Founded 1934 Head coach Matt Kredich Men's NCAA 1978 | Location Knoxville, TN Colors UT Orange and White Conference Southeastern Conference | |
Home pool Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center | ||
Tennessee volunteers swimming and diving training trip 2014
The Tennessee Volunteers swimming and diving program represents the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers are currently coached by Matt Kredich. The Vols host their swim meets in the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center which was newly built in 2008. The Vols compete in the SEC where they have won 10 SEC team titles, 151 individual titles and 44 relay crowns. Over the past 75 years of competition the Vols have won 34 individual NCAA titles and 1 NCAA national title. The Vols have also featured 782 All-Time All-America Selections up until 2009.
Contents
Tennessee volunteers swimming and diving training trip 2014
Decade of dominance
When Ray Bussard was hired in 1968 as head coach for the Vols swimming & diving team the team hadn't competed at the NCAA level since 1959 and had not ever won a team SEC championship. In only his second year as head coach Bussard won the school's first SEC title for men's swimming & diving and would go on to compete in the NCAA tournament. Throughout the 1970s Tennessee owned the 400-freestyle relay at the SEC Championships winning it for ten straight years. During that ten year span Tennessee earned five straight 800-freestyle relay titles and won the 400 medley crown nine out of 11 times. In 1978 Bussard would accomplish the biggest goal for any team by winning the 1978 NCAA championship. At the start of the championship meet the Vols jumped out to a 24-point lead on the first day of competition and would continue on winning the title. The title was not only a first for a team from the Southeastern Conference but also a first for any team in the south. When Bussard retired in 1988 he finished with a 252-20 overall record and a .926 winning percentage making him the winningest swimming and diving coach in Tennessee history. He left the school having earned NCAA Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1978, as well as SEC Coach of the Year in 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1978. In 2008 Bussard was inducted in the American Swimming Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.
Tennessee Volunteers Olympians
The University of Tennessee has had 28 Olympians (20 men, 8 women) represent Tennessee's swimming and diving program since the 1970s. Since that time seven have earned medals including two individual gold medalists and six gold medals earned as part of a relay. The following list include all of the former and current Olympic participants.
As of the 2012 London Olympics