Alex Meyer Plans to Continue Training at Harvard After Coach Takes Penn State Job

Alex Meyer, the most famous recent product of Tim Murphy’s Harvard program, has decided to continue his training in Boston, even after Murphy left to take the head coaching job Penn State this week.

Meyer has been training under Murphy for 7 years since coming to Harvard as a freshman in 2006. That includes the two traveling together to the 2012 London Olympics: Meyer as the lone American male representative, and Murphy as the men’s open water head coach. Meyer was named a volunteer assistant at Harvard last fall.

“Right now, I am planning on staying in Cambridge,” Meyer told us Tuesday evening. “I have a life here in Cambridge that I’m not ready to leave just yet – I have a girlfriend, a community, and the Harvard team that I care very much about. I have confidence in (new Harvard head coach) Kevin Tyrrell’s and Kyle Shack’s (Crimson Aquatics coach) ability as coaches, and they will easily be able to keep in touch with Tim for input on my training.”

Meyer won the 2010 World Open Water Championship in the 25km swim, is the 2011 and 2013 USA open water 10km champion. He was 42nd at the 2013 FINA Open Water World Championships in Barcelona, Spain in the 10km race, and 4th in the 25km, missing a medal by a tenth-of-a-second.

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Whataboutrio?
11 years ago

All well and good…good for everyone….all personal lives are left intact…..when is one of our men going to medal in the Olympics?
Do we have a training problem?
Do we have a race preparation problem?
Do we have an investment strategy problem?
We have failed to even qualify two men in 08 and in 12.
We clearly have the talent in this country. So, what is the problem?
The event is still an afterthought to the mainstream coach. We hang on too long to the athletes we have in these events. Where can the interest be sparked?
It takes an enormous amount of everything to get to the top of the podium in… Read more »

lazy bum
11 years ago

or is he staying at harvard to take a newly opened coaching position?

openswim
11 years ago

Don’t forget 4th in the 25km at BCN13!

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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