STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's Greg Meehan was named head coach of the 2020 U.S. Olympic women's swimming team, USA Swimming National Team Managing Director Lindsay Mintenko announced on Monday. Cal's Dave Durden will serve as the men's head coach.
"Dave and Greg have experienced tremendous success with both their collegiate teams and on USA Swimming's recent international staffs," Mintenko said. "They have earned a great deal of respect among of our National Team members and other coaches around the country. Our staff looks forward to collaborating with Dave and Greg over the next 18 months to put a plan in place to guide Team USA to continued success in Tokyo."
Meehan, a three-time NCAA Swimming Coach of the Year who led Stanford to national championships in 2017 and 2018, served as an assistant at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where he coached three Cardinal -- Lia Neal, Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado, who combined to win nine medals (four gold) -- and future Stanford star Katie Ledecky, who won four gold medals, one silver, and set two world records.
"We're joining a list of coaching legends and it's not lost on either one us," said Meehan, Stanford's Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming. "This is the greatest honor of my professional career. I'm looking forward to working with Dave and Team USA and all the coaches and athletes around the country as we prepare for Omaha and the first step toward success in 2020."
In his six seasons on The Farm, Meehan has mentored four Pac-12 Swimmers of the Year and four Pac-12 Newcomers of the Year, and has won four Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards. He has coached 29 different Cardinal swimmers to a combined 232 All-America honors, which includes 16 national championship relays and 23 individual national championships.
Stanford also won three Pac-12 Championships (2013, 2017, 2018) under Meehan and finished as the national runner-up at the NCAA Championships in 2014 and 2016, and placed third in 2015.
"I'd like to thank my wife Tess, and my son's Sal and James," Meehan said. "Their love and support continues to inspire me through this journey of coaching. I'd also like to extend an incredible note of gratitude to everyone at Stanford University – our Athletics Director Bernard Muir, our associate head coach Tracy Slusser and the incredible women that have been involved in the Stanford program over the past 6 1/2 years."
Meehan served as an assistant and associate head coach under Durden for four years at Cal prior to taking over at Stanford in 2012. Regarded as one of the top assistants in the country while in Berkeley, Meehan and Durden led the Golden Bears men's swimming and diving program to back-to-back national titles.
At the international level, Meehan has also served as the head coach for Team USA at the 2017 World Championships, was an assistant at the 2015 World Championships and 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, and was as a manager for the United States at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
A graduate of Rider, Meehan earned a degree in mathematics and secondary education. While at Rider, he competed in the 200 backstroke and was a member of several Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion relays. Meehan also was a four-time All-Academic Award recipient, and was named to the school's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
Meehan and his wife, Tess, reside in Palo Alto, Calif., with their two sons, Salvatore and James.
The Olympic pool competition will be held July 25-Aug. 2, 2020. Swimmers will compete for spots on the Team USA roster at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set for June 21-28, 2019, in Omaha, Nebraska.
The coaching nominations are pending the approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Below is a historical list of U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Head Coaches (1924-present):
- Louis De B Handley – 1924 Women's Head Coach
- Bill Bachrach – 1924 Men's Head Coach; 1928 Women's Head Coach
- Bob Kiphuth – 1928 Women's Head Coach; 1932 Head Coach; 1948 Men's Head Coach
- Ray Daughters – 1936 Women's Head Coach; 1948 Women's Head Coach
- Dick Papenguth – 1952 Women's Head Coach
- Matt Mann – 1952 Men's Head Coach
- Bob Muir – 1956 Men's Head Coach
- Stan Tinkham – 1956 Women's Head Coach
- Gus Stager – 1960 Men's Head Coach
- George Haines – 1960 Women's Head Coach; 1968, 1980 Men's Head Coach
- James "Doc" Counsilman – 1964, 1976 Men's Head Coach
- Peter Daland – 1964 Women's Head Coach; 1972 Men's Head Coach
- Sherm Chavoor – 1968, 1972 Women's Head Coach
- Jack Nelson – 1976 Women's Head Coach
- Don Gambril – 1984 Head Coach
- Eddie Reese – 1992, 2004, 2008 Men's Head Coach
- Mark Schubert – 1992, 2004 Women's Head Coach; 2000 Men's Head Coach
- Skip Kenney (Stanford) – 1996 Men's Head Coach
- Richard Quick (Stanford) – 1988 Head Coach; 1996, 2000 Women's Head Coach
- Jack Bauerle – 2008 Women's Head Coach
- Teri McKeever – 2012 Women's Head Coach
- Gregg Troy – 2012 Men's Head Coach
- David Marsh – 2016 Women's Head Coach
- Bob Bowman – 2016 Men's Head Coach
- Greg Meehan (Stanford) – 2020 Women's Head Coach
- Dave Durden – 2020 Men's Head Coach