The college swimming world finds itself in the midst of a wild ride this offseason. Coaches are on the move, athletes are transferring, and the best female swimmer in the NCAA is turning professional. 

With so many moving parts, it can be tricky to keep up with the action. So we’ve gathered all the highlights from this offseason in one place.

March 20 — Eastern Michigan cuts men’s swimming

This wasn’t how anyone wanted to start an offseason. An Eastern Michigan program boasting 34 conference championships was eliminated along with three other sports at the university. Needless to say, many were upset and angered by the decision.

Students and more hosted a rally against cuts to support the reviving the terminated programs. Claims by the institution stated budget issues caused the cuts while those in opposition claimed the swimming and diving program was generating a profit for the school. The sad result is many student-athletes aren’t able to finish their careers at EMU.

MAC Freshman of the Year Carter Swift later announced he would be transferring amid the fallout. The 1:35 200-yard freestyler is headed to Tempe, AZ, to be an Arizona State Sun Devil. Numerous others transferred or switched commitments as well. 

Despite the pleas and protests and a lot of anger, Eastern Michigan plans to make those previously announced cuts in their athletic department, ending their varsity softball, men’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis and wrestling teams.https://t.co/Zlpoj8BVDc

— Freep Sports (@freepsports) May 2, 2018

March 24 — Wisconsin announces Whitney Hite won’t return as coach

The first coaching domino fell before the NCAA Championships even finished. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez announced that head coach Whitney Hite would not be returning. At that point, Hite still had a swimmer competing. 

Two polarizing possibilities stemmed from the announcement. First, Hite was leaving with his sights set on coaching his alma mater, Texas. Second, and the more likely possibility, the high rate of attrition in the program led to his exit. The latter proved true as the program turned in a new direction.

March 26 — Stanford’s Katie Ledecky turns professional

No drafts here but Katie Ledecky opted to forgo her final two years of eligibility and turn professional. The five-time Olympic gold medalist will remain in school at Stanford and keep training with Cardinal coach Greg Meehan.

Her move was to be expected. While Olympians have stayed amateur while in college before, few are as prominent as Ledecky. On occasion, those swimmers have lost potential money. She will avoid that.

Ledecky hit the ground running as a professional. In her first race, she broke the world record in the 1500-meter free in Indianapolis. Ultimately, the more records she breaks, the money she makes.

?? 1500m ? RECORD from @katieledecky in 15:20.48! Beating her previous mark by 5 seconds! #TYRProSeries pic.twitter.com/ZkbqPCxQnz

— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) May 16, 2018

March 28 — Brett Hawke resigns as head coach at Auburn

After 10 years of coaching his alma mater, Brett Hawke decided to step aside. He had experienced up-and-down success at Auburn while living in the shadow of historic coaches Richard Quick and David Marsh. Hawke’s departure comes just over two months after Auburn hired Allen Greene as its new director of athletics.

During his time with the Tigers, Hawke accounted for 11 NCAA champions and three SEC team titles. The departure of All-American breaststroker Jacob Molacek near the end of Hawke’s tenure tends to be a lasting memory for some. 

April 11 & 13 — Both coaches resign at Northwestern

Separated by two days, head coaches Abby Steketee and Jarod Schroeder stepped down. Northwestern is far removed from the successes of Matt Grevers and company. Resignations, in this case, are an opening to revamp a program. With NU spending the big bucks to redo facilities, coaching changes tend to be the next step.

The Northwestern women’s team finished seventh and its men’s team placed ninth at this year’s Big Ten Championships. Two women qualified for the NCAA Championships, while no men reached Minneapolis.

April 16 — Ned Skinner out at Virginia Tech

The fifth head coach to free up a job came at Virginia Tech. Ned Skinner devoted 20 seasons to the Hokies and mentioned he felt it was time for new leadership as he was parting ways. While other resignations felt a bit forced, Skinner seems to be leaving on his own terms.

His squads finished middle of the pack this year in the ACC.

April 17 — Yuri Suguiyama announced as Wisconsin’s head coach

Yuri Suguiyama has been hailed as part of an elite group of collegiate assistants. His coaching talent showed as he was selected to coach on staff for multiple national team functions. He ascended quickly to the top as his coaching career began while working with a young Katie Ledecky.

