Courtesy: Messiah Athletics
GRANTHAM, Pa. – On Wednesday morning, the Messiah University Athletics Department announced the hiring of Ryan Kauth as the new head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams as well as aquatics director for Fredricksen Natatorium. Kauth brings seven years of coaching experience to Grantham from a wide array of institutions, including stops as a head coach at Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) and graduate assistant at Concordia University Irvine (Irvine, Calif. – NCAA Division II). Kauth spent four years as the head coach of the Biola University Eagles (La Mirada, Calif. – NCAA Division II) before spending this past season as an assistant coach with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlanta, Ga. – NCAA Division I). Kauth will begin his new role with the Falcons immediately.
“We are so excited to welcome Ryan into the Messiah community as our new head swimming coach,” said Athletic Director Sarah Gustin-Hamrock on Wednesday morning. “Ryan brings a proven track record of coaching experience at a similar institution with strong results. His desire to develop the character and ability of the student-athletes in his program fits into our department extremely well. We can’t wait to have his energy and excitement in our department.”
As mentioned, Kauth brings a wide variety of coaching experiences to Grantham. He spent four seasons as the head coach of the Biola Eagles turning both the men’s and women’s teams into Conference Champions in his final season of 2020-21. After a brief stint in Atlanta as an assistant coach with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Kauth is ready to begin his tenure in Grantham.
“It is a true blessing to join the Messiah University Athletics Department as the new Head Swimming Coach,” said Ryan Kauth of his appointment. “The Lord made it very clear during my visit to campus that He was calling me to serve in this role, and the staff at Messiah made me feel like it was a place I could call home for the future.
“I would like to thank Athletic Director, Sarah Gustin-Hammrock, for the opportunity to be a part of the Falcon family, and for trusting me with these programs.”
A 2015 graduate from Concordia University Irvine, Kauth was a four-year member of the Eagles’ swimming team. A four-time NAIA National Qualifier and five-time NAIA National Championship Finalist, Kauth still sees his name appear in the program’s top-10 performance list in the 200 Free (seventh, 1:41.81) and the 500 Free (seventh, 4:39.72).
After earning his degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Kauth then claimed his Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia Irvine as well in 2016. While pursuing his Master’s, Kauth was a graduate assistant coach for the Eagles.
From 2014-202, Kauth served as an assistant varsity coach at Mater Dei High School and helped the men’s team claim three-straight Trinity League Championships in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In the fall of 2017, he was named the head coach of the Biola Eagles where he took over a program in the middle of the pack in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC). Over the course of his four years at Biola, the Eagles steadily climbed in the conference standings, eventually winning both the men’s and women’s Conference Championships in his final season of 2021.
During his time at Biola, Kauth helped take the Eagles to new heights. Across the men’s and women’s programs, Biola had 65 record breaking swims during his four seasons. The Eagles had three All-American performances, including the first-ever All-American (any sport) in Biola history. At his four Conference Championship Meets, Kauth coached the Eagles to 26 Individual and Relay PCSC Conference Championships with 22 Individual Champions and four Relay Titles.
On the women’s side, his team jumped from eighth in the conference during his first season of 2018 to third in 2019 before winning the conference in 2021. On the men’s side, Biola earned top-five finishes in all four of his seasons, finishing with the Conference Championship in 2021 alongside the women.
In 2021, Kauth jumped across the country and joined the coaching staff at Georgia Tech, helping the Yellow Jackets to a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), their highest finish since 2016. In total, the Yellow Jackets broke 13 program records during his year in Atlanta.
“I couldn’t be more excited to get started with Messiah, and to continue to build on the great success of the swimming programs, said Kauth on Wednesday morning. “The chance to return to a faith-based, Christian community was very important to me, and I look forward to growing deeper in my faith as we journey to become one of the most elite programs on the Division III level. Go Falcons!”
Kauth becomes just the third head coach in Messiah swimming history and takes over a women’s program that has claimed eight of the last nine Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championships, including the 2022 Title. On the men’s side, Messiah has finished in the top-six at the MAC Championships in all 12 of their years as a program.
I know Messiah as a great university. I know Kauth as a great person and great coach.
Congratulations man! Super excited for you. Welcome to Pennsylvania!
GREAT win for Messiah, HORRIBLE loss for G Tech. Coach Kauth brings the best out of his swimmers, something Georgia Tech desperately needed. Now Messiah gets all that comes with an outstanding coach, and the future of their program just got a lot brighter.
Well deserved coach Kauth. Coach Kauth has been a hard working product of the Irvine Swim League and is beyond well-equipped for this position. Messiah is going to thoroughly enjoy having him. All he cares about is developing the mind and body of the athlete and teach them through the word of the lord. Go get them.
I believe that this caliber of high school competition will be complimented by Coach Ryan’s intensity and knowledge the swimmers deserve at this program. He has proved that as a head coach & assistant coach that his swimmers PR and set school/meet records. I think the swimmers will love and respect him. Championship contenders!
Congrats to Messiah University they got themselves an amazing coach!
Messiah is about to absolutely EXPLODE. That conference better be put on notice…
Home run hire. Great coach and a great person. Ryan will do great things there!
Met him at Winter Juniors this December. Was very impressed. Best of luck to him going forward!
Not surprised he left after such little time there. I wouldn’t want to work for Courtney either. Just take a look at the men’s rosters the past few seasons and you’ll notice how little many swimmers they’ve managed to retain. Georgia Tech Swim & Dive is poorly led and it’s absurd that the head coach is tenured just because she was an olympic gold medalist on a relay. Good swimmer ≠ Good coach.
Maybe this is true, but Ryan also doesn’t like being an assistant. Look at his resume… The article doesn’t mention he also had a short stint at UNCW. That would make him part of 6 different university programs in… 7 years? Should’ve just stayed head coach at Biola.
I can relate to your username… your comment is 100% true. Courtney couldn’t coach her way out of a wet paper bag. Though I would say she’s not the sole reason people leave the team. I ended up quitting because I realized the GT education + internships + requirements to be successful in my major were in jeopardy because of the time I put into swimming. And it’s a lot of time to put into swimming when you’re battling to finish 23rd at ACCs with no real hope of pushing higher.
What about Mike Norment? He is pretty solid, no? And now Finke has actually transferred there. Tech had a pretty solid season this year, did they not?
Norment is a great coach and excellent at developing swimmers. Fink is there right now training with him while he pursues his masters degree. IMO Chico and Mike are better qualified to have the head coach role assuming they don’t bring in someone new.