UCLA head women’s swimming an diving coach Jordan Wolfrum has announced the hiring of Zac Gebhardt as an assistant coach. Gebhardt comes from UC San Diego, where he served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for almost six years while also working part-time with Team Elite Aquatics.
Prior to UCSD, Gebhardt held the same role at Division III Mont Union, where he was part of a 10-1 men’s dual meet season and top three finishes for both the men’s and women’s team at the OAC conference championship meet.
He fills the role vacated when Wes Foltz left to join Blaire Bachman’s rebuilt staff at Texas A&M. The UCLA staff also includes associate head coach Karissa Kruszewski, who is entering her 5th season with the Bruins.
Wolfum returns to lead the program after handing the reigns to former Stanford assistant Tracy Slusser at the end of last season while Wolfrum was on maternity leave. Wolfrum gave birth to her first child Ellie Rose Cordry in March.
At the Pac-12 Championships last season, UCLA finished 4th at the Pac-12 Championships and 22nd at NCAAs, boosted in part by one of the best diving crews in the country. That 22nd place finish was their best since placing 17th in 2019.
UCLA had one All-American and five All-American honorable mention honorees over the course of the week. Junior Paige MacEachern highlighted UCLA’s efforts with an eighth-place finish in the 400 IM, while Eden Cheng, Lauren Hallaselka, and Rosie Murphy all finished in the top 10 in their events. Cheng finished ninth in the platform dive, Hallaselka placed 10th in the 3-meter dive, and Murphy took 10th in the 400 IM.
The UCLA swimming & diving program has two athletes, Emma Harvey (Bermuda) and Gizem Guvenc (Turkey) racing at the Olympic Games this week, plus assistant diving coach Tom Daley, who won silver in 10 meter synchro earlier this week.
As of Friday, UCLA officially joined the Big Ten Conference, where they will compete next season.
super excited for the man, the myth, the legend Coach Zac!!
swam under him a while ago, he was hands down a terrific coach 😁 I thought he did a terrific job at UCSD in his 6 year run there, and now I’m intrigued to see how that translates to the women’s UCLA program 🤩 go Coach Zac go!!!!!!!
In the end, it’s a classic case of “what goes around, comes around.” While it might have stung in the moment, you’ve come out on top, and UCSD HC is left trying to figure out how to put out the flames of his epic fail. So here’s to hard work paying off in the long run, even if someone else tried to swipe your spotlight. Cheers to you Zac, and all the endless possibilities ahead!