. The Dolphins made the announcement earlier this month, with Cox taking post at both the Dolphins club and Ukiah High School swim team, effective December 15th.
24-year-old Cox has been involved in the sport of swimming for the past 18 years, originating as a club swimmer in the Southern California area. After two successful years on the Auburn University squad, Cox transferred to Cal, where he was part of a national runner-up 200y and 400y medley relay line-up (backstroke leg) at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Cox also placed individually in the 100y backstroke event at that year’s meet, finishing 9th overall in 45.46.
Earlier this year, as a strength and conditioning coach, Cox recently spent several months in the Netherlands, with Dutch record holder Lia Dekker under his tutelage. He is credited with helping Dekker rebound after a serious knee injury that left her unable to walk immediately, helping her claim second- and third-place finishes at the Dutch National Championships.
In terms of what made him decide to pursue a stateside coaching position, Cox recently told the Ukiah Daily Journal that he “just loves the swimming aspect. I think it’s really good for our bodies and it’s just really good exercise overall. I just really enjoy the fundamentals of it. There are several components that just relate to everything in your life.” Cox also explained that he will be “pushing to try new ideas that I was wishful to try and wasn’t really able to try, so it’s kind of fun to be on that side of the pool deck.”
I loved seeing Lee at meets and was sad to hear he was retiring (makes me feel old), but I look forward to seeing and meeting Tony at meets in the future – best of luck!
GO BEARS! Tony will be awesome!