Suguiyama may be inheriting the best position for future success. Wisconsin has All-American backstroker Beata Nelson for another two years. Even better, construction is underway on a new state-of-the-art aquatic facility on campus.

Although a move from the Bay Area to the Midwest may not seem ideal for Suguiyama, the possibilities in his new position are endless with a facility such as the Badgers are getting. Suguiyama is now tasked with getting UW swimming back to national prominence.

April 25 — Gregg Troy retires as Florida’s head coach

The shocker of coaching changes dropped when Gregg Troy announced his retirement from college coaching. The age-old joke is coaches leave along with their best swimmer. Troy took that to an entirely new level.

Troy, who spent 20 years at Florida, stepped away from the Gators along with star Caeleb Dressel just a month after the latter posted the greatest short course performance in history. Coaching the men and the women, Troy won a national title on the women’s side in 2010. 

Troy leaves behind longtime assistant Anthony Nesty, who has served as the associate head coach for 12 seasons. He’s coached club, college, and internationally in addition to being an Olympic gold medalist as an athlete. Only one thing is missing: being a collegiate head coach and having a team all his own.

First male to win the 50 free national title 4️⃣ times. ✅
First in the sport to swim the 50 free in less than 18 seconds. ✅✅

It was a historic day for @FloridaGators senior Caeleb Dressel at the #NCAAswim championships. pic.twitter.com/hM59vBjp4e

— NCAA (@NCAA) March 23, 2018

April 25 — Northwestern announces plan to combine swim program

Two weeks prior, it was made clear that the Wildcats program was taking a turn. Two coaches out the door laid a path to combine the men and women into one unified team. 

Northwestern was one of two programs with separate programs. With the move, the Wildcats leave Purdue behind as the only team with separate head coaches. Northwestern announced the plan to combine prior to naming who would lead the newly joined programs.

April 29 — Gary Taylor hired as Auburn head coach

Although not a direct member of the Auburn family, former NC State assistant coach Gary Taylor married into the tradition. He mentioned in his introductory press conference that his wife, a 2005 Auburn graduate, is very excited. She might have added the extra push needed to get Taylor to his first head coaching job.

It probably didn’t take much convincing for Taylor to sign on and become one of the highest-paid head coaches in college swimming. Being the head coach at Auburn carries great tradition but also extremely high expectations. He needs to be the best version of himself to compete with David Marsh’s legacy. 

Taylor worked primarily distance while on the sprint intensive staff at NC State. He produced All-Americans such as Anton Ipsen in recent memory. The cross of experiences in coaching will play well at Auburn, as the Tigers have a rich history when it comes to swimming fast.

April 30 — Sergio Lopez hired as Virginia Tech head coach

As one coach is hired at Auburn, a high-profile assistant departs. Sergio Lopez, who made his name as a coach at Bolles School in Florida, takes on his second college head coaching job, this time with the Hokies. He previously led West Virginia to conference titles in the Big East.

Lopez joined Brett Hawke at Auburn but rumors of a divide between the two made it easy to believe he could be job searching regardless of Hawke resigning. As an associate head coach, Lopez won’t have a difficult transition. In fact, Lopez kicked into action at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis.

May 1 — Auburn’s Zach Apple announces transfer to Indiana

Anytime a coach departs, swimmers tend to follow. That was the case for Auburn’s junior sprinter Zach Apple when his primary coach, Brett Hawke, resigned. Apple felt it better to swim elsewhere than stick with the Tigers for one final season.

The 2017 world gold medalist in the 4x100 freestyle relay chose to finish out college at Indiana. The Hoosiers will appreciate Apple’s addition as they lose sprinter Blake Pieroni to graduation. Apple will significantly impact next season’s results for Ray Looze and Indiana.

Have a day @apple_zach!

Watch as ? talks about ?? a sub-19 50 free 4️⃣ times on Thursday pic.twitter.com/1tG8bgTgsy

— Auburn Swim & Dive (@AuburnSwimDive) March 23, 2018

May 11 — Jeremy Kipp hired to lead Northwestern combined program

All other major hires involved assistant coaches from prestigious programs. Northwestern opted to bring a current Division I head coach to campus to fill its vacancy. When doing that, why not get a coach coming off two straight conference championships?

That said, Jeremy Kipp was recently a big-time assistant during his time under David Salo at Southern California. Before taking over the Wildcats, Kipp spent three years at Boise State where he was named Mountain West Coach of the Year every season.