MIT head coach Dani Korman will be the new women’s assistant swimming coach at Cal, she announced on her Instagram today. She’s spent the last 4 seasons as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at D3 power MIT.
“I am excited to announce I’ve accepted a new position as the assistant women’s swimming and diving coach at Cal! The opportunity to work with (head coach) Teri McKeever and the outstanding student-athletes at Cal is a dream come true. Thank you MIT for everything! Go Bears!”
Korman, an alumnus of another D3 powerhouse Kenyon (class of 2006), led the women’s team to the best finish in program history at the NCAA Championships in 2017 when they placed 5th.
At the 2019 NCAA Championships, the MIT women finished 9th and the MIT men finished 6th. For the men, that was the team’s 11th-straight top 10 finish nationally.
Now she’ll make the 3,000 mile trek west to Berkeley, California where she signs on as the new assistant for one of the best women’s programs in the country. She is Cal’s 4th assistant in 5 seasons: Sarah Dunlavy (2017-2019) and Ian Walsh (2016-2017) both stepped down after 2-or-fewer seasons in the role. Dunleavy announced earlier this month that she was leaving coaching.
“I am excited to add Dani to our program here at Cal,” Cal head coach Teri McKeever said. “She understands the breadth it takes to run a program, having gained valuable experience as a head coach managing both men’s and women’s teams. Dani has also worked at several elite academic institutions and appreciates the rigor it takes for student-athletes to succeed at a high level. I believe she will help us continue our tradition at Cal and am looking forward to her becoming a part of our team this summer.”
Prior to MIT, Korman spent 3 years as an assistant coach with the women’s team at Yale University, 4 seasons as an assistant at Johns Hopkins, and as the interim head coach at Carthage College.
In 2019, the Cal women finished 2nd at the NCAA Championship meet, finishing 37.5 points behind arch-rivals Stanford in a meet that was closer-than-expected. Cal has finished in the top 3 at the NCAA Championships in each of the last 11 seasons, including NCAA Championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015.
Cal head coach Teri McKeever, 57, is the most accomplished female swim coach in history, and just finished her 28th season at Cal.
Updated with comments from Teri McKeever
Does anyone think this could be a gradual retirement plan for Teri? I know Cal is a great school but isn’t it a bit of a step down from Head Cosch?
. . . Not even close. Teri is 57, still kicking ass, and highly competitive. Maybe goes another 10 years.
And MIT is 1/2 coach, 1/2 P.E. instructor, 100% brutal. Good D3 team and great school, but doesn’t hold a candle (purely from coaching perspective) to coaching 1/2 of the Olympic team at Cal.
Teri is retiring after her current contract expires, which I believe is 2021. Big contract = big pension. Dani has been hired as the heir. As were the last 2 assistants, but we see how that went…
Congratulations Dani! Excellent hire! Excited to see your success!
Congratulations Dani! D3 loss is D1 gain.
Who will be the MIT head coach? Any speculations?
I don’t know who the frontrunners will be, but I do know they will be women. One of the stipulations of the endowed head coaching position is that it go to a woman. If MIT hires a male, then they have to pay his salary – not going to happen.
I don’t know the specifics of the endowment, but that opens the door for a civil suit for sure.
Their track record is hiring women head coaches over the past 16 years, which is great!
That said, the last round of on-campus interviews included 3 women, all Kenyon alumni, 2 great coaches.
@Old School This is incorrect.
What about Kristy Fuzellier. She coached at Brown an assistant coach at MIT?
Tracy Menzel should be considered. Volunteer assistant at Cal, followed by assistant at Rutgers, currently assistant at Kenyon. Kenyon grad, NCAA National champ in breaststroke, D3 NCAA woman of the year. Great fit for MIT.
Dani California!
Great hire.
Dunleavy was at CAL for 2 seasons, not 1.
Wow. She looks a lot like Teri
Congrats Dani
That’s a picture of Terri. I’m guessing they don’t have a photo of Dani.
Sarcasm my friend.