Malaysia Aquatics Hires Pitt Assistant Michael Kinross As Next National Head Coach

The Malaysia Aquatics has named Michael Kinross as the National Head Coach of the Malaysian Swimming Team. Kinross will arrive after most recently spending time as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh since fall 2024.

Kinross said, “I am honored to accept the opportunity to serve as Head Coach of the Malaysian National Swim Team. This is an exciting next step professionally in my career: to be a Head Coach and have the opportunity to help build a program, and Nation, with the knowledge and experience I have built through a lifetime of competitive swimming. I’m honored and thrilled to begin contributing to the development of Malaysia’s athletes on the international stage. I look forward to working with the athletes, staff, and federation leadership to help advance Malaysian swimming and pursue success in regional and major international competition. #H2P””

While at Pitt, Kinross helped both programs to historic finishes at the NCAA level. Last month, the women’s program finished tied for 16th at the 2026 NCAA Championships, their highest finish in program history. The men’s program finished 20th, their highest finish in 73 years.

Pitt’s head coach Chase Kreitler said, “We are very excited for Michael Kinross to be named the next Head Coach of the Malaysian National Swim Team. This is a huge honor for him as he takes on a head coaching position and has the opportunity to guide the development of swimming for an entire country from the club team level all the way up to the national team. Michael has had a tremendous positive impact on our student-athletes at Pitt from a mentorship and performance perspective over the past two seasons and I speak for our whole staff in sharing that we are incredibly thankful for the time we got to work together. I have had the unique opportunity to be one of Michael’s college coaches at Eastern Michigan, see him develop over the past thirteen years into a fantastic coach and now see him launch into his first major head coaching position. While we will miss him tremendously at Pitt, we are truly excited to see him thrive in Malaysia.”

Prior to arriving at Pitt, Kinross was the head coach of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada for seven years. In 2023, he was named Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) 5A Southern Regional Boys Coach of the Year.

He also served as assistant head coach for Sandpipers of Nevada for eight years. He worked alongside head coach Ron Aitken and coached 20 high-level senior athletes including six who qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Malaysia Aquatics Technical Director Megan Oesting noted, “What Ron Aitken built with the Sandpipers is one of the great stories in our sport. Michael was there for that entire journey, and the lessons from being part of something that special are invaluable. We want to build something that lasts from a firm foundation. We spent two years building the analytical infrastructure and the development pathways, so we are excited to bring in a coach who can use those tools to develop swimmers at the highest level.”

In addition to his work at the club, high school, and collegiate level, Kinross brings experience at the international level as well. He was an assistant coach for Team USA at the UANA Open Water Championship in 2019 and the FINA World Junior Open Water Championships in 2022. He has also been a coach for Team Mexico, as he was a Personal Coach for the 2023 Open Water World Cup.

Malaysia had four men and one woman at the 2025 World Championships. Leading the way on the men’s side was Khiew Hoe Yean who saw his highest finish come in the 800 free as he was 22nd in a 8:08.62. He also was 28th in the 400 free, 31st in the 200 free, and 50th in the 100 free. Phee Jinq En was the only swimmer on the women’s side and was 30th in the 50 breast with a 31.78.