The University of Evansville announced Canaan Campbell as its new head swimming & diving coach on Thursday.
Campbell takes over from Toby Wilcox, who announced his retirement last week. Wilcox led the Purple Aces for two seasons in his second stint with the program, having previously served as head coach from 1988 to 1997. Across both tenures, he was a 3-time Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year and coached 24 athletes to individual conference titles.
“I am thrilled to welcome Coach Campbell for his enthusiasm in the sports of swimming and diving and his affection for the Purple Aces. Canaan has demonstrated success with a variety of teams, and I believe he will be a great addition to our program,” UE Associated Athletics Director and Sport Supervisor Kim Smith said in the university’s press release.
Campbell is no stranger to the program, as his father, Clark Campbell, served as head coach at Evansville from 1998 to 2002 and currently holds the same position at Kansas.
“I am honored to accept the position as head coach at the University of Evansville. This program has a storied history, and I look forward to building on the past successes of the previous staff and contributing to the rise of the Purple Aces Swimming and Diving program,” Campbell said. “The personal connection I have to this program makes this such an amazing opportunity to lead a program that my dad once headed up. I would like to thank Director of Athletics Dr. Ziggy Siegfried, Associate Athletics Director Kim Smith, and President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz for this opportunity.
“I would also like to thank Amanda Caldwell and everyone with Tulane University Swimming and Diving for the opportunity to connect and develop the Green Wave program. I want to also give a heartfelt thanks to the Lindenwood Swimming and Diving program and Jason Owen for those amazing opportunities to grow at multiple different levels,” Campbell continued. “I would not be here without the love and support of my wife, Kayley Alioto, throughout every step of our lives. Finally, thank you to every student-athlete that I have coached–I would not be blessed with this opportunity without each and every one of you. I am looking forward to getting to work and starting the next chapter of Purple Aces Swimming and Diving!”
Campbell comes to the program from Tulane University, where he served as an assistant coach for the women’s swimming and diving team during the 2024-25 season. During his time with the program, the team placed third out of six teams at the American Athletic Conference Championships, a massive rise from its sixth-place finish a year prior.
Beyond the conference meet, the program had 10 athletes qualify for the National Championship Invitational (NCI), including three divers who earned bids to the Zone Diving Championships.
The team also broke 10 school records throughout the season.
Prior to Tulane, Campbell spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Lindenwood. In 2020-21, he helped the Lions to a first-place women’s and third-place men’s finish at the GLVC Championships. In 2022-23, the Lions posted a third-place women’s and fifth-place men’s finish at the GLVC Championships, while both teams finished seventh at the NCAA Division II Championships. In 2023-24, the program’s first season competing at the Division I level, the men placed second and the women third at the Summit League Championships.
Campbell first entered the collegiate coaching realm as a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern University during the 2019–2020 season, where he earned a master’s degree in Coaching Education.
Campbell swam for four years at Missouri State University. where he helped the team win the 2018 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Campbell joins an Evansville coaching staff that includes head diving coach Dustin Bredemeier. According to the school’s website, the team has not had any assistant coaches since the 2023-24 season.
Evansville finished 7th out of 8 teams at this season’s MVC Men’s Conference Championship meet, and 8th out of 9 teams at the MVC Women’s Conference Championship meet.
Excellent hire!!
This is a great hire for Evansville! Canaan will bring energy and excitement to the pool deck. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with the Aces.