Alabama Swimming Hires Olympic Bronze Medalist Catie DeLoof as a New Assistant Coach

US Nationwide Staff member and Olympic bronze medalist Catie DeLoof has been added to the swimming & diving teaching workers on the College of Alabama, the place she’ll coach alongside her former foe Margo Geer, who’s this system’s head coach.

Neither DeLoof nor a consultant for the College of Alabama responded for details about whether or not DeLoof was retiring as an athlete, and DeLoof has not made any announcement on her social media channels.

“Catie is an distinctive addition to our teaching workers,” Geer stated. “Her intensive expertise in high-level competitors, mixed along with her dedication and enthusiasm will undoubtedly make a constructive impression on our program. Catie’s ardour for educating the game and growing talent and character has been evident from the start of this course of. She is a superb match for this function, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to the Tide!”

Geer and DeLoof swam related occasions throughout their aggressive careers. On the 2019 U.S. Open, which was Geer’s final Nationwide Championship meet, she completed seventh within the 50 free in 25.17 and Deloof was fifth in 25.14. On the identical meet, Geer was eighth within the 100 free in 54.74, one spot behind DeLoof’s 54.41; and each additionally swam the 200 free.

Now the 2 will work collectively at Alabama the place within the 4th season below Geer, the ladies’s staff has begun to tackle the picture of their head coach. The freshman dash duo Jada Scott and Cadence Winter led the Crimson Tide by the autumn semester final season, although a shoulder damage for Scott ultimately saved her out of the NCAA Championship meet.

A spokesperson for Alabama says that Scott has been rehabbing all through the summer season and that whereas the aim is to have her prepared for the beginning of the season, there is no such thing as a particular timetable but.

Whereas DeLoof doesn’t have any important teaching expertise on the collegiate degree, she did work the College of Michigan summer season swim camps from 2016 by 2019.

Michigan is DeLoof’s alma mater, the place she earned 14-All-America honors, together with 9 first staff honors.

She was a five-time Massive Ten Champion on relays and as a senior, she was the runner-up within the 50, 100, and 200 yard freestyles on the Massive Ten Championships.

DeLoof made the U.S. Olympic Staff for the Tokyo 2020 Video games, the place she earned a bronze medal as a prelims leg of the American 400 free relay.

She competed at 4 consecutive U.S. Olympic Trials meets from 2012 by 2024. In her final meet in 2024, she completed seventh within the 50 free and tied-for-Sixth within the 100 free. She would ultimately lose to her College of Tennessee post-grad coaching accomplice Erika Connoly in a swim-off for a spot on the Olympic Staff.

DeLoof has educated at a lot of the world’s prime golf equipment in her profession. She grew up within the suburbs of Detroit swimming with the Grosse Pointe Gators, and after Michigan would prepare below Mike Backside at Michigan, David Marsh at Staff Elite, Todd DeSorbo on the College of Virginia, top-flight Briti9sh program Loughborough College, and most lately Tennessee Aquatics below Matt Kredich. She was additionally a member of the New York Breakers and Tokyo Frog Kings of the Worldwide Swimming League.

DeLoof is one among a lot of excessive profile swimmers within the final 4 years who’ve jumped straight into teaching on the prime degree of collegiate swimming, together with lately Sydney Pickrem at West Virginia, Annie Lazor at Florida, and Geer herself, who had basically no full-time teaching expertise when she was named the pinnacle coach at Alabama